One of the most popular posts on Howtogetfluent is my overview of a career in interpreting. I'm delighted that translator pro Karen Rutland has agreed to be interviewed for this new, companion piece offering advice for a career as a translator, which I think will be just as useful. This also follows on nicely from last week's look at translation as a language learning method. … [Read more...]
Translation as a language learning method: why and how
On my first trip to Russia, I got a lesson in translation as a language learning method. I met a young man about my age who spoke astonishingly good English, even though he'd never had the opportunity to travel. It was 1990 and Russia was only just opening up to the west. He explained, proudly, that he'd perfected his knowledge English by translating the whole of The Lord of … [Read more...]
How long does it take to learn a language? The truth!
How long does it take to learn a language? The research suggests it takes between 400 and 2200 hours of study plus a lot of practice to learn a foreign language. In this post we'll explore key variables. You'll get clear on the nature of the task so that you can pace yourself realistically if you're thinking of starting to learn a foreign language in 2023 or if you've been … [Read more...]
Icelandic’s success as an inspiration for Welsh and Europe’s other “lesser used” languages.
There a host of reasons why I was looking forward to going to Iceland and learning some Icelandic for the first time. One of them was to compare the Icelandic and Welsh linguistic situations. The two languages are not closely related. Icelandic is a Germanic language and Welsh a Celtic one. They do both share the characteristic of having a relatively small number of … [Read more...]
Reading for fluency…and pleasure in your foreign language
When you're reading for pleasure, you're focussed on narrative, atmosphere, character, action. The individual details (and words) may not be as important as the pervading message. This post is about how to smooth the flow of such "extensive" reading in your foreign language. In the first post in this series on reading in your foreign language, we saw how important reading is … [Read more...]