You are never too old to learn a language

Many people use the excuse that they are too old to learn a language.  However, I have recently had a Cantonese student who has learnt English to a very high level at the age of 82!

As people get older, they usually acquire more responsibilities with work and family.  During this period, most people are usually more fatigued than when they were carefree teenagers.  Once a person has retired, people generally want to take things more slowly too.  This lack of energy for people in their older years is at odds to people who are still in their teenage years and tend to have a zest for life.

This lack of energy for most older people is the reason that learning a language feels like a difficult task.  However, all you need to do is find a way to bring some daily consistent energy into your language learning process.  At the same time, try to make your language learning process fun.  Read, watch movies, do language exchanges and meet new people.  If you do this, you will learn a language to a very high level regardless of your age.

Do intensive language courses work?

Always there are advertisements to learn a language intensively and hence reach your language learning goal more quickly.  But do they work?

My own experience as a language teacher is that if you keep active in your target language through speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar, your language level will rise regardless of whether you do intensive language courses or not.   

Some people like to study extremely intensively for a number of months and then relax for awhile whilst others like to do little but consistent study but take a longer time period to reach their goal.  There is no one size fits all here.  It is what suits you as a person and what suits your current lifestyle.

5 steps to learn your prepositions

Prepositions are always hard to master in a target language.   Below are 5 steps to help you master these little tricksters.

1.  Memorise the verb or noun with the preposition.

2.  Practice prepositions in a grammar book and if available, with preposition games online.

3.  Practice writing where someone can correct your work.

4.  If you are thick-skinned, practice talking to someone who can correct your spoken mistakes.

5.  Rely simply on listening and reading so that it becomes instinctive as to when to use a certain preposition. 
  

Step number 5 is certainly more attractive than the first 4 steps as it will feel a lot less like work and generally more enjoyable.  Yet, if you rely on this step alone, it could take many years until you master your prepositions.  If you follow all five steps however, you will definitely be a lot more accurate when using your target language prepositions.

Why you need to enjoy learning your foreign language

If you are bored with your grammar book or find yourself daydreaming when reading because you don’t understand enough to find it pleasurable, then ditch it!

Working through something you are not enjoying means you won’t be concentrating.  If you are not concentrating, you will not learn anything.  If you continue trying to force yourself, you may end up hating your foreign language forever.

Do all the things you enjoy doing normally but do it in your foreign language.  Do you like movies?  If so, watch movies in your foreign language.  Do you like meeting new people?  Then meet new people who speak your target language.

If you do what you enjoy when learning a language, it shouldn’t feel like it’s a lot of work.  It should feel like fun.  Having fun is the right path to language learning success.

Is passive listening worth doing for learning a language?

There are many debates around as to whether passive listening for long periods of time works well for learning a language.  Some language learners believe it helps to have audio playing all day long and not really pay any attention to it.  Then there are other learners who believe that doing this is of limited value.  Instead, you should listen whilst concentrating on what is being said.

Unfortunately, I have never seen any research that concludes this in one way or another.

However, I can’t help but think of all those songs where I know the words and I have only ever heard them a dozen times on the radio.  Or the advertising jingles that stick in your head for a whole day.  Even if I am only remembering the words “it’s only half price today!  Call now on 123 123!”  This is still etching words and numbers into my mind with really limited effort.

Of course, the better your listening skills in your target language, the more you will get out of passive listening.  Yet even as a beginner, I can’t help but think that listening to the sounds of the language will help later as your level improves.  This is because you actually hear the tones, the accent of the speakers and the actual sounds of the language.  These are also crucial for learning a language for both listening and pronunciation skills.

Personally, I actually recommend you combine concentrating as hard as you can and at others, you relax and listen passively.

So for those moments when you are busy working on your computer, getting ready for work or school etc don’t forget to put that radio on in the background.  A little bit of chatter on the radio and a little bit of music could be a great way to spend some valuable time with your target language and improve your listening skills. 

Learn English through music

What could be more fun than learning a language through music?  Utilising You Tube, you can find out what the lyrics are to your favourite English songs and you can sing along.  Or you could even do some karaoke with a group of friends and have a real giggle!

Below is a little fun exercise.  All you need to do is fill in the gaps with the words below.  Can you work out where the words fit in below?

Take That: Could It Be Magic?
This song and blog entry is dedicated to Merche :o)

my

last

magic

world

sun

move

you

hillside

mind

arms

answers

leave

Spirits _______ me, every time I'm near you
Whirling like a cyclone in my _______
You're my life line, angel of _______ lifetime
Answer to all _______ I can find

CHORUS:
Baby I want you come, come, come into my _______
Let me feel the wonder of all of _______
Could it be _______ now, now, now and hold on fast
Could this be the magic at _______

Baby take me high upon a _______
High up where the stallion meets the _______
I could love you build my _______ around you
Never _______ you till my life is done

CHORUS
Baby I want you come, come, come into my _______
Let me feel the wonder of all of you
Could it be _______ now, now, now and hold on fast
Could this be the magic at _______

Answer:

Spirits move me, every time I'm near you
Whirling like a cyclone in my mind 
You're my life line, angel of my lifetime
Answer to all answers I can find

CHORUS:
Baby I want you come, come, come into my arms 
Let me feel the wonder of all of you 
Could it be magic now, now, now and hold on fast
Could this be the magic at last 

Baby take me high upon a hillside 
High up where the stallion meets the sun 
I could love you build my world around you
Never leave you till my life is done

CHORUS
Baby I want you come, come, come into my arms 
Let me feel the wonder of all of you
Could it be magic now, now, now and hold on fast
Could this be the magic at lastBottom of Form

The advantages of having an online language log

Having an online language log is a really fantastic idea to track your progress in language learning.  You could update your log once or more times a week to record all sorts of different details.  These details could cover how much time you have spent with your language, to practice writing in your target language, to cover your language learning moods, materials that you have utilised or some sort of combination of all of these. 

Tracking these details online in your language learning path can be really beneficial for the following reasons:

1. You can see your actual progress and this will help you remain motivated.

2.  Knowing that other people online are following your language learning path can also help keep you motivated. 

3. Other people are likely to comment in your log at times and this will also help with motivation.

4. Keeps you focused on what you are doing to learn your target language.

5. It is easy to have lots of enthusiasm when you start to learn a language but it is also easy to lose this initial enthusiasm.  A language log can help you stay focused and remind you of your initial enthusiasm.

6. It’s helpful to get a better overview of what works and what doesn’t work for you in your language learning path.

7. If you write parts of your log in your target language, you can practice your language at the same time.

8. More likely to meet people online who are following a similar language learning path to yourself and this can also help with motivation.

So where do you keep your online language log?  Well, there are actually two different options. 

The first option is to use a blog, for example like this blog by Teango.  A blog from Google Blogger is free and easy to use. 

Alternatively, you can start a language log in the forum of the site how-to-learn-any-language.com.  In these forums, you can write your log in any language you like.  At the end of each year, for those who wish to participate, they create ‘teams’ so that people can help their team-mates stick to their language learning dreams.

If you really are not keen on having a language learning log online, you can, of course, also do a private log. 

Whatever you do, have fun whilst following your language learning dreams.

"Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough." - James Barry

You can never speak a language by just studying it

I have sadly met many students and friends who have told me how they have spent years at school studying a language but they still feel they can’t speak it.  This is often said with lots of shame as if there is something wrong with their capabilities.

But there isn’t anything wrong with their capabilities.  Nor is it the fault of their study materials or their teacher. 

The reason why they cannot communicate in the language is that it's impossible to improve your listening or speaking skills by looking at a grammar book alone. So the only thing ‘wrong’ is that they need to start practising the language.

You need to practice listening, speaking, reading and writing in your target language.   Don’t worry about the mistakes.  In time, you can focus on your mistakes and eradicate them.   When you were a child, could you communicate perfectly straight away?  Of course not!  It took time and that’s the same for learning a language now that you are older. 

So if you have learnt a language via the academic route but still feel terrible about your level, don’t worry, you are normal!  Now you have a good theoretical basis of your language and you only need to practice. 

One other thing, don’t forget to have fun with it too!

The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words.
- George Eliot

12 advantages of being an older person when learning a language

It takes years before a young toddler can start to have a conversation in their native language.  So why do we all believe the myth that only kids can learn languages?

In many ways, being an older language learner has advantages that young people do not have.  It really is never too late to start learning a language.  Having taught an 86 year old woman to successfully learn English, I know this is very true.

So here are the advantages of being an older person learning languages:

1. You will have better focus because you are more likely to have a clear goal in your mind.

2. Because you have a clear goal in your mind, you will be more determined.

3. More likely to have intrinsic motivation to succeed.

3. You will have more money to pay for excellent study materials.

4. You will have more money to pay for a tutor for 1-on-1 lessons.

5. You will have more money to pay for classes.

6. Can interact much better with your language tutors.

7. You will have more money to travel to a country where your language is spoken.

8. You will have more stamina for studying for long periods of time.

9. Less likely to feel ashamed when you make mistakes.

10. Unlike young people, older people are more likely to study outside of class.  The more hours you put into your language, the more you will get out of it.

11. Less likely to feel stressed out over passing tests.

12. Likely to know the types of study methods that work the best for you.

I’m going to be balanced in this summary and give the disadvantages of being a mature language learner too.

1.  Less time to travel.

2.  Less time to attend classes and for study in general.

3.  This one is the most frustrating for adult learners.  Once your physical palate is set, it is really difficult to learn a language so that you sound like a native.  However, there’s nothing wrong with speaking a language with an accent.  Even native speakers of a language have different accents too!

4.  Class materials can be aimed at young people rather than older people which can be tiresome.

5.  Less likely to be in an educational environment and some people need this to remain motivated.

6.  If you haven’t kept your mind active over the years, you can be more prone to forgetting things at first.

7.  It’s harder to find language partners of your age group.

8.  Because learning languages at school is largely unsuccessful, many adults then believe they are incapable of learning languages.  This isn’t true. Forget any classes of languages you ever had at school!

As an adult, you have many advantages to be a successful language learner.  So never give up your language learning dreams!

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. Abraham Lincoln

100 most common English words

Below is a list of the 100 most common words in English based on an analysis made by the Oxford English Corpus.

The first 25 words of this list makes up one-third of all printed material in English. 
The first 100 words make up about one half of all written material in English!

To complete this list, I have listed some well-known English proverbs so that you can see these common words in use.

Rank	Word	English proverb using this common word
1	the	The more the merrier
2	be	Beggars should not be choosers
3	to	Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
4	of	Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
5	and	Better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt
6	a	Birds of a feather flock together
7	in	Don't put all your eggs in one basket
8	that	It's the early bird that catches the worm
9	have	It’s better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all
10	I	There’s no I in team.
Rank	Word
11	it	If anything can go wrong, it will
12	for	In for a penny, in for a pound
13	not	Man does not live by bread alone
14	on	Money doesn't grow on trees
15	with	A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
16	he	If God had meant us to fly he'd have given us wings
17	as	There are none so blind as those that will not see
18	you	You are never too old to learn
19	do	When in Rome, do as the Romans do
20	at	You can't tell a book by looking at its cover
Rank	Word
21	this	Two things are constant in this life: death and taxes
22	but	Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die
23	his	The devil looks after his own
24	by	A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle
25	from	From the sublime to the ridiculous is only one step
26	they	The bigger they are, the harder they fall
27	we	Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die
28	say	Do as I say, not as I do
29	her	A son is a son 'till he gets him a wife; a daughter's a daughter all her life
30	she	A woman is like a cup of tea; you'll never know how strong she is until she boils
Rank	Word
31	or	Say something nice or say nothing at all
32	an	An apple a day keeps the doctor away
33	will	A drowning man will clutch at a straw
34	my	Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
35	one	There's one born every minute
36	all	You can't win them all
37	would	Do unto others as you would have them do to you
38	there	There's always more fish in the sea
39	their	Cowards may die many times before their death
40	what	Life is what you make it
Rank	Word
41	so	There's nowt so queer as folk
42	up	What goes up must come down
43	out	Truth will out
44	if	If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again
45	about	Always care about your flowers and your friends. Otherwise they'll fade, and soon your house will be empty
46	who	He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day
47	get	If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys
48	which	That which does not kill us makes us stronger
49	go	There but for the grace of God, go I
50	me	Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies
Rank	Word
51	when	When the going gets tough, the tough get going
52	make	You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink
53	can	Don't try to walk before you can crawl
54	like	Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
55	time	Nature, time, and patience are three great physicians
56	no	See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
57	just	The darkest hour is just before the dawn
58	him	If God had wanted man to fly, he would have given him wings
59	know	It takes one to know one
60	take	You pay your money and you take your choice
Rank	Word
61	person	A person is known by the company he keeps
62	into	Into every life a little rain must fall
63	year	There is only eight years between success and failure in politics.
64	your	As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it
65	good	A change is as good as a rest
66	some	Keep some till more come
67	could	The greatest thing that could happen in my lifetime is for all my ideas to be stolen.
68	them	Don't cross your bridges before you come to them
69	see	What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over
70	other	The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
Rank	Word
71	than	Actions speak louder than words
72	then	If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain
73	now	It is fun to do something foolish every now and then
74	look	Look before you leap
75	only	Beauty is only skin deep
76	come	All things come to those who wait
77	its	Never judge a book by its cover
78	over	It ain't over till the fat lady sings
79	think	Great minds think alike
80	also	Based on the Bible (Gal. 6:7): "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Rank	Word
81	back	Failure is not falling down, you fail when you don't get back up
82	after	It is easy to be wise after the event
83	use	It's no use crying over spilt milk
84	two	There are two sides to every question
85	how	One half of the world does not know how the other half lives
86	our	We can't always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future
87	work	A woman's work is never done
88	first	First things first
89	well	All's well that ends well
90	way	The way to a man's heart is through his stomach
Rank	Word
91	even	Never give a sucker an even break
92	new	A new broom sweeps clean
93	want	If you want a thing done well, do it yourself
94	because	A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
95	any	If you don't know where you're going, any train will get you there
96	these	One of these days is none of these days.
97	give	Give a man rope enough and he will hang himself
98	day	Every dog has his day
99	most	An empty vessel makes the most noise
100	us	Let us go hand in hand,not one before another

The following is a breakdown of the 100 most common words in English listed as nouns, verbs, adjectives and/or prepositions.

Nouns                  1. time 2. person 3. year 4. way 5. day 6. thing 7. man 8. world 9. life 10. hand 11. part 12. child 13. eye 14. woman 15. place 16. work 17. week 18. case 19. point 20. government          21. company 22. number 23. group 24. problem 25. fact

Verbs                   1. be 2. have 3. do 4. say 5. get 6. make 7. go 8. know 9. take 10. see 11. come 12. think 13. look 14. want 15. give 16. use 17. find 18. tell 19. ask 20. work 21. seem 22. feel 23. try 24. leave 25. call

Adjectives                1. good 2. new 3. first 4. last 5. long 6. great 7. little 8. own 9. other 10. old 11. right 12. big 13. high 14. different 15. small 16. large 17. next 18. early 19. young 20. important 21. few 22. public 23. bad 24. same 25. able 26. some

Prepositions 1. to 2. of 3. in 4. for 5. on 6. with 7. at 8. by 9. from 10. up 11. about 12. into 13. over 14. after

The AJATT method for language fluency

The all Japanese all the time (AJATT) method covers how a native English speaking person can learn Japanese in 18 months without attending classes.  However, this method can be applied to learning any language.

Advocates claim that the AJATT method works so without further ado, this is the basic concept of the AJATT method.

1.  Belief

Believe fully that you can reach fluency in your target language.   After all, many people of many different ages have done it up to now and many will continue to reach fluency in your target language in the future.

2.  Immersion

This is absolutely central to the AJATT method.  Create an immersion environment.  This means you maximise every opportunity to receive input in your target language.  Therefore you should listen to the radio, read books, watch films, use electronic devices, look on Wikipedia and play video games in your target language.

If anything gets boring or just not enjoyable, ditch it and do something else in your target language instead. 

3. Learn vocabulary/phrases

At first, you start off by learning the 2000 most common words in your target language.  This will be constantly reinforced by all the input that you are doing with your immersion.

Once you have learnt the 2000 most common words in your target language, you then start to learn whole phrases and sentences.  You do this by using the Spaced Repetition System (SRS). 

What do I think?

What I truly like about this method is that it recommends to only do stuff that you like for the immersion component.  I personally always think this is important with learning languages so that you never burn out and give up.

However, for me personally, I would want to add lots of conversation practice too.

Whichever method you choose to learn a language, if you enjoy it and it works for you, then it’s the right method for you.

Drink to speak better?

Despite being a native English speaker from the UK, I have heard people with strong accents from places like Glasgow in Scotland become completely incomprehensible after a couple of pints from the local pub. They change from native fellow English speakers into someone who makes an unintelligible slurring sound where one word runs straight into the next. So do we really speak a foreign language better when we are drunk?

After a drink or two, I have noticed that people trying to speak a foreign language, don’t worry so much about mistakes or mispronunciations. This means they are speaking worst than normal...

Yet, I feel there is a flip side to this. After a drink or two, I have also noticed that people are more confident and do not have any inhibitions. This results in actually sounding better! Where someone would probably normally keep quiet, they will waffle. This waffling combined with not worrying about errors means they really do sound more fluent, despite the mistakes.

I want to hasten to add that I don’t want to turn everyone into drunks.  However, my conclusion is I think maybe enjoying a glass or two may well help your ability to communicate in a foreign language.

Can you speak a foreign language better after a glass or two?

Can you learn a language from watching the TV?

I have heard tales of people who claim to have learnt a second language only from watching the TV. Even in the Scandinavian countries and in the Netherlands where they watch the TV in English a lot of the time, many of them tend to speak English practically like a native. So it must be true, mustn’t it?

Well, I don’t think this is the complete story. If you look at how a child learns a language, they may watch the TV but they also try to communicate with others, are regularly corrected when they don’t say things quite right and mum and dad will read books to them. This is a lot of different techniques to learn how to speak their native language.

Watching the TV without comprehending anything is likely to remain a meaningless stream of noise apart from perhaps the odd word.

What makes the Scandinavian and the people from the Netherlands different is that they watch hours and hours of TV in English and at the same time, they have many years of English lessons at school. Doing all those lessons in grammar doesn’t teach you how to actually speak in your target language but it definitely provides a very good foundation. So if you combined your years of grammar studies with a lot of TV, I think this really does get you far! Combine grammar and TV with regular conversation practice or even better, immersion and well, your ability in that language will probably sky-rocket. I think this is where the ‘I watched TV only’ myth comes from...

Anyway, you may not be able to learn a language from TV alone but watching a lot of TV will help. I also think that anything that involves watching TV to learn, just can’t be too bad!

8 techniques to use if you are too shy to speak in your target language

If you are too shy to speak in your target language, here are 8 techniques that you can utilise to help.

1. Remember no one will be able to speak a foreign language without making mistakes.

2. Try to have a layer of thick skin.  If people correct you, they are not judging you but helping you get better at communicating in your target language.

3. Try to utilise chat-rooms such as at SharedTalk.com.  You may never speak to the same person again so it doesn’t matter what, or how well, you say something.

4. Record yourself talking and then listen back to help improve your pronunciation and help build up your confidence at the same time.

5. Watch lots and lots of TV combined with listening to the radio and other people of your target language.  Over time, you do sub-consciously learn the way people say things.

6. Do cognitive therapy where a professional can help you change your reactions so that you feel less shy and judged when you try to communicate with other people.

7. Find a kindly and patient tutor on-line.  A tutor is not there to judge you; they are there to help you.

8. Go somewhere where you have no choice but to utilise your foreign language.  This may be in a language class or in a country of your target language.  There is nothing like being thrown in the deep end to get you talking!

There are many great people who speak your target language and if you practice speaking, you are likely to find these great people.

10 ways to learn a language when you are too busy

Consistent contact with your target language is important to improve your level.  However, even if you have a hectic lifestyle, there are ways to include your target language every day.   Below, I have listed 10 ways to learn a language when you are too busy to do so.

1.            Getting showered and dressed for the day

Getting ready for the day is the perfect time to listen to podcasts, music or the radio.  Why not start the day passing a bit of time with your target language?

2.            Commuting

If you commute by car, obviously you can listen to your target language.  If you commute by train or bus, your options extend to reading too.  This is great for chewing up otherwise dead time.

3.            Queuing in the bank, supermarket, for an elevator etc. 

For all those times when you need to queue such as in a bank, at the supermarket, for an elevator etc, you can carry flashcards around with you and then practice vocabulary and phrases of your target language.

4.            Walking

If you have an IPod or something similar, you can listen to music or podcasts whilst enjoying the fresh air.

5.            Making a tea or a coffee

Making a tea or a coffee is the perfect opportunity to start thinking and daydreaming in your target language. 

Maybe you could imagine yourself in your ideal location talking to a fabulous someone in your target language.  What are you going to say, what are they going to say back to you?   Sounds dreamy!

6.            Housework

Doing the dishes, sorting out the laundry, doing the ironing and most other housework duties are perfect opportunities to listen to the radio, music or podcasts.

7.            Working on the computer

If you need to work or do homework on your computer, why not listen to your target language in the background at the same time?

8.            Researching on the computer

If you need to research something on the computer, why not do it in your target language?  What an awesome way to learn a language.

 

9.            Too tired to do anything

The perfect antidote if you are too tired and drained but want to spend time with your target language is to watch a TV show or a film you greatly enjoy.  Use subtitles if you need to.  Then just relax.

10.          Getting ready for bed

After a stressful and busy day, you can relax reading or LR in bed for 15 minutes or so before going to sleep.   Sweet dreams.

I am scared of making mistakes

I have a friend who is trying to learn English.  She told me a few weeks back that she feels scared to try to speak in English with other people because she thinks she will make mistakes and overall, she will speak ‘badly’.

I felt a little mortified by these words. 

How can you become good in a language if you don’t practice and make mistakes?  You can’t go from being a learner to perfect without practice and making lots and lots of mistakes on the way.  It’s ok to speak slowly, to be hesitant and to even express yourself incorrectly.  However, every time you practice, you will start to speak more quickly, more confidently and you will start to make fewer mistakes. 

Wherever you are in the world, you will always meet impatient people or people who are in a hurry.   These people will not or cannot take the time to communicate at a slower pace than they would with another native or fluent speaking person. 

However, don’t let this impatient minority of people put you off practicing.  Be stubborn and move on and talk to someone else.  If you are reasonably nice, you will always find many fantastic and patient people who would love nothing better than to chat to you.  If you still feel intimidated at the idea of practicing with natives, find a kindly and patient teacher.  They are not there to judge you but to help you.

If you want to learn English, then I really advise to practice conversing in English as much as possible.  It really is the best way to improve.

Language quotes and sayings

Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands and goes to work.  ~Carl Sandburg, New York Times, 13 February 1959

At no time is freedom of speech more precious than when a man hits his thumb with a hammer.  ~Marshall Lumsden

One man's frankness is another man's vulgarity.  ~Kevin Smith

I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain.  ~Jane Wagner  

It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.  ~Franklin P. Jones

In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer.  ~Mark Twain

Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.  ~Edward R. Murrow

If you can speak three languages you're trilingual.  If you can speak two languages you're bilingual.  If you can speak only one language you're an American.  ~Author Unknown

I like the word "indolence." It makes my laziness seem classy.  ~Bern Williams

Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go quite true. ~Samuel Johnson

Language is the means of getting an idea from my brain into yours without surgery.  ~Mark Amidon       

Any man who does not make himself proficient in at least two languages other than his own is a fool.  ~Martin H. Fischer

Our language is funny - a fat chance and slim chance are the same thing.  ~J. Gustav White

Swearing was invented as a compromise between running away and fighting.  ~Peter Finley Dunne, Mr. Dooley's Opinions, 1900

The existing phrasebooks are inadequate.  They are well enough as far as they go, but when you fall down and skin your leg they don't tell you what to say.  ~Mark Twain

A different language is a different vision of life.  ~Federico Fellini

Learn a new language and get a new soul.  ~Czech Proverb

How many languages can I learn at the same time?

The answer to this is simple.  You can learn as many languages as you like at the same time. 

However, when you first start to learn a language, it requires a lot of effort.   It is well known that starting a new language, especially your first, is the hardest stage to work through.  Therefore, in the early stages of learning a language, I would recommend to only focus on one language at that level at any one time.

However, once this challenging stage is over and you reach the intermediate stage in your first language, you can then pick up your next language whilst continuing with your first.  Providing you have the time and energy, you can then easily work on two or more languages at the same time. 

Learning languages has to be one of the most rewarding processes ever.  All it takes is a regular time commitment with each language, ideally every day.   This is the only secret to your fluency dreams in many foreign languages.

How to practice writing in a different language online

There are a couple of ways to practice writing online. 

The first place I would recommend is lang-8.com. This free online resource enables language learners to write in their target language.  A native speaker of your target language corrects your written work.  You then reciprocate by correcting someone else’s work written in your native language. 

The advantages of lang-8.com are that it is free, you don’t need to feel embarrassed of your mistakes because everyone else is making mistakes too, your work gets corrected so that you can learn from it and it is always an extremely active website.

The disadvantages of lang-8.com are that it can be hard to think of new topics to write about.  For languages that are very popular like English, it can take awhile for a native English speaker to correct your work because there are always many English written pieces waiting to be corrected.  This is the same for more obscure languages too where there is a lack of native speakers available to correct your work.

The second place I would recommend to practice writing online is in various forums of your target language. 

The advantages of writing in forums are that they are free and you can get involved in discussions that you are genuinely interested about.  You will also come across a lot of slang and colloquialisms that you won’t find in an academic language learning book.

The disadvantages of writing in forums are that they can be rather intimidating if you know that you are probably going to be making mistakes.  Some forums can be very aggressive in style too so you would also need to be careful to select forums that have a more friendly atmosphere.  No-one will correct your errors either and finally, not all native speakers write well in forums.

Whatever you do to practice writing, just be sure to enjoy it.

Learn English through music

What could be more fun than learning a language through music? Utilising You Tube, you can find out what the lyrics are to your favourite English songs and you can sing along. Or you could even do some karaoke with a group of friends and have a real giggle!

Below is a little fun exercise.  All you need to do is fill in the gaps with the words below.  Can you work out where the words fit in below?

I WILL SURVIVE By Gloria Gaynor

be, can, change, die, feel, grow, know, have, keep, lay,  learn, make, walk,  spend, take, try, use

At first I ______ afraid; I ______ petrified,
______ thinking I ______ never live without you by my side,
But then I ______ so many nights thinking how you did me wrong,
And I ______ strong, and ______ how to get along.
So you're back, from outer space
I just ______ in to find you here with that sad look upon your face,
I should have ______ that stupid lock,
I should have ______ you leave your key,
If I'd ______ for just one second you'd be back to bother me,
Oh and now GO! Walk out the door! Just turn around now,
'Cause you're not welcome anymore!
Weren't you the one who ______ to break me with goodbyes,
D' you Think I'd crumble, you think I'd lay down and die?
No, not I, I will survive...oh as long as I know how to love,
I know I am still alive.
I got all my life to live, and I got all my love to give,
I will survive, hey hey!

It ______ all the strength I ______ not to fall apart,
Now I am trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart,
I ______ oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself,
I ______ to cry, but now I hold my head up high,
And you see me, somebody new..I am not that chained up
little person still in love with you, and so you
just ______ like dropping in and just expect me to be free,
Now I am saving all my loving for someone who's loving me
Oh and now GO! Walk out the door! Just turn around now,
'Cause you're not welcome anymore!
Weren't you the one who ______ to break me with goodbyes,
D' you Think I'd crumble, you think I'd lay down and die?
No, not I, I will survive,..oh as long as I know how to love,
I know I am still alive,
I got all my life to live, and I got all my love to give,
I will survive, oh yeah!

Answer:

At first I was afraid; I was petrified,
Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side,
But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong,
And I grew strong, and I learned how to get along.
So you're back, from outer space
I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face,
I should have changed that stupid lock,
I should have made you leave your key,
If I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me,
Oh and now GO! Walk out the door! Just turn around now,
'Cause you're not welcome anymore!
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbyes,
D' you Think I'd crumble, you think I'd lay down and die?
No, not I, I will survive...oh as long as I know how to love,
I know I am still alive.
I got all my life to live, and I got all my love to give,
I will survive, hey hey!

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart,
Now I am trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart,
I spent oh so many nights just feeling sorry for myself,
I used to cry, but now I hold my head up high,
And you see me, somebody new..I am not that chained up
little person still in love with you, and so you
just felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free,
Now I am saving all my loving for someone who's loving me
Oh and now GO! Walk out the door! Just turn around now,
'Cause you're not welcome anymore!
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbyes,
D' you Think I'd crumble, you think I'd lay down and die?
No, not I, I will survive,..oh as long as I know how to love,
I know I am still alive,
I got all my life to live, and I got all my love to give,
I will survive, oh yeah!

Oh and now GO! Walk out the door! Just turn around now,
'Cause you're not welcome anymore!
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbyes,
D' you Think I'd crumble, you think I'd lay down and die?
No, not I, I will survive,..oh as long as I know how to love,
I know I am still alive,
I got all my life to live, and I got all my love to give,
I will survive, oh yeah!