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

18Feb
Skiing and words
The last three days I have been skiing at Whistler. There was not a cloud in the sky for two days and today is a little overcast. The snow conditions are not ideal but not bad. A little ice in spots and some bare patches. You kind of have to pick ...
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10Feb
Memory
I think adults get more frustrated than young learners when they seem unable to remember things. They probably have poorer short term memory than younger students. Even high school and university students probably have an ability to cram informati...
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09Feb
More on adult learners
I have been reading "The Mind and the Brain, Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force" by Jeffrey Schwartz and Sharon Begley. What becomes clear is that the brain constantly responds to stimulus to adjust and create neural networks. Language ...
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07Feb
Hard to learn
As I am reviewing one of my old Korean books I am reminded of all the things that textbook authors do to make it hard to learn languages. Most textbooks introduce vocabulary in categories. The names of the colours , or the parts of the body etc. w...
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06Feb
Language cross training
In sports it has been found that to improve in sport A it is often a good idea to practice sport B. Tennis or ping pong or gymnastics may improve strength or quickness or balance needed for ice hockey, for example. I think the same works in langua...
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06Feb
Repetitive listening
Many people are reluctant to put in the time to listen repeatedly to the same content. They do not have the patience. They want to move on to new content. Or, they want to talk to someone. In my view, however, repetitive listening is very powerful...
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06Feb
Korean
It is a rainy day in Vancouver. What else is new? Rather than feel sorry for myself I am going to study some Korean. I started Korean about a year ago and went at it quite hard for about 2 months. I bought three different beginner books with CDs. ...
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06Feb
I just want to talk
Many language learners just want to talk. They think that if they just talk they will improve. In my experience just talking is not enough. Talking is like playing the game of language learning. In a way it is the reward. It is why we do the other...
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03Feb
What is a phrase?
The following is a recent exchange at The Linguist Forum on English. what are important phrases!! Posted: Feb 3, 2005 8:01 AM Reply Dear sir:I have read each and every article of the linguist site recently. I have also read free newsletters of the...
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03Feb
Vocbulary TOEFL and TOEIC
Vocabulary, TOEFL and TOEIC According to Professor Tom Cobb, Department of Linguistics at the University of Quebec , “Until recently, vocabulary learning was seen as peripheral to language acquisition. …Much of this view has now been reversed. .. ...
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