Does learning foreign languages get easier with experience? In today's post, I'll draw on my own experience learning Welsh, Russian, German and French to a fairly advanced level, Basque to intermediate and several other languages to lower levels, particularly (most recently) Japanese. It's a nuanced picture, of course. let's look together at different aspects of the language … [Read more...]
Shadowing for language learning, explained
Shadowing is a deceptively simple, little-known language learning technique. You take a native audio recording, with a transcript and you speak along at as close to the same time as you can. That's it. Shadowing is sometimes recommended to trainee conference interpreters, which suggests that it's a well-serious method, worth closer investigation. In this article we'll look at … [Read more...]
Do these key causes explain YOUR foreign accent?
Worried about your foreign accent or just want to tune it up a bit? You're in the right place! This is the first of a series on sounding good in you your target language. I'm calling it Pronunciation Plus! We all want to make sure that a thick foreign accent does not get in the way of good communication. It's really important to win the confidence of your conversation … [Read more...]