Category: Languages

Nowadays, everyone who aims to learn a new language wants to know the answer to a single, insidious question: Which language learning resource can I use to reach fluency in the shortest time possible? This question is built on two incorrect assumptions: That there is one resource that will address all of your language learning […]

Let’s begin with another term with a couple of very different meanings: the linguist. What is a Linguist? According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, the word linguist has two principal meanings: A person skilled in foreign languages. A person who studies linguistics. This is a term that generates considerable controversy amongst language enthusiasts, […]

In our previous article, Deliberate Practice for Language Learning: An Introduction, we explored the overall concept of Deliberate Practice. As defined by psychologist and expertise researcher K. Anders Ericsson, Deliberate Practice is a set of principles that, according to research, are the foundation of “the most effective approaches to improving performance” in any skill — […]

You’ve chosen your language, and you’ve laid the groundwork to get started. Now we must answer the question: Where am I learning the language from? We’ve tackled some difficult questions before, but this one may be the hardest of all. Why? Because there are so many good answers, and they’re all subjective. What do I […]

The first question on any would-be language learner’s mind is this: Which language should I learn? It’s a difficult question. The actual number of distinct languages in this world is something that’s heavily debated among linguists and anthropologists alike, but suffice to say the number is well towards ten thousand. Sounds like a lot of […]

“I’m no good at learning languages” If you’re reading this blog — and have a pulse — you’ve had that thought before. Languages take a lot of time, effort, and energy to learn. Every single language learner, from the earliest enthusiast to the hardened hyperpolyglot, has struggled with learning at some point or another. That’s […]

Have you ever given up learning a language? After triumphantly telling yourself one day that “Yes, I’m finally going to learn this language!”, have you ever stopped studying, let go of your learning or otherwise let your fluency falter? It’s happened to the best of us, myself included. Sometimes the language is harder than we […]

Computer-based writing skills are the speaking skills of the information age. If you speak a language, you can communicate with anyone in the same physical space as you are, but if you can type a language, you can communicate with anyone who can read that language—anywhere, and at any time. These skills are important to […]

Hey, you there! Yeah, YOU. Reading this article. Who are you? Or rather, what kind of language learner are you? “Kinds? There are kinds?” you may ask. Oh, sure. Many kinds. In the age of the Internet, language learning as both a hobby and a professional pursuit is more widespread than ever before. With more […]

Are you comfortable? No, not in your chair. Not on your couch, or bed, or wherever you’re reading this. Are you comfortable in your language learning? When you use your target language, do you stick to the things that you know how to do? Do you play it safe, and use just the resources, techniques, […]