Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Feb
Feb
Practice everywhere!
You’re learning a lot of great stuff. In fact, if you’ve been following along with me for the past couple of weeks, you should already be surprised with how much you’ve already learned! But don’t forget to use it! Always remember that it’s not a race, and that there are no points given to the guy who finishes the lesson first. The winner is all of us, when we can talk to more people because we’ve learned a new language, and the only way to get there is by practice!
Feb
Feb
Traveler phrasebooks are excellent learning tools
After you decide to learn a new language, it’s hard to know where to start. Classes and tutors can be expensive and inconvenient. Many books can be frustrating. And software solutions tend to be extremely expensive! I like to spend as little as possible on learning materials. In most cases, you can find something just as good for free on the internet. However, sometimes it’s just better to have something you can carry with you. A phrasebook is one of those things.
Feb
Feb
Use music to learn a new language
When I first learned Spanish, I was focused on learning words. I went overboard with books, web sites, exercises — I studied grammar, I learned vocabulary, I learned proper usage, mastered more than a dozen verb tenses. In the end, I found I could say almost anything I wanted, express almost any thought.
The irony was that I couldn’t understand a bit of what others were saying to me. For all of my knowledge and study, I was basically helpless — an island of output, completely immune to the sea of input around me.
Feb
Feb
Stop being so self-conscious!
What is the one thing that holds people back more than anything else? What prevents people from doing the the things they really want, whether it’s learning to dance well, or trying a new style of clothes, or learning a new language? The answer is self-consciousness.
Feb
Feb
Use Google Reader to learn languages
I don’t like to do a lot of work when I’m learning a language — it requires too much time and effort, and it burns you out quickly. One thing that eats up a lot of time and feels like a lot of work is clicking around on a dozen web sites every day.
Feb
Feb
Fun ways to remember numbers
It’s so common for people to learn counting to ten when they start learning a new language, but as I’ve already discussed, this type of learning by memorization is actually bad.
Mar
Mar
Updated goals for Italian
When I started this blog, I made a point that it is important it is to have clearly defined goals by which to measure success, and then I laid out some goals for this year. As it turns out, I think those goals were a bit too easy.
Mar
Mar
Stop trying to learn a foreign language
Stop trying to learn a foreign language. I’m not kidding. Stop trying. If all you’re willing to do is try, you’ll be happier and better off if you just stop now. There was a cute little muppet once, who famously said in his signature zen-like way, “Do, or do not. There is no try.” No one has ever said it better.
Mar
Mar
What the heck is a reflexive verb?
While the concept of reflexive verbs is mostly unused in English, it is a vital concept in almost all other languages. If you dont understand it or have never heard of it before, then today is your lucky day because we’re going to quickly look at what reflexive verbs are.
Mar
Mar
Connect with the language in order to learn it better
I often insist that I’m not any more gifted than anyone else. It’s easy to excuse away my success by just saying I’m gifted, because it takes the responsibility off of yourself when you fail. But it’s self-delusion.
The ease with which I learn a language is a direct result of my curiosity. I don’t have a better memory than anyone else. But what I do have is a genuine curiosity about how language works — I am fascinated with how people communicate.