04Sep
4 Sep 2018

The Best Way to Learn Another Language? From Interesting Content

Learning Languages, Learning Techniques, Online Learning
Of course, language learning success depends mostly on the learner. But what about external factors? What does a keen language learner need most of all? The answer is interesting language content. What constitutes interesting content will depend on each learner, and even on the changing interests of each learner. But the best way to learn another language is through interesting content, [...]
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30Jan
30 Jan 2018

How to Learn Any Language Effortlessly

Learning Techniques, Motivation
When I wrote my book The Linguist: A Personal Guide to Language Learning, I began with what I called ‘The Parable of the Crooked Tree’. The author of the parable was Zhuangzi, an early exponent of Taoism, a school of Chinese philosophy from over 2,000 years ago. I referred to Taoism on a number of occasions in my book. Zhuangzi’s basic principle in life was to follow what was natural, what [...]
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15Jan
15 Jan 2017

Learning a Language Means Acquiring Words

Learning Techniques
People often say to me, “Steve, you’ve obviously got a talent for languages, that's why you’ve learned so many. Good for you, but I could never do it.” To which I say, to myself at least, why don’t you try doing it the way I do it? Maybe, rather than a question of talent, it’s a matter of the method that I use. What is my method? It’s really quite simple. It’s the relentless pursuit of words [...]
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20Nov
Having Language Difficulties? It's Time to Believe in Yourself
20 Nov 2016

Having Language Difficulties? It’s Time to Believe in Yourself

Motivation
Many of you have heard me say before that the three keys to language learning are motivation, the time you spend with the language and your ability to notice what’s happening in the language. Some language learners aren’t motivated, so they don’t spend the time or develop the ability to notice and they don’t learn. That’s to be expected. But there are many people who are motivated, who do [...]
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