For people who love languages, or would but were discouraged.
- Believe in yourself and have the right attitude
- Put in an hour a day
- Use a system that works... like LingQ

17Mar
The Seven Secrets to Language Learning Success: Part 2
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.
Read more The Seven Secrets to Language Learning Success: Part 210Mar
The Seven Secrets to Language Learning Success: Part 1
People often ask me how I learned 20 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...
Read more The Seven Secrets to Language Learning Success: Part 124Feb
You DO NOT Need to Be Perfect
Why do I want to talk about perfection? First of all, I am a dilettante learner. I also recognize that there are people who need the language for professional reasons because they want to get into a school so that they're not just dabbling in the language, exploring, having fun like I like to do, they actually need it. So how good do they need to be in the language?
Read more You DO NOT Need to Be Perfect17Feb
Ser Vs Estar in Spanish
Every language has some issues, often grammar issues, that cause learners difficulty. In the case of Spanish, one thing that gives people special trouble is the existence of two forms of the verb “to be”. Both ser and estar translate into English as “to be”. Ser vs estar, here’s how to get them straight. […]
Read more Ser Vs Estar in Spanish27Jan
How to Learn Vocabulary
*** This post is a transcript of a video on my YouTube channel. Studying English? Here’s the transcript as a lesson to study on LingQ. I have said in the past that the best and simplest judge of where you are in the language, of what you have achieved, of your potential in that language is […]
Read more How to Learn Vocabulary20Jan
Levels of Language Proficiency: What Is Fluency?
I recently watched a video which features polyglots Luca Lampariello and Anthony Lauder. In it they make the point that you don’t need to have a large vocabulary in order to be fluent. Anthony has said in the past that even with a few hundred words you can be fluent, or you can be fluent at a relatively low level of proficiency in a language. I don’t agree at all.
Read more Levels of Language Proficiency: What Is Fluency?14Jan
Don’t Just Learn Business English
*** This post is a transcript of a video on my YouTube channel. Studying English? Here’s the transcript as a lesson to study on LingQ. So many people I know listen to my videos and podcast to improve their English. English is, whether we like it or not, the most widely used international language. So there […]
Read more Don’t Just Learn Business English07Jan
Google Translate Doesn’t Work? Google and Language Learning
I hear all the time that Google Translate doesn’t work. It’s not accurate. It’s this and that. I think Google Translate is a tremendous resource and not only for language learners. It’s not 100% and it’s better for some languages than others, but I find it extremely useful.
Read more Google Translate Doesn’t Work? Google and Language Learning29Dec
My Language Learning Motivation
I want to talk about history. Why history? Because history fascinates me. I realize that people watch my videos either because they're working on improving their English or because they find my videos in some way motivating and encouraging and therefore encourages them to continue with learning languages, which in turn motivates me to make more videos.
Read more My Language Learning Motivation21Dec
Is It Hard to Learn Japanese?
Japanese, simply in terms of the vocabulary, the structure being very different from say English, if you're an English speaker, is going to be more difficult. However, there are a number of things that make Japanese easier, in my opinion.
Read more Is It Hard to Learn Japanese?