Recently I wrote about how one of the biggest struggles people face when learning another language is finding time (according to many of you who I surveyed). The response I gave can pretty much be summed up like this: Minimalist living → Less work → Less hours stuck doing things that enslave us → More… [Read More]
8 Ways That My Punishing Fitness Regimen Has Enhanced My Learning
I find that the gym is one of the best places to meet new people and practice the language when I move to a new foreign country. Over the last two years, I’ve relocated to South Korea, Russia, Italy and now Egypt. Four countries. In all of these places joining the local gym has been… [Read More]
Every Time You Fail It’s A Stepping Stone On The Path To Fluency
Привет from freezing (currently -23 °c) Tatarstan! 🙂 I’ve now been in Russia for just over a week and so far it’s been a great move coming here. As an Aussie from the coast of sunny Queensland where I pretty much only wear shorts and t-shirts in Winter, this land-locked, frozen city is taking a bit… [Read More]
The Real Reason You Forgot The Language You Studied In School
Do we gradually forget languages? What happened to the foreign languages we learned in school? Are they lost and can we pick them up again quickly if they are? Now that my year in Korea is over, I’ve been spending some time over the last few weeks getting in some practise with other languages before heading… [Read More]
How Going Public Can Supercharge Your Motivation To Learn Languages
I’ve just come back from a great weekend at the Problogger Event with 450 other bloggers (put together by Darren Rowse of Problogger). As a writer and someone passionate about being part of an online community it was great to feed off the energy of so many like-minded people! *** G’day all! 🙂 I have a… [Read More]
Language Learning and Anti-Social Excuses: I’m an Introvert!
UPDATE: As is always expected, this kind of post draws defensive reactions from some people – especially those who are learning languages for the sole purpose of reading literature or for academic reasons. While I do believe that reading skills are greatly enhanced by speaking practise, this post is mainly directed at people who are… [Read More]
How To Keep Smiling Through The ‘Bad Days’ Of Language Learning
G’day all! I’m just back from a late Korean hangout and pretty damn tired so I have a video rather than a written post this week! 🙂 Today I want to share a short video post with you to talk about how we should best respond to the bad days that we all experience when… [Read More]
How To Never Learn A Language And Ruin Your Life In The Process
One thing that I’ve really tried to cultivate here over the past 5 years is a sense of community. Whilst language learning is usually thought of and undertaken as a personal endeavour, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that spoken languages are an interpersonal skill and therefore have everything to do with other people. It’s hard to… [Read More]
