#AskSteve

Sign up for the 30-day email course here: https://www.thelinguist.com/ How to Learn A Language: Lesson 9👇 When it comes to learning languages, we need to de-emphasize complicated grammatical explanations, as well as grammar drills and questions. Instead the emphasis should be on feeding the brain lots of examples of the patterns of a language, in context, through massive input. Of course some explanations can also help the brain to recognize patterns, but in my view these should not be overdone. As we learn a language, the brain picks up on patterns, but only gradually, and not necessarily in response to specific curriculum goals nor deliberate instruction. Perhaps some people are better at recognizing patterns in general, and therefore better at recognizing patterns of pronunciation or structure in a language, but we can all help ourselves. We must expose ourselves to lots and lots of the language. It’s that simple. Read or hear something over and over again in different contexts, take notice and eventually it will jump out at you and make sense. Today’s Tasks ✅ Meet your targets for the day. ✅ Reread and listen to a lesson you have studied before. Do any patterns jump out at you now that you have been exposed to so much more of the language? Try saving and tagging some patterns you recognize.

Sign up for the 30-day email course here: https://www.thelinguist.com/ How to Learn A Language: Lesson 5👇 So now you know that you have to find meaningful content, read and listen to it, save words and phrases, and everything will fall into place. But where do you find the time. You might remember that “putting in the time” is one of my three golden keys. The truth is, you just won’t learn a language if you aren’t willing to dedicate the time. One of the most frequent questions I’m asked about time and language learning is “how long should it take to learn a language?” The answer depends on the languages you know and the language you’re learning, but it mostly boils down to your attitude, attentiveness to the language and, you guessed it, the amount of time you are willing to spend. There are only so many hours in the day, but installing the LingQ app (iOS and Android) ensures any time that is usually wasted – waiting in line at the grocery store, riding the bus, sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, etc. – can be spent with your target language. If you study during this “dead time”, you’ll always find moments to be with your language. This regular activity is what will lead you to fluency, much like regular visits to the gym will keep you fit. The web and app platforms are synced, so any time you spend with your language on your phone or iPad is logged on the web. You can save audio that looks interesting to your playlist on the web, then listen to it when you’re out and about. Today’s Tasks ✅Download the LingQ app. ✅Save some audio to your playlist. ✅Meet your targets for the day, meeting all or some on the app.

Sign up for the 30-day email course here: https://www.thelinguist.com/ How to Learn A Language: Lesson 6👇 Sometimes learning a language can seem like an impossible challenge. You spend hours studying only to forget a lot of what you covered. That is normal. It happens to everyone. Language learning can, at times, seem like a thankless task. As someone who has learned 16 languages, I want you to know that this I too experience this, with every language I learn. Forgetting is not only normal, it is a vital part of the learning process. Don’t be put off by these challenging times. The moments of clarity when the fog suddenly clears more than make up for the tough times. Stick with it! What you don’t have to accept, though, is content you’re losing interest in. If you’re halfway through a lesson and finding it dull, stop and find something else. Why make the process boring when it doesn’t have to be? You might want to come back to that content a few days or weeks later. You might enjoy it more then. Who knows? If you’re at all competitive, you might want to see how your statistics compare to those of other LingQ members. You can do this by going to a particular member’s profile. Believe in yourself and in the method. Just accept from me that you will continuously improve if you stay the course. Some days you feel that you have reached a new level, a new degree of power in the language. Maybe the next day is a downer, because you didn’t understand something or couldn’t remember something. Never mind. You are a tortoise and you are determined to succeed. What is more, you know you will get there. Today’s Tasks ✅Meet your targets for the day. If you are on a downer day, read or listen to some old content that you used to find difficult.

Sign up for this 30-day course here: https://www.thelinguist.com/ How to Learn A Language Course: Lesson 2 👇 Hello Language Learner, Yesterday I talked about the three golden keys (motivation, time spent and noticing). Today I’m going to help you become a more effective learner. If years of language learning have taught me anything, it’s that we need input, input, and more input–and that input needs to be interesting–if we are to successfully learn a language. The input also needs to be challenging enough to keep us interested, but not so difficult that we are turned off. That is the sweet spot, interesting and just a little difficult. In that environment our language skills blossom. So your main task is going to be to read and listen, using the tools that LingQ provides to make that easy and enjoyable. You will listen and read online, or on LingQ’s mobile app. I’ll show you how to look up words and phrases, and how to review them. You will just continue consuming more and more content in your target language and eventually find that these are almost addictive activities. When we hear and read enough of the target language, from content we find interesting and can understand, we pick up vocabulary and structures in a natural way. Instead of forcing rules and explanations into our brains, and then trying to remember them, we learn by exposure to messages that are meaningful to us. There is a vast amount of language content in LingQ’s language libraries. Just set your level and search for content that matches your interests: history, current affairs, music, film, sports, whatever you’re into there’s something for everyone at LingQ. Once you have found something interesting, give it a try! Read, listen and pay attention to the words and phrases using LingQ’s functionality. If you’re losing interest or just keen to move on to something new, go ahead and move on. Language learning should be as fun and engaging as possible. You are going to develop new habits, habits that will keep you learning. I’ve highlighted seven habits of successful language learners. Developing these will help you reach your goal of fluency. You should try to meet your daily and long term goals as set out below. Once you get the learning habit, you will easily exceed these targets. Today’s Tasks Meet your targets for the day: ✅99 words of reading ✅30 minutes of listening ✅13 LingQs ✅6 Known Words ✅3 LingQs learned

Sign up for this 30-day course here: https://www.thelinguist.com/ How to Learn A Language Course: Lesson 1 👇 Hi There! This is the first day of your journey to fluency in a new language. I don’t care how long you have been learning this language. I don’t care whether you are just getting started or you have been working at the language for years. Get ready to make a breakthrough! I’m Steve, polyglot blogger, YouTuber and co-founder of LingQ. I speak 16 languages and I’m currently learning my seventeenth. With only two exceptions, I wasn’t taught these languages, I learned them. That’s an important distinction. Anyone can learn languages, anywhere, anytime. It’s up to you. Everyone learns their first language, and everyone can learn another. Begin by accepting this principle. Begin by accepting that you can learn. Over the next 30 days I will show you how to learn a language. This includes the methods I use and tips to learn as efficiently as possible. My approach to language learning has not changed over 50 years. If anything it has been confirmed. It is the tools and resources that have evolved over the last 50 years. They make language learning easier today than ever. *** Five decades of language learning have taught me that every learner needs three things, I call them The Three Golden Keys. 🔑 Motivation 🔑 Time on task 🔑 The ability to notice I assume you are motivated or you wouldn’t have signed up for this course. That brings us to finding the time. An hour a day is all you need, and I’ll show you how to find that time, and make best use of it. As for noticing things in a new language, it is a skill that you develop, if you are motivated and put in the time. LingQ you will help you develop your ability to notice and that will empower you to learn. LingQ is a web and mobile platform I developed based on my approach to language learning, and it is getting better all the time. I just recently started studying Greek on LingQ, my seventeenth language, and I have never learned so fast! Today’s Tasks ✅ Set up an account on LingQ https://www.lingq.com/ Simply signup and get to work on your profile. Write a little bio, add a picture if you like and start connecting with other language learners. You can start by connecting with me! Once you’re done setting up your profile, start exploring the Lessons page. A good course to start with is LingQ 101. It explains a bit about the system in simple language.

Sign up for the 30-day email course here: https://www.thelinguist.com/ How to Learn A Language: Lesson 8👇 Today I’m going to help you review all of the words and phrases you’ve been LingQing. You will have noticed by now that when you move to the next page in a lesson on LingQ activities appear. This is a great way to review as it catches you just after you have come across the word or phrase, giving the brain more of a chance to remember. All of the LingQs you create in lessons are added to the SRS (Spaced Repetition System) due for review list. Status 1 words are due for review in 1 day, status 2 in 3 days, status 3 in 7 days, and status 4 in 15 days. The status if a word or phrase is either updated automatically when you review it, or manually using the status bar. Words from the SRS list are sent out in the daily LingQs email. You’ll get an email at the same time every day with a list of LingQs to review. You don’t need to do this every day, you don’t even need to review all of the LingQs in the list, but reviewing every now and then will help. Remember, most of the vocabulary will be learned in context while you read and listen, review activities are secondary to this. Any time you want to see your list of LingQs, click the yellow “Vocabulary/LingQs” button in the top right of the Lessons page. You can change the status of any word or phrase here, too. Remember not to let the size of this list scare you. You aren’t going to learn these words by doing vocabulary exercises or trying to memorize the list, you will learn them through repeated exposure in interesting content. Today’s Tasks ✅Meet your targets for the day. ✅Change the status of some LingQs as you study a lesson.

Visit LingQ: https://goo.gl/N9QQKE My Blog: http://blog.thelinguist.com My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lingosteve My Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingosteve We’re living in a very exciting time. Good quality language learning resources and opportunities to speak with people in different languages have never been easier to come by. Greek podcasts mentioned in the video: http://www.ellinofreneianet.gr/ http://podcast.skai.gr/series/gnorizontas-tin-acropoli/

Visit LingQ: https://goo.gl/qC43Mr My Blog: http://blog.thelinguist.com My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lingosteve My Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingosteve I'm a big believer in varying your language learning activities. I often go back over easy material that I studied at the beginning of my language learning, as well as challenging myself with more difficult content. This keeps things fresh and helps me stay motivated. How do you vary your language learning routine? Here is the Greek resource I mention in the video: https://www.neohel.com/coming-soon/

Visit LingQ: https://goo.gl/6aVncf My Blog: http://blog.thelinguist.com My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lingosteve My Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingosteve I have always measured milestones in my language learning with vocabulary words and phrases. It's what drives my progress. I have now learned over 3000 Greek words and phrases on LingQ, and so I've started reading native speaker content in the form of Greek newspapers.

Visit LingQ: https://goo.gl/RyQqsE My Blog: http://blog.thelinguist.com My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lingosteve My Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingosteve It’s easier than ever these days to find a tutor online to help you improve in your target language. In order for my time with a language tutor to be effective, the tutor should have two goals in mind. I discuss what those goals should be, and some of my experiences with online language tutors in this video. Share your experiences with online language tutors in the comments. I would love to hear them.

Visit LingQ: https://goo.gl/GpiF9E My Blog: http://blog.thelinguist.com My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lingosteve My Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingosteve I've been really enjoying studying Greek recently, especially reading Greek letters. It gives a great sense of power and achievement when you start to understand a new writing system. Have you learned the Greek alphabet? How did you find it?

Visit LingQ: https://goo.gl/cSTrfm My Blog: http://blog.thelinguist.com My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/lingosteve My Twitter: https://twitter.com/lingosteve It's hard to know how often to listen or read a piece of content in your target language. It isn't the same for everyone. What have been your experiences?