Becoming Fluent

Forget everything you’ve heard about adult language learning: evidence from cognitive science and psychology prove we can learn foreign languages just as easily as children. An eye-opening study on how adult learners can master a foreign lanugage by drawing on skills and knowledge honed over a lifetime. Adults who want to learn a foreign language are often discouraged because they believe they cannot acquire a language as easily as children. Once they begin to learn a language, adults may be further discouraged when they find the methods used to teach children don't seem to work for them. What is an adult language learner to do? In this book, Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz draw on insights from psychology and cognitive science to show that adults can master a foreign language if they bring to bear the skills and knowledge they have honed over a lifetime. Adults shouldn't try to learn as children do; they should learn like adults. Roberts and Kreuz report evidence that adults can learn new languages even more easily than children. Children appear to have only two advantages over adults in learning a language: they acquire a native accent more easily, and they do not suffer from self-defeating anxiety about learning a language. Adults, on the other hand, have the greater advantages—gained from experience—of an understanding of their own mental processes and knowing how to use language to do things. Adults have an especially advantageous grasp of pragmatics, the social use of language, and Roberts and Kreuz show how to leverage this metalinguistic ability in learning a new language. Learning a language takes effort. But if adult learners apply the tools acquired over a lifetime, it can be enjoyable and rewarding.

Benny Lewis, who speaks over ten languages—all self-taught—runs the largest language-learning blog in the world, Fluent In 3 Months. Lewis is a full-time "language hacker," someone who devotes all of his time to finding better, faster, and more efficient ways to learn languages. Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World is a new blueprint for fast language learning. Lewis argues that you don't need a great memory or "the language gene" to learn a language quickly, and debunks a number of long-held beliefs, such as adults not being as good of language learners as children.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • For anyone who wants to learn a foreign language, this is the method that will finally make the words stick. “A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.

The second volume of the best selling Speak Japanese in 90 Days is here! Speak Japanese in 90 Days Volume 2 continues where Volume 1 left off. Like Volume 1, all of the prep work is done for you. This book teaches you not only what, but how to study, broken down into 90 simple lessons that can be studied in one day each. Volume 2 covers the rest of the grammar for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N4 and N3 levels. The content includes detailed, easy to understand explanations of all the grammar points as well as 16 short readings for students to practice what they have studied. If you're a student looking for a reference guide to N3 grammar points, concise readings to help you practice, or a veteran student of Volume 1, this book is exactly what you are looking for! Speak Japanese in 90 Days: A Self-study Guide to Becoming Fluent Volume 1 and 2 give students all the tools they need to become effective self learners.

The Way of The Linguist, A language learning odyssey. It is now a cliché that the world is a smaller place. We think nothing of jumping on a plane to travel to another country or continent. The most exotic locations are now destinations for mass tourism. Small business people are dealing across frontiers and language barriers like never before. The Internet brings different languages and cultures to our finger-tips. English, the hybrid language of an island at the western extremity of Europe seems to have an unrivalled position as an international medium of communication. But historically periods of cultural and economic domination have never lasted forever. Do we not lose something by relying on the wide spread use of English rather than discovering other languages and cultures? As citizens of this shrunken world, would we not be better off if we were able to speak a few languages other than our own? The answer is obviously yes. Certainly Steve Kaufmann thinks so, and in his busy life as a diplomat and businessman he managed to learn to speak nine languages fluently and observe first hand some of the dominant cultures of Europe and Asia. Why do not more people do the same? In his book The Way of The Linguist, A language learning odyssey, Steve offers some answers. Steve feels anyone can learn a language if they want to. He points out some of the obstacles that hold people back. Drawing on his adventures in Europe and Asia, as a student and businessman, he describes the rewards that come from knowing languages. He relates his evolution as a language learner, abroad and back in his native Canada and explains the kind of attitude that will enable others to achieve second language fluency. Many people have taken on the challenge of language learning but have been frustrated by their lack of success. This book offers detailed advice on the kind of study practices that will achieve language breakthroughs. Steve has developed a language learning system available online at: www.thelinguist.com.

KAT LOMB (1909-2003) was one of the great polyglots of the 20th century. A translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world, Lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native Hungary. She achieved further fame by writing books on languages, interpreting, and polyglots. Polyglot: How I Learn Languages, first published in 1970, is a collection of anecdotes and reflections on language learning. Because Dr. Lomb learned her languages as an adult, after getting a PhD in chemistry, the methods she used will be of particular interest to adult learners who want to master a foreign language.

Learning German may seem like a difficult task. Especially when it comes to the nature of the German language. The good news is that's just a false presumption. Every language can be learned if you know the right technique and the right information. It is proven that the easiest way to learn a language is to hear it in action. Hearing a natural german conversation is the best thing you can do, it's like listening to a story. Natural is the keyword in that sentence. A natural approach to learning the language is the fastest and simplest approach to do it. Why do you think you hear people learning a language extremely fast when they move to another country? Because they hear it naturally, every day. Learn German with stories . Maybe the easiest language learning system ever created. How does that sound to you? People listen to other people's stories. The human mind is programmed to like stories because that's what our life is. A story. And because of this very reason, I've crafted stories that will easily cut you months of struggling to learn German. There will no longer be a "struggle". Moving to Germany just to learn German is not a solution . That's why my book "brings" Germany to you. It brings stories to you. Learning German with my stories will grab your mind into believing that you will actually "live" into German conversations. When you're reading a story, you feel like you're there. The same concept applies to learning German with stories. About my learning German with stories book : It contains 150 short stories about everyday situations Every story is followed by questions and key vocabulary The more you read, the easier your brain will automatically get used to the German language ( isn't that easily beautiful? ) It includes more than 900 digital flashcards for those not able to understand the book completely from the beginning It uses psychologically inserted KEY PATTERNS to make your brain automatically easily learn sentences and words (this is key) The book uses a read-word-repeat writing system along the stories for natural, fluid learning ( heavy repetition = higher retention rate ) The Benefits of using my book: Easily learn German with stories Feel at ease when reading & learning with the flow of the stories No struggle forcing to learn words/phrases Learn at your own pace Feel confident in your German language skills after a few weeks ONLY Once you learn, you NEVER forget Learn German with my stories ( the easy way )

Learn the basics of the Spanish language with this easy-to-use guide featuring original illustrations by Andy Warhol—from one of America's most prominent language teachers. Read, write, and speak Spanish in only a few short weeks! Even the most reluctant learner will be astonished at the ease and effeciveness of Margarita Madrigal’s unique method of teaching a foreign language. Completely eliminating rote memorization and painfully boring drills, Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish is guaranteed to help you: • Learn to speak, read, and write Spanish quickly and easily • Convert English into Spanish in an instant • Start forming sentences after the very first lesson • Identify thousands of Spanish words within a few weeks of study • Travel to Spanish-speaking countries with confidence and comfort • Develop perfect pronunciation, thanks to a handy pronunciation key With original black and white illustration by Andy Warhol, Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish will provide readers with a solid foundation upon with to build their language skills.