The long flight back from Singapore at the end of my "Minimmersion" Indonesian language project in Indonesia gave me time to get stuck into editing footage from the Polyglot Conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, from where my wonderful trip kicked off thee weeks ago. My Conference vlog is now ready (link at the bottom of this post). This vlog is for you if you weren't there … [Read more...]
At large at Language Show Live (vlog)
I've just attended Language Show Live at London's Olympia. The show - which is free - is held there over three days every October (and, since last year, there's one in March, in Glasgow). The event's core is a large hall packed with exhibitors including publishers, app developers, language schools, educational agencies and cultural institutions. I went on Saturday and Sunday … [Read more...]
Polyglot Gathering 3: the movie
"H2GF at Large" is back, this time with a vlog from the 3rd Polyglot Gathering. The film has been strewn across the cutting room floor here at Howtogetfluent Towers since I got back from Berlin (quite a few weeks ago) but now....(drum roll)....here's the vlog. It was actually at the 2nd Gathering, last year, that I decided it would be fun to have a go in this medium and I … [Read more...]
At the Polyglot Gathering 2016
Summer 2016 in Berlin began as language enthusiasts converged from far and wide for the third Polyglot Gathering. The sun was out, the temperature rose, the lilac bloomed. A bright yellow budget hostel in the Lehrterstrasse became once again, for four heady days, the pop-up capital of world language learning. I attended talks and workshops, practised my languages, drank my … [Read more...]
At Language Show Live: a vlog
Now my intensive German preparation for the C1 Goethe Institut exam is behind me, I've finally been able to sit down and finish editing my vlog from Language Show Live (link at the end). The Show is a huge language teaching and learning fair-meets-educational event held once a year at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, west London. This was the third year in a … [Read more...]
“Core Vocabulary” – a second vlog from the Polyglot Conference, New York City
Here's the second vlog from the Polyglot Conference in New York City. This time, the clue's in the title and I share the vlog with you as a bit of multilingual fun. Thanks to the fifty conference-goers who took part. They spoke thirty-six languages. There would have been quite a few more (languages and people), had not various contributions, erm, failed to record. I … [Read more...]
Vlogging the Polyglot Conference
As promised in my recent review of the Polyglot Conference in New York City, here (drumroll) is a short film about my visit. I've long wanted to try my hand at vlogging. There's still a lot to learn, but, once I'd bought a new camera (on the same trip), I started shooting at once. "Howtogetfluent at the Polyglot Conference" is the main video I've got lined up from the … [Read more...]
“With my people”: in New York City for the third Polyglot Conference
Thanks to the choice of venue for this year's Polyglot Conference (an international gathering of over 400 language learning enthusiasts), I finally got chance to pay a second visit to New York City. Here are some personal impressions from my own distinct route through this great metropolis and an overview of what went on at the Conference. A Basque welcome: "ongi etorri New … [Read more...]
How do you become an interpreter? What is working as an interpreter like?
Is there any more powerful a display of language learning mastery than the magic of an interpreter in full flow? If you’ve recently started learning language and are appreciative of the sheer scale of the task ahead, it may seem like an unattainable goal. If you’re already skilled in one or more foreign languages and thinking about a language career, you may be … [Read more...]
The Polyglot Gathering 2015: top language learners’ tips and reflections
When you put three hundred language enthusiasts from all over the world in a box and shake it up for four days you're bound to get some good ideas about how to learn a foreign language. That's what happened at the second Polyglot Gathering (Berlin, May 2015). In this post I want to give you a taste of the event and pass on some top polyglots' language learning tips. Let's … [Read more...]