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
Free06Feb
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...
Read more I just want to talk03Feb
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...
Read more What is a phrase?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. .. ...
Read more Vocbulary TOEFL and TOEIC01Feb
You have to work at it
I am constantly amazed at the number of people who are surrounded by a language but do not learn it properly. Here in Vancouver there are countless people who live in English, work in English, and even watch TV and read the newpaper in English and...
Read more You have to work at it30Jan
Logic and rhetoric
People who come from a non-Western language background, have a much tougher time learning English. They do not have the Latin and Greek based vocabulary that is common to so many European languages.They have also not been exposed to the Western wa...
Read more Logic and rhetoric29Jan
Vocabulary
The key to fluency and literacy is better control over vocabulary, both words and phrases. It is not the learning of grammar rules. But how is this best done? There are many people who have studied English for ten or more years and have very poor ...
Read more Vocabulary28Jan
Zhuangzi’s crooked tree
Zhuangzi’s Crooked Tree Huizi said to Zhuangzi, “This old tree is so crooked and rough that it is useless for lumber. In the same way, your teachings have no practical use.” Zhuangzi replied, “This tree may be useless as lumber, but you could rest...
Read more Zhuangzi’s crooked tree26Jan
Multiculturalism
Even though I speak nine languages I am quite opposed to multiculturalism, or at least the ideology of multicultualism. The ideology of multiculturalism in Western countries promotes the position that immigrants should hold on to their ancestral c...
Read more Multiculturalism23Jan
The psychological factor
Some people learn faster than others. Some people pronounce better than others. Why is this? I am more and more convinced that it is a matter of attitude rather than talent. There is something that good language learners have in common. They can l...
Read more The psychological factor19Jan
Conversation class
We had a conversation class tonight with about 20 English learners, in Blenz cafe on the corner of Richards and Hastings in Vancouver. It has been raining hard the last few days and I am concerned about the snow conditions in the nearby mountains,...
Read more Conversation class