How to Maintain Language Skills
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?
How to Speak Better in Any Language: 7 Key Tips
TL;DR To speak better in any language, stop worrying about perfection. Build vocabulary, focus on speech patterns and natural phrasing, visit old material to reinforce your knowledge. Finally, speak a lot without…
Avoid These 3 Mistakes to Become Fluent
TL;DRMost learners struggle to reach fluency due to unrealistic expectations. They compare themselves to native speakers, fear mistakes, and expect their target language to feel like their native language. To achieve fluency,…
How to Expand Your Vocabulary Without Memorization
Accumulating words is the fundamental task in language learning, in other words it is very important to acquire new words. Many learners are under the impression that this is done through memorization. This is not, however, the most effective way to grow your vocabulary. I’ve never been able to learn new words by deliberately trying to memorize them. The more effective way to learn new words is simply through exposure to the language.
Comprehensible Input: How It Helps Language Learning
What is meant by comprehensible input in language learning? Stephen Krashen uses this term, as well as the term compelling input, to refer to the kind of language exposure we need in order to learn a language. The term CI, in language learning, can apply to both. What do they mean?
A Polyglot’s Guide to Learning Languages with AI Tools
TL;DR SummaryAI accelerates language learning by giving you unlimited customized input and targeted feedback. Explore your interests and complex topics more easily with AI-generated listening and reading material. Generate audio, summarize books,…
What Are LingQ Mini Stories (and Why They Work)?
As language learners, we’re constantly looking for a balance between repetition and variety. Complete beginners or those hoping to brush up some basic skills, need lots of repetition. But language learning should…
My 3-Step Comprehension-Based Language Learning Routine
“They seek him here, they seek him there…” That old refrain from The Scarlet Pimpernel sums up my approach to language learning. In everything I do, I seek words and structures. I…
The Best Techniques for Each Stage of Language Learning
Language learning is a long journey, but it’s also a dynamic one. Your resources, priorities, and routines should change as you progress. Beginners, intermediates, and advanced learners all benefit from different kinds…
How to Become a Polyglot
Part of becoming a polyglot is accepting that you’re going to be less than perfect. That means you’re going to speak with mistakes. Your pronunciation may not be perfect, but you have this sense of achievement and the intellectual stimulus of discovering a new world, yet another new world with all of the people, and as you learn another language, then the people of that language come alive, the history comes alive.
3 Stages of Second Language Acquisition
TL;DR Summary When we learn a second language, we move through stages that reflect our growing familiarity with it — not a fixed timeline. First, we connect with the sounds and rhythms…
My Method for Learning Languages from Scratch
TL;DR Summary When you start a new language, it always feels out of reach at first. I’ve felt that every time. The best thing you can do is just listen and read,…
