I've finished the final week of my one-month summer “language sprint”. For the last four weeks I've upped the work I'm doing on Basic Japanese Project, from 30 mins a day, seven days a week, to one hour a day, five times a week and aimed to put in another hour at my intermediate Basque. Here, then, is the final diary-style update on how this summer study of Japanese and … [Read more...]
Basque/Japanese diary: Week Three
I'm already at the end of week three of my summer “language sprint”. The "sprint" is a boost to the work on Japanese that I was already aiming to do as part of my nine-month Basic Japanese Project, plus, more time than usual on my on-going Basque learning (I'm an intermediate level learner). For a month, I'm aiming to do an hour a day on each language, five days a week. I … [Read more...]
“Dr Popkins Method?” Keeping going at language learning
If your methods are good, or even just ok, keeping going at language learning may be the most important ingredient of all when you want to get fluent. ln a recent post, I looked at the things that fill me with enthusiasm about learning a language. But what about when enthusiasm starts to wane? It's time to move from language learning carrots to things that may work more like … [Read more...]
Ten reasons why you should learn Portuguese….and why Spanish can wait
I'm sometimes asked in surprise why I've chosen to learn Portuguese instead of its close - and more pushy - relative, Spanish. Unlike Spanish, Portuguese is hardly ever taught as a foreign language in schools in English-speaking countries. It's taken up only by only a small number of adult learners, most of whom seem to have already studied Spanish. Do we approve? No! No! … [Read more...]