How to practice speaking on your own

This was originally a response to a question about how introverts can practice speaking a language. Not all language practice needs to happen in front of other people, if that makes you nervous.

I’m increasingly starting to see a relationship between active language skills and playing strategy board games (like Go or Chess).

When playing Go or Chess, knowing the basic rules is not enough to play well. While you can calculate out a couple of moves, no one ever gets good just by learning... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

4 reasons you're still not fluent

I get a lot of comments, emails, tweets, and other communications related to this blog, and perhaps the most common theme among all of them is this: "I've been studying for a long time but I'm still not fluent. What advice can you give?"

I give tons of advice every week that answers that question, in the form of the posts I'm writing here. No doubt that's why you've found me, and why you read this blog, and why you've asked me that question. So today, rather than telling you what you can do to... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

“They only say that in Rome” and other nonsense

The United States is a large country, and I've lived all over the US. I know how people talk in the northeast, and how they talk in the south. I can recognize a Carolinian accent and distinguish it from a Tennesseean accent, and I can hear a single word in your speech that tells me you're from Ohio, or an expression that tells me you're from the Dakotas.

But I can also be wrong about all of that.

I have family members who have never lived outside of Chicago, but who speak as if they were from... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Making sense of Italian slang

After learning basic, grammatically correct Italian, it's important to also learn some slang. Most languages have a ton of slang, and Italian is no exception. Today I'll just discuss a few fun little Italian slang words.

magnia
If you see it written, in context, this one's not too hard to figure out. The n and g are reversed. But it's not just a typo, they really say "man-ya" in their slang, and it sounds different enough from "man-ja" that it won't be obvious if you hear it.

Si magna = I'm... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Travel announcements for December

Today I have a few short announcements about upcoming travel. As many of you already know, I'm on a mission to see all 50 states of the US. (If you don't already know, you can look at my bucket list and see what I'm up to.)

My original intention was to complete them all by the end of next year, but as a result of some unexpected events (mostly good), it looks like I'm going to succeed in having visited all of the 48 continental states by the end of next month, leaving me only Hawaii and Alaska... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

What happened to LivaMocha?

I haven't visited LiveMocha since probably last March, when it's usefulness faded behind my growing Italian vocabulary. But last week I went and played with it and found that it's completely different... and not in a good way.

I don't believe that any program, system, web site, book, CD, or software can ever be perfect, because language is used in real life, where the topics and the inputs are unpredictable and always changing. However, I have always found LiveMocha to be an excellent free tool,... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Walk to the edge, and then step over

This is a post about going too far. It's about stepping over the line. It's about pushing your boundaries. This is a post about stepping beyond what you know. It's about crossing past your comfort zone. And most of all, it's about choosing to do that willingly.

I just had lunch with a friend, and we talked about a lot of interesting things — traveling to new places without a plan, starting conversations about crazy things with complete strangers, working on new and exciting projects that... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

I'm an asshole, and 9 more reasons to unsubscribe

Maybe you've just started reading this blog recently — maybe even after you followed a link from your friend yesterday to a crazy post telling you to give up your flashcards! Or, maybe you've been reading for a while, or even since the very first post.

But unless you're one of the fifty (I'm guessing) readers here who actually know me in real life, there is probably a lot about me you don't know. (In fact, even if you do know me, there may be a lot you don't know!)

First, you should... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Enough is enough

For the past week, this blog has been a hot-spot of high-tension, strong words, and angry argument... and I am no less guilty than the others who participated. I shared a very controversial idea — one that I knew would be controversial, but in which I strongly believe — and as any rational person would expect, much argument ensued.

A small, but very loud, group of people conducted a war of attrition, trying to silence my opinion by surrounding it with a cacophony of theirs, and in... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Mea Culpa – flashcards aren’t so bad after all

After my posts about flashcards, a small, but extremely vociferous minority of people have decided to carry on a raging holy war in the comments section of my blog. These few people seemingly never sleep, commenting at all hours of the day, keeping the war alive and reminding me, through sheer persistence and strength of will, that they're right and I'm wrong.

So I give in. I admit that I was completely wrong about flashcards. Apparently, they're really awesome, and I just needed to be more... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

The flashcard holy war rages on!

As the flashcards holy war rages on, I continue to be amazed at how far people will go to defend a bad idea — even after admitting that it's bad.

One commenter said:Ok, yes I agree flashcards are boring. I've tried using flashcards, but I just couldn't sit through it (Anki software). It is just rote repetition. There is much researched to be done to improve SRS. However, I have to disagree on some points. You refer to the translation step as bad thing. The translation step is vital part... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

8 ways to learn a language without using flashcards

My last post turned out to be every bit as controversial as I thought it would. I expected that, because whether right or wrong, people react passionately and defensively any time their beliefs are challenged. (If you want to test that theory, just put a muslim, a christian, and an atheist into a room together!)

I received many comments of agreement, and I also received many comments if almost violent disagreement, but the one thing I was most shocked to see was a comment accusing me of bashing... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Why I don’t use flashcards (and you shouldn’t either)

I know that this post is going to upset a lot of people, but if you believe in something strongly, you can't worry about what other people think. So in spite of the fact that SRS is the hottest thing in language learning right now, I'm going tell everyone to stop using it.

Stop using flashcards. Stop using SRS. Stop learning vocabulary from lists, or decks, or programs. Stop. It doesn't work, it's a waste of time, and it's creating bad patterns in your brain.

When I started this blog, one... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Mandarin, and a review of the Pimsleur Method

Eleven days ago, I decided to take a short break from Italian and learn a little Mandarin from the sample lessons sent to me by a representative at The Pimsleur Method. Yesterday, I completed those lessons and today I will share my thoughts.

Mandarin
First, I think it's important to cover some basic information about Mandarin, because I think it's important to understand how the subject relates to the methods used to teach it. So here are some details about Mandarin. Some of you may already... continue reading at Fluent Every Year