Learning languages can be an exciting, thrilling process. But it also takes a lot of time and, if you're "in" for the long haul, you'll have your ups and downs. Here are three encouraging truths to buck you up a bit next time you're starting to flag. Why you're good enough to get fluent, even if others are better If you're anything like me, you may sometimes look at … [Read more...]
Learning minority languages: overcoming negative attitudes
The off-putting attitudes of others don't help us language learners at the best of times. What are the particular negative attitudes you might encounter as a learner of a minority, lesser-used or endangered language and how can you overcome them? This is the latest in our learning minority languages series. Now, I'm not suggesting for a moment that the discouraging … [Read more...]
Have you got the fluency mindset?
One of the biggest differences between successful language learners and those who give up before they get fluent is attitude. We all need to check our fluency mindset now and again, just to make sure we're not turning into our own worst enemies. Here are seven mindset shifts for language learning success. 1. From "learning a language" to "mastering the next stage". … [Read more...]
Basque/Japanese diary: Week Four
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 … [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
Should I learn Spanish or Portuguese? Well, I'm sometimes asked in surprise why I've chosen to learn Portuguese instead of its close - and more pushy - relative, Spanish. After all, most people learn Spanish not Portuguese. 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 … [Read more...]