It wasn't meant to be

I see this lousy advice given all the time. People console each other with this nonsense when they fail. They console themselves when they want to give up. The use it as an excuse to others when they quit. "Oh well, it just wasn't meant to be."

Bullshit.

Rocks weren't meant to be stacked on top of each other, but we have Stonehenge. Clay wasn't meant to be a building material, but we have the Colosseum. Mankind wasn't meant to fly, but we rule the air.

It wasn't meant to be. So what? That's... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

How do you keep languages separate?

One topic that seems to come up often in conversations I have with language-learners is the subject of mixing up languages in your head. Often people ask me "how do you keep all those languages separate?" and others ask, almost in disbelief, "don't they all eventually blend together?"

But they don't blend together, and it's actually not at all difficult to keep them separate.

Compared to the average American, I may speak a lot of languages, but compared to many other cultures around the world,... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Set a task every day

Learning a language is a large, and often unclear task. Many people wade into the task without a clear understanding of how much work is involved. But rather than underestimating the amount of work involved, most people actually overestimate it.

One of the lessons our modern society has taught us is that no one is ever rewarded for underestimating a task, and no one is ever punished for overestimating it.

Nature abhors a vaccuum
In 1955, Cyril Northcote Parkinson wrote a humorous observation... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Fluency is not perfection

I see a lot of people talk about "redefining fluency". The irony is, however, that the ones doing the complaining are, in fact, the ones doing the redefining. When pressed to describe fluency, they will often admit to expectations that a fluent speaker have a native-like accent, or a vocabulary of countless thousands of words, or some ability to pass some arbitrary exam.

In reality, none of these things are fluency. I will refer you now to refer you the actual definition of fluency, so that... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Ear training

When you're learning a new language, one important and difficult task is learning to correctly hear and identify the sounds of that language. Their s doesn't sound like your s, their r rolls differently than yours, and their accent and intonation make it difficult to understand what you hear.

When learning a new language, I spend a lot of time and attention on training my ears. Basically, this means listening to the language being spoken, and then making sure that what I heard is the same as... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Do what you love, don't worry about perfection

Recently, a friend posted a recording on Facebook of a song she had arranged and sung, along with the text: "I arranged, performed, recorded, and mixed a pretty song. It ain't perfect, but that's okay."

I played the song, and yes, there were mistakes. Exactly as she said, it's not perfect. But it's still lovely. This friend of mine has possibly the most beautiful singing voice that I have ever heard in person — it cuts me right to the bone every time I have the good fortune of hearing... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Do what you love, don't worry about perfection

Recently, a friend posted a recording on Facebook of a song she had arranged and sung, along with the text: "I arranged, performed, recorded, and mixed a pretty song. It ain't perfect, but that's okay."

I played the song, and yes, there were mistakes. Exactly as she said, it's not perfect. But it's still lovely. This friend of mine has possibly the most beautiful singing voice that I have ever heard in person — it cuts me right to the bone every time I have the good fortune of hearing... continue reading at Fluent Every Year