The Linguist - For people who love languages, or would but were discouraged...

19Jan

19 Jan 2021

Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese

Learning Chinese, Learning Japanese, Learning Korean

Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese, ever wonder what the similarities and differences are between these three languages and how should we go about learning them? To what extent can learning one help you with the others? Let me share my experience in learning these three Asian languages. How I Learned Mandarin, Japanese and Korean […]

12Jan

12 Jan 2021

My Language Learning Goals for 2021

Motivation

Let me share a little bit about what I would like to see in the year 2021. First of all, in so far as learning languages, I'm going to continue with Persian and Arabic. And at some point I will refresh and try to get back into Turkish.

05Jan

5 Jan 2021

The Best Way to Learn a New Language

Learning Techniques

Good language learners notice what is happening in a language. They notice the sounds of the language, and the structure and the vocabulary. They notice as they listen and read. They notice when they use the language. How can we train ourselves in the ability to notice, in order to become good language learners?

29Dec

29 Dec 2020

Languages are for Exploring

Motivation

I've started reading about the history of Iran. Also at LingQ we have Sahra in Iran who has created a series of 26 episodes which I'm now going through. I've gone to episode seven of the history of Iran with circling questions.

22Dec

22 Dec 2020

How Do I Maintain My Languages?

Techniques

I often get asked the question, how do I maintain my languages? You know, I've learned so many languages, more or less up to 21. I don't know them all equally well, obviously. So how do I maintain them?

15Dec

15 Dec 2020

How to Memorize Vocabulary – Is It Even Necessary?

Learning Techniques

In my opinion, the best way to memorize vocabulary is NOT to memorize vocabulary. I have always found that trying to memorize vocabulary is an extremely low-efficiency activity. No matter how hard you try, some words are going to stick and some words will not stick until much, much later.

08Dec

8 Dec 2020

Change is the Only Constant in Language Learning

Motivation

I may not be aware of having changed, but then if I go back to when I started with Arabic, it was just noise to me. The writing system was meaningless to me, and now I'm able to read, I'm able to hear and understand a lot. So there is this gradual, almost imperceptible change.

01Dec

1 Dec 2020

The Seven Secrets to Language Learning Success: Part 2

Learning Techniques

Last week I wrote about the first four secrets to language learning success: spend the time, do what you like to do, learn to notice and words over grammar. Today’s post reveals the last three secrets.

24Nov

24 Nov 2020

The Seven Secrets to Language Learning Success: Part 1

Learning Techniques

People often ask me how I learned 15 languages. I will tell you what works for me; you’ll have to decide if this can work for you. Here are the first four secrets to language learning success...

17Nov

17 Nov 2020

How Can We Achieve Good Pronunciation in a Language?

Techniques

So how do we get to good pronunciation in the language? Well, I think there are three elements. One is the attitude towards the pronunciation and I'll explain that. The second thing is the most important things that we can do that will give us good pronunciation and the third thing is remedial things. If we have what we consider to be poor pronunciation, what can we do?

I speak 20 languages