I have a question for you: How good are you at your target language? Do you know? Beyond vague assessments like “I’m conversational” or “I can understand most of what I hear”, do you have a real sense of your foreign language skills? Most people don’t, and that’s okay. Often, knowing that you can use the language “well […]
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In my life, there have been few decisions more impactful than when I decided to learn French. Indeed, my French journey has taken me through nearly every significant language learning event you could think of. I’ve been: A student in a French classroom An independent learner, developing my skills from my home country (outside of France) […]
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The road to language mastery is a long one. So long, in fact, that it’s often easy to wonder if you’re really making any language learning progress at all. When you first start, the wins come fast and easy. Everything is new, so you can double and triple your language knowledge in a matter of days. It […]
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When people ask me how many languages I speak, my reply is usually fourteen. But that’s not the whole truth. Not really. I’ve dedicated a year or more of my life to learning fourteen total languages, but to say that I can “speak” all of them isn’t exactly right. A couple of languages, unfortunately, have fallen out of […]
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When people decide which languages to learn, one of the most common considerations is how useful that language is. What’s useful and what’s not in a language can vary, of course, but I like to think utility is typically measured through answering questions like: How often can I use this language in my day to […]
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One of the biggest crazes in language learning in recent years is online language tutoring. Using Skype, Google Hangouts, or another video chat platform, you can now chat with people from across the world, right from the comfort of your own home. This not only makes language learning much more efficient, but a whole lot easier, […]
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One of the most popular topics in language learning nowadays is not simply “how to learn French” or “how to learn Mandarin Chinese”, but “how to learn how to learn.” This is because, as the logic goes, if you know how learning works in general, you can apply those principles to any language, topic, or skill […]
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There’s just something so cool about the idea of being able to chat away happily with native speakers just as if you were one of them. They would understand everything you say, and you would understand everything they say. Jokes, cultural references, and wordplay would just “click”, like magic. It would feel effortless. And “effortless” is probably […]
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One of the things that separates human beings from the rest of the species on the planet is our ability to use tools. YouTube is a tool, too. A tool that many people complain about, saying that it’s only a means to waste away hours of your life, without getting value in return. I personally have lost […]
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I confess: I am currently learning 3 languages at the same time. You heard me right: three languages. Now, this may sound strange to you. If you’re a long-time reader of this blog, you’ll know that I usually recommend against learning two languages at the same time, let alone three. But this is different. I haven’t changed my stance […]
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