Experience Is The Best Teacher
At the age of 55, I decided to learn Cantonese. I had studied Mandarin and could read Chinese characters, but I needed to develop the ability to understand how Chinese characters were…
All You Need to Truly Ace the TOEIC Test
TOEIC, the Test of English for International Communication, is probably the most widely taken test of English language proficiency in the world. TOEIC is taken by around seven million people every year,…
How to Learn Vocabulary Fast
The most important task in language learning, in my opinion, is the acquisition of vocabulary. If we have enough words, we can make sense of what we’re reading or listening to and…
How to Memorize Vocabulary – Is It Even Necessary?
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.
Should You Try Learning Two Languages At Once?
I am asked this question regularly from my YouTube and blog viewers. if I would recommend learning two languages at the same time or not. Well, first of all, a person who is learning one language and wants to learn another language or even a third language is something that I fully understand and fully endorse.
The Three Language Acquisition Stages
They say “you are what you eat”. In the global information age, maybe it should be “you are what you can say”. Language, in its varied manifestations, is mankind’s defining achievement, and it also defines us. Language can be social, political, technical, practical, entertaining, sensual, philosophical, and much more. At the banquet of life, each language is another course. The better you can use languages, your own and others, the more you can enjoy the feast. At least that has been my experience.
Reading May Be the Secret of My Success in Language Learning
Breaking News –Special Report: A new way of recording and transmitting information has been discovered, even more convenient than mp3 technology. It’s called reading, yes, writing things down for others to read!…
Enrich Your Language Learning With Blogs and Podcasts
I want to talk about blogging and podcasts as a means of enriching your language learning content, variety and, particularly, as a step from beginner material to the more difficult, more demanding…
Want to Learn Languages Faster? Go Easy on the Grammar
For the last week I’ve been studying Serbo-Croatian. We have the Serbian mini stories at LingQ, so I’ve been at it for a week. I’m going to try to speak, obviously, when…
Listening Activity: How Do You Spend Your Time?
I have previously talked about whether people are vocabulary builders or vocabulary memorizers and I sort of said that memorizers spend a lot of time with Anki decks or lists and try…
