“How many words do I need to know in order to learn this language?” As a language coach, I’ve been (pleasantly) surprised that I haven’t heard his question more often. But people do sometimes wonder what level of vocabulary they’ll need in order to function. The first question you need to ask in order to…
You can talk all day long about language-learning methodology and what the best ways are to become a more proficient participator in a language and culture. And while these are important things to think about—how you go about learning a language has significant implications for how well you succeed—yet the single most important factor for…
As a language learning coach, when I discuss with people their language learning plans, they often tell me, “I’m a visual learner. I have to see the word on the page in order to remember it.” Ten years ago, I would have said the same thing. But what does it mean to be a visual…
Ask someone what the hardest language in the world to learn is, and they’ll probably tell you something like Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, or another language vastly different from English. Yet the truth is that there is no one “hardest” language. The difficulty of a language depends on the learner and his or her linguistic background:…
What makes a good language learner? Many people ask whether there are certain traits or skills which make some people better language learners than others. Does it take a mathematical mind to decode grammar? A musical ear to hear unfamiliar sounds? Someone with a great memory? Or is language learning aptitude, as it is often…
Some of us are talkers; speaking comes naturally, and we almost always have something to say. Others of us, however, are much more comfortable listening, and marvel at how some people can seem to talk endlessly without ever coming up for air. Whether or not you have the gift of loquaciousness will no doubt affect…
So those are the most important philosophical underpinnings of GPA. Now on to the approach itself. GPA is divided into 6 phases, each of which I’ll describe briefly. Phase 1: the Here and Now Phase. In this phase, you start out not being able to participate at all. So you need a lot of non-verbal…
Most everyone in the world has tried to learn another language, if only a few words. And there are almost as many language learning methods out there as there are language learners: everyone has his or her own method, however well-defined it is or not. But not all methods are created equally. Some simply conform…