home / Success stories/ Rules for learning a foreign language. How to learn a foreign language correctly? Well, we give the floor to Benny

Rules for learning a foreign language. How to learn a foreign language correctly? Well, we give the floor to Benny

Today we bring to your attention a translation of an article by the Irish polyglot, the author of a unique method of learning foreign languages, Benny Lewis.

In the post you will find answers to the following questions:

How to start speaking a foreign language today?
How to pass yourself off as a native speaker?
How to learn several foreign languages in 2 years and become a polyglot?

The article contains a lot of tips on using various resources and free applications that will help you improve your language proficiency in the shortest possible time. If you have been looking for effective methods for memorizing new vocabulary and improving your communication skills in a foreign language for a long time, then this post is intended for you. ;)

Most people believe that everyone who succeeds in learning foreign languages has a genetic predisposition to it. However, the example of Benny Lewis proves that this belief is just one of hundreds of excuses we resort to to justify our unsuccessful attempts to be considered a polyglot.

As Benny recalls, a few years ago he was absolutely hopeless in everything related to languages: at the age of 20 he could only speak English, was the worst in his German class, and after 6 months in Spain he could hardly muster the courage to to ask in Spanish where the bathroom is.

It was during this period in Lewis’s life that a certain moment of epiphany occurred, which radically changed his approach to learning languages: he not only succeeded in mastering Spanish, but also received a certificate from the Cervantes Institute (Instituto Cervantes), confirming his level of language proficiency at level C2 - perfect . Since then, Benny began to actively study other foreign languages, and at the moment he can easily communicate in more than 12.

As Benny Lewis himself says: “Since I became a polyglot - a person who speaks several languages - my world has become much wider. I met interesting people and visited places that I had never even thought of before. For example, my knowledge of Mandarin allowed me to make new friends while traveling on the Chengdu-Shanghai train, talked politics with a desert dweller in Egyptian Arabic, and my knowledge of sign language gave me the opportunity to become familiar with the peculiarities of deaf culture.

I danced with the former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, and then spoke about it in Irish live on the radio, interviewed Peruvian textile manufacturers, talking to them in Quechua about the specifics of their work.... And in general, I spent a wonderful 10 years traveling the world."

In this post you will find many useful tips, the use of which will help you improve your level of foreign language proficiency in record time and, quite possibly, become a polyglot.

WHAT IS USEFUL TO DO
1. Learn a foreign language based on your native one. No matter what the apologists of the “direct method” say, it is impossible to fully study a foreign language without relying on your native language and the rest of your intellectual baggage. The lower your initial level, the more relevant this rule is. Only at an advanced stage will the need to use the native language begin to disappear.
Ideally, the teacher should be equally fluent in both your language and the language being studied. It is advisable to teach a lesson in a foreign language, but grammar and abstract concepts will be learned more clearly and quickly if explained in Russian.

2. Exercise regularly and often, preferably every day. It is more effective to exercise 5-6 times a week for an hour and a half than once a week for the whole day. At the initial stage, 2 times a week is the absolute minimum.
Avoid breaks of a week or more! The Germans say: Wer rastet, der rostet ("He who stops rusts"). Only at an advanced stage are weekly lessons permissible, and only if you do written assignments at home and read in the target language.

3. If the starting ardor has faded a little, don’t force it, but don’t give up on your studies either. Come up with some other form: put down the book and listen to the radio, leave the textbook exercises and look through the dictionary, etc. Changing the form of exercise is the most effective rest!
In addition, read literature about the country of the language you are studying and fiction, delving into the psychology of the people - and, therefore, into the philosophy of their language.

4. Keep a vocabulary notebook. Don’t write new words in a row, otherwise you’ll soon go around the second or third circle! Take a notebook at least 80 sheets thick and divide it among all the letters of the target language in proportion to their occurrence. For those letters with which the smallest number of words begin (identify them in a large foreign-Russian dictionary: most often these are J, Q, X, Y), allocate 1 sheet each. For a little more “popular” - 2-4. And allocate up to 8-10 sheets for the most common letters.
Before writing down an unknown word, scroll through the corresponding letter and check whether it has been written down previously; At the same time, subconsciously refresh the “old” words.

5. Write out out of turn all the “ready-made phrases” that can be used in the maximum possible number of cases, and apply the acquired knowledge in practice as soon as possible.. Idiomatic expressions, the meaning of which cannot be split into components, memorize in the first person singular. For example: “I am only pulling your leg” (I’m just teasing you) or “Il m”a pose un lapin” (He didn’t show up for the appointment).

6. Speak a foreign language boldly and without inhibitions. There is no interlocutor nearby, a native speaker of the language you are studying - find a pen pal. Even if your knowledge is still scanty, your efforts will be appreciated and, perhaps, they will give you free lessons, tactfully correcting mistakes. Don't be upset or offended if they actually start correcting you!
Also try to teach your family members, consolidating and systematizing your own knowledge.

7. Optimally dose your relationship with grammar. If the first 4-5 of the 20-30 pages of the textbook are taken up by a description of the use of articles or an analysis of what part of a sentence a noun is, return the book to the store.
But don't ignore grammar completely. It is needed - but not theoretically (leave it to professional philologists), but practical. The topic “Word Formation” is especially important: mastering it will increase your vocabulary significantly!

8. Study several manuals in parallel. A foreign language is a fortress that must be stormed from all sides: by reading newspapers, listening to the radio, watching undubbed films, attending lectures in a foreign language, studying a textbook, correspondence, meetings and conversations with friends who are native speakers. There are no ideal textbooks; each one lacks something. If you're tired of doing one thing at a time, move on to another, where a lot of things will seem familiar to you!
Don't limit yourself to standard benefits. Try to mentally translate everything that is possible: a flashing advertising sign, an inscription on a poster, snatches of accidentally overheard conversations.

9. From time to time, return to previously learned languages. Make sure that each subsequent tongue does not push out the previous one. Some texts to be translated from the “new” foreign language should not be translated into Russian, but into the “old” foreign language. For example, if you are studying German after English, look for a German textbook for English speakers.

WHAT NOT TO DO
1. Don't go for cheap prices. The price level varies from country to country and region, but in general it can be said that if a person is willing to teach a language for less than $10 an hour, it means that he is not a true professional. Not every native speaker is able to teach it to others! "English" is just a nationality, and not a synonym for the concept of "good English teacher." Well, perhaps, a simulator for practicing speaking.

2. Don't buy computer dictionaries. Students often show off their brand new electronic “translators.” In all my time, I have never come across a model that can adequately replace a paper volume. Here is an example from an advertisement for a company that sold computer dictionaries in Israel. The English word impact is shown on the screen, and “impact” is shown below. In 1% of cases this translation will be suitable according to the context, but in 99% it will not. Impact is also “collision”, “impact”, “strengthen”... I’m not even talking about the fact that in the computer dictionary there are ten times fewer words than are written on the packaging.
Unfortunately, reputable publishers also deceive buyers by indicating on the covers of paper dictionaries word counts that are several times higher than the actual number. I advise you to open the dictionary in the middle, count the number of articles on one page and multiply by the number of pages. This way you will get closer to the truth.

3. Do not memorize words and their forms separately, out of context. The teacher will specifically point out exceptions to this rule (table of irregular verbs, declension of Hebrew prepositions or German articles...).
Don't be tempted by associative memorization methods. Almost every word has a range of meanings; in addition, when combined with other words, it forms completely new concepts. Let's say, have tea is translated not ‘to have tea’ (in a box? in a bag? in the stomach?), but “to drink tea”.
Do not translate phrases literally. Someone understood the sentence “I have a book” as follows: At me eat book. You need to comprehend the structure of the language, and not blindly pump a set of lexical units into yourself!
Do not write translations of words in a book or even on photocopies. Surely you have only one of several meanings in front of you. A new word - only in the dictionary notebook, in all meanings at once (except for highly specialized ones)!

4. Do not write down all the words you come across indiscriminately. No one, except kindergarten teachers and biologists, needs the names of animals and toys with which textbooks for beginners are teeming! Only after mastering a thousand or two more commonly used words (you will find them in minimum frequency dictionaries; for English, see here), take on “zoo”.
Do not be seduced by internationalisms - they are like a “smoke break” for us (but beware of the “false friends of the translator”!). Pay main attention to lexical units that are not similar to words in your native language.

5. Repeating what has been learned without rethinking the materials and deepening knowledge is not the mother, but the stepmother of learning. Don't back away!
Let's say you've let your tongue slip a little, and you're tempted to repeat it... Don't do it! Language has no beginning or end: it is not a ruler, but a ball. Rather than refresh your backside, it is better to run forward. Thus, you will repeat the backs (since you are dealing with a ball).
Mechanical rewriting is generally the enemy of learning and the mother of stupidity! If you forgot your notebook at home, write on a piece of paper and paste it at home, and don’t tell the teacher: “No problem, I’ll rewrite it later.” I know the result in advance: instead of spending the allocated hour on doing homework, you will squander it on thoughtless writing. By the way, copyists of sacred books are very intellectually limited people.

6. Don't stop halfway. Not learning a language enough is worse than not getting down to business at all, because work, time and money have been invested... What's the point of learning a couple of hundred words and a dozen rules of grammar - and not understanding either the text or spoken language?
Don't trust advertisements that promise to teach you the language inside and out in a matter of weeks/days. Starting from scratch, even with the most intensive classes (20 hours a week), you can master the language at an intermediate level in two to three months, and to perfection in six months. A working person who devotes a maximum of 8 hours to the language every week should extend these periods by 2.5 times.

7. Don't go to a country without at least a basic command of its language. It is not a fact that the locals will be deceived. The fact is that you are deceiving yourself (buy a single bus ticket six times instead of purchasing a day pass for the price of two tickets, etc.). Even if someone grabs a language “out of thin air”, this does not mean good command of it.

8. Do not limit yourself to the stereotypical frame “I only need spoken language” (i.e. “I want to master only the minimum for oral communication, and I will stop any attempts to go a little deeper, for example, to force me to read or learn grammar”). Analyze any conversation in the kitchen or on the tram: you will find snippets of jokes, quotes from films and books, special terms, and “literary words” used in an ironic sense, plus a lot of social extralinguistic realities... Needless to say, that you also need to be able to construct “conversational phrases”. OK, a diplomatic teacher may not call the rules of verb conjugation and word order “grammar,” but he understands that without them you will not be able to understand what you hear and carry on the most basic conversation.

9. Don't reflect! Don't beat yourself up if you forget something, and don't say (even mentally) “I have no ability for language.” Some add: “The teacher told me that at school.” What should she have said? That she's a hack? There are no people who are incapable of language. This is not music. You speak Russian, right? This means that everything is fine with the brain centers responsible for language. The main thing is not to be afraid!

Foreword by Tim Farriss

I wrote about how I learned to speak, read, and write Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), and Spanish. I also revealed my experiments in learning German, Indonesian, Arabic, Turkish and, perhaps, a bunch of other languages.

There are several people who love to study foreign languages that amaze and delight me, and one of them Benny Lewis.

In this article I will tell you how:

learn to speak a foreign language alreadyToday.
Achieve language fluencyfor several months.
How to pass yourself off as a native speaker.
And, finally, how to master several foreign languages and become a “polyglot” - within a few, 1-2 years.

There are TONS of links here that I never thought of before, including the best free apps and websites for mastering a foreign language in record time. Want to find a native speaker to help you learn the language for $5 an hour? Free resources and exercises for memory development? It's all here.

This is the post you've all been waiting for, so I hope you enjoy it!

Check out Benny

You are either born with a gene that allows you to learn a foreign language, or you are not. Pure coincidence, isn't it? At least that's what most people think.

I think you can change fate in your favor. A few years ago, I had no idea how to learn a foreign language. At school I knew German worse than anyone, when I was 20 I could only speak my native English, and even aftersix whole months Having lived in Spain, I could barely muster up the courage to ask in Spanish “where the bathroom is.”

But this was precisely the impetus for my epiphany: I changed my approach, and not only advanced in learning Spanish, but also received a diploma inInstituto Cervantes, confirming language proficiency at level C2 (Mastery), and giving the right to work as a professional translator. I was even interviewed on the radio in Spanish, where I talked about travel and gave advice. From that moment on, I switched to other languages, and now I can speak a dozen foreign languages, proficient in them to varying degrees from conversational to professional level.

It turned out that there is no gene that allows you to easily learn a foreign language, but there are tools and techniques that help you master the language faster...

The world opened up to me like a polyglot. I gained access to people and places that I never would have had without knowing the languages. Thanks to my Chinese, while traveling in China, I met and made new friends on the train, discussed politics with a monk in Egyptian Arabic, learned about deaf culture through American Sign Language, invited the (female) President of Ireland to dance in Irish and talked about it on Irish radio, interviewed textile manufacturers in Quechua, Peru about how they work, translated from Hungarian to Portuguese and back again at a public event... and learned so much in ten years traveling around the world.

These amazing experiences are available to most of you.

Since you may find yourself in the same situation as me: a monolingual adult who has unsuccessfully tried to learn a foreign language but has no idea where to start, I would like to highlight a few tips that have been very effective for me in becoming a polyglot.

This detailed post has everything you need.

So let's get started!

Rule #1 – Learn the words you need correctly.

Starting to learn a foreign language means starting to learn new words. A lot of.

Of course, many people cite the fact that they have trouble remembering new words, so they quit before they even start.

But here's the key: you absolutely don't need to know every word in a language to be able to speak it (and, in fact, you don't even know every word in your native language).

As Tim points out in his article on learning any foreign language in 3 months, you can usePareto principle: By learning 20% of new words, you can eventually understand 80% of the language - for example, in Englishjust 300 words account for up to 65% of all written material . We Oftenuse these words, and likewisethis is the case in other languages .

To study the most commonly used words (or words on a topic that you prefer), you can find ready-made flashcards “decks” in the Anki app (available for most computer platforms and smartphones) which you can download for free. Good flashcard methods use a spaced repetition system, which is automated in the Anki app. This means that instead of constantly repeating the same words in the same order, you will see strategically spaced words before without forgetting them.

Tim himself likes to use natural, color-coded cards; he bought some from Vis-Ed , others he made himself.

Rule No. 2 - learn words of common origin - your friends in any language.

Believe it or not, butnowyou already have a big advantage in learning a foreign language. In the case of foreign languages, you always know at least a few words, even if you have just started learning. It is in principle impossible to start learning a language “from scratch”, since you already know a large number of words due to their common origin with words in your native language.

Words of common origin - “real friends ” words that are also present in your native language, that is, they can mean approximately the same thing in another language.

For example, in Romance languages: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and others, many words have common roots with words in English. The English language originally “borrowed” these words during the Norman conquest of England, which lasted several centuries.Action, nation, precipitation, solution, frustration, tradition, communication, extinction , And thousands of otherswords ending in -tion, which are also written in French and sound similar in Russian, so you can quickly get used to the new words. Just change the -tion to -ción, and now you have the same words, only in Spanish. In Italian it is -zione, and in Portuguese -ção.

Many languages contain words that have a common (Greek/Latin or other) root, which may look slightly different in writing, but it is very difficult not to guess the meaning of such words asporto, capitano(Italian), astronomy, And Saturno(Spanish).

To find common words in the language you're learning, simply search for “words of common origin in [name of language]” or “Loanwords in [name of language]” to see the loanwords.

This approach works in the case of European languages, but what about other languages?...

Well, it turns out that even in languages like Japanese, you can find a lot of common words.

Therefore, to make my life easier, when I start learning a foreign language, one of the first lists of words that I try to master is a list of cognates or borrowed words that can be quickly found in any language.

Rule #3 – Communicate in a foreign language every day, even if you are at home.

Another reason (or excuse, depending on how you look at it) is that people tend to think that a language cannot be learned without visiting the target language country. No time, no money, etc.

Using my own example, I will say: in another country there is nothing “in the air” that would magically force you to speak a foreign language. I have done many experiments to prove this (for example, I learned Arabic while living in Brazil).

I've met a huge numberexpatswho, having lived abroad for many years, were never able to learn the local language. Living abroad and immersing yourself in a language environment are not the same thing. If you want to constantly hear and use immersive language, why can't you dovirtuala dive that would be just as effective? Of course you can. Technology today allows you to immerse yourself in a language without leaving your home.

To constantly listenspoken language, you can download the app TuneIn.com , which has a wide selection of live local radio stations. In the application, you can also select a list of broadcast radio stations based on language.

In order to lookvideos in a foreign language, go to Youtube and find outwhat is fashionable in this country at the moment. Go to a similar site on Amazon or Ebay (amazon.es, amazon.fr, amazon.co.jp, etc.) and buy your favorite series dubbed in the language you are learning, or purchase the original in the language you are learning by selecting for yourself the most liked from the rating of popular ones. You can save on shipping costs by purchasing your favorite movie locally. Numerous news channels also have a large number of video materials on the Internet in foreign languages, among them France24, Deutsche Welle, CNN Español , and many others…

I've already written about how I learned to speak, read and write Japanese, Chinese and Spanish. I also extended my experiments to German, Indonesian, Arabic, Norwegian, Turkish and maybe a dozen others.

Few language learners amaze me, and among them is Benny Lewis.

In this comprehensive article, Benny will teach you:

How to speak the language you need today.

How to achieve fluency and succeed in learning them within a few months.

How to pass yourself off as a native speaker.

And finally - how to learn several languages to become a “polyglot”, and all within a few years, perhaps 1-2 years.

The text contains TONS of amazing, helpful resources you never knew existed, including the best free apps and sites that will teach you fluency in no time. Do you want to find a native speaker and speak with him for only $5 per hour? Free sources and memory tricks? Everything is in this post.

You've all been waiting for this article, so I hope you enjoy it!

Well, we give the floor to Benny:

You were either born with the language ability gene or you weren't. It all depends on luck, doesn't it? At least that's what most people think.

I think you can turn things around to your advantage. A few years ago, I was just a no-brainer when it came to learning languages. I was the worst in my German classes at school, at 20 I could only speak English, and even after six months living in Spain I could barely muster up the courage to ask in Spanish where the toilet was.

But here we come to the moment when I saw the light, changed my approach and then succeeded not only in learning Spanish, but also received a C2 (Perfect Proficiency) diploma from the Cervantes Institute, worked as a professional translator, and even gave interviews on Spanish radio, where gave advice to travelers. Since then I have studied other languages and can now speak more than 10 languages with varying degrees of proficiency - from conversational to advanced proficiency.

It turns out that there is no language learning gene, but there are special tools and techniques to learn faster...

When I became a “polyglot,” a person who speaks several languages, my world expanded. I was able to interact with people, travel to places I would never have seen otherwise. I made friends on a train in China thanks to Mandarin, discussed politics with a desert dweller in Egyptian Arabic, discovered the wonders of deaf culture through sign language, asked the (female) President of Ireland to dance in Gaelic and even spoke about it on Irish radio and was interviewed from fabric manufacturers from Peru about the intricacies of their work in Quechua, translated at an event from Hungarian and Portuguese... in general, I had an incredibly interesting decade, full of travel around the world.

These wonderful experiences are available to many of you too.

You are probably starting at the same level as I was (you only know one language, already an adult, you tried to learn it before, but now you just have no idea where to start). Below I'm going to outline my tips that worked best for me, thanks to them, I started from scratch and became a polyglot.

This is a very detailed article and covers everything you need to know.

So let's get started!

#1 - Learn the right words the right way

Starting to learn a new language means having to learn new words. A lot of words.

Of course, many people cite poor memory when learning new vocabulary, so they give up before they even start seriously.

But here's the key - you don't need to know every word in a language to speak it (in fact, you don't know every word in your native language either).

As Tim already wrote in his article about learning a language in three months, you can use the Pareto principle. Realize that 20% of the effort you spend on acquiring new vocabulary can help you understand 80% of the language. For example, in English, often 65% of the text consists of 300 repeated words. We use them very often; such a set exists in any other language.

You can find pre-made flashcards with these most common words (or words about topics you're most likely to talk about), so you can study conveniently through the Anki app (on your computer and smartphone), which is easy to download. The app offers the convenience of a flashcard technique combined with a spaced repetition system. This means that instead of learning the same words through the dictionary in the same order, you will review them at specific intervals, ideal for not forgetting them.

Tim himself likes to use real printed cards, some he buys from Vis-Ed, others he makes himself. He showed me a couple when I interviewed him about how he learns languages.

#2 - Learn related words: these are your friends in every language

Believe it or not, you already have a huge base for learning the language you need right now. You know a couple of words from each language before you even start learning it. It is almost impossible to start learning a language from scratch, because you already know a huge number of related words.

Cognates are "true friends" of words that are similar to words from your native language and they mean the same thing in another language.

For example, romance languages such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and others have a lot in common with English. The English originally "borrowed words" from the Normans during their conquest of England, which lasted several hundred years. “Action”, “nation”, “precipitation”, “solution”, “frustration”, “tradition”, “communication”, “extinction” and thousands of other words ending in -tion are spelled exactly the same in French, but slightly You will easily get used to the different pronunciation. Change -tion to -ción, and voila! - these are Spanish words, they will be Italian with -zione and Portuguese with -ção.

Many languages also have common (Greek/Latin or other) roots, they may be written a little differently, but you will have to try very hard not to recognize for example the French “exemple”, “hélicoptère”, Italian “porto”, “capitano”, Spanish "astronomía", and "Saturno". German goes a little further, sharing many words from Old English.

To find common words in the language you are studying, just type into a search engine “related words to (name of language)” or “borrowings from (name of language)”, this way you will find out which words were borrowed from them, and of course look for “(name of language) words in your native language" to find out what your language borrowed from another.

This is all very valid for European languages, but what about more distant families?

Well, it turns out that even languages as distant as Japanese can have a ton of vocabulary that you're familiar with. To prove your point, just listen to this song - Animaniac's “Nations of the World”, it is entirely in Japanese, but you will still understand a lot of what I and other Japanese students sing.

This is because many languages have simply borrowed English words and integrated them into themselves with altered pronunciation or emphasis.

To make my life easier, when I start learning a language, I start with cognates or loanwords in the new language, and there are many of them for almost any language pair.

#3 - Communicate in the language you need every day, even without traveling

Another reason (or reason, depending on how you look at it) that people give as an excuse for not learning languages is that they cannot travel to the country of the language they are learning. They don't have time, money, etc.

Believe me, there is nothing magical in the “air” of another country that will miraculously make you speak another language. I conducted many experiments to prove this (for example, I learned Arabic while living in Brazil).

I have met countless expats who have lived abroad for many years and made no effort to learn the local language. Living abroad and language immersion are not the same. If you need to hear and use language to absorb it, wouldn't virtual communication be just as effective? Of course it will be. Today, technology makes it easy for you to experience immersion without even having to buy a ticket.

To listen to the language you're learning, you can use TuneIn.com, which has a huge selection of live radio in the language of your choice. The app (free) will also offer you a whole list of radio stations in the selected language.

To get some audio practice, check out what's trending on YouTube in this country right now. Go to that country's section on Amazon or Ebay (amazon.es, amazon.fr, amazon.co.jp, etc.) and buy your favorite TV series dubbed in the language you want. Or a local popular series using the charts. Many news stations also offer a ton of video clips on their online sites in a variety of languages, including France24, Deutsche Welle, CNN Español and others.

To get practice in reading, you can read not only news sites, but also cool blogs and other famous sites, each country has its own top.

And if you want complete immersion, then there is a plugin for the Chrome browser that helps you translate pages from your language to any other.

#4 - Start Skyping Today for Daily Practice

So, you're already listening, watching and even reading in the language you want, all in the comfort of your own home. Now it's time for the big step: speaking the language live with a native speaker.

One of my more controversial pieces of advice, but one I especially insist on when giving advice to beginners, is to start speaking the language from the very beginning, if your goal is, of course, to learn to speak, and not just understand.

That's not how most traditional approaches or language systems work, and that's where I think they're missing students. I like to say that there are seven days in a week and there is no such thing as “one fine day.”

Here's what I suggest instead:

Use the tips I described above to build up your basic vocabulary and clarify what words you already know. Do this for a few hours, and then get ready to speak with a native speaker, someone who has spoken the language their entire life. You have to learn the words just for the first conversation. If you start using them right away, you will immediately understand what is missing and start adding what you need. You cannot study in isolation until you feel “ready” to socialize.

But wait - where can you find a native speaker if you are not in the country of the language you are learning?

It's not a problem! Thousands of native speakers are ready and waiting to talk to you right now. You can take private lessons literally “for a nut,” using the sacristies in exchange rates. My favorite site to find "natives" is italki.com, which is where I got Chinese and Japanese lessons via Skype for just $5 an hour.

If on the first day you are still not ready, then think about this: starting to study on Skype will make the task easier, because during the conversation you can keep another window (or application) open nearby, where the most keywords will already be loaded, you can look at them until you finally remember them. You can even refer to Google Translate or a dictionary during a conversation, so you can learn new words on the fly, right when you need them.

Isn't this "cheating"? No. The goal is to learn to use the language, and not to imitate the old traditional method. I've used the methods I've described myself, and after learning Polish for just one hour to travel to Warsaw to give a TEDx talk about learning languages, I was able to hold a conversation (albeit an incredibly simple one) in Polish for a full half hour.

I consider this a victory!

#5 - Save your money. The best resources are free

Other than paying for face-to-face communication with a native speaker, I see no reason why you should spend hundreds of dollars to learn a language. I tried Rosetta Stone myself and wasn't very impressed.

But there are also great resources. Wonderful and completely free, which only gets better. This is Duolingo - there is a wonderful selection of European languages, and more will be added. There's a lot here to help you easily start learning a language without spending a penny. Here are some other very good alternatives:
List of courses at The Foreign Service Institute
The Omniglot
Languages on the BBC, here you will learn the basics of more than 40 languages
A post about languages on About, which explains some aspects of languages

You really have a lot of options when it comes to free resources, so I encourage you to try a few and see which ones work best for you personally. The aforementioned Italki is great for language exchanges and lessons, but My Language Exchange and Interpals are also good alternatives. You can also work offline, find language meetups in your city, such as the Polyglot Club, or find a meetup on Couchsurfing, meetup.com or Internations. These meetups are a great opportunity to meet international language enthusiasts and native speakers for practice.

Wait, that's not all. You can improve your foreign language completely free of charge using:

A huge database on Forvo, here you can hear any word and expression in many languages, and they are read by those who speak their native language.

Rhinospike - here you can even leave a request for how exactly the phrases you need are pronounced, and a native speaker will write them down again. If you don’t find anything on these sites, then use the built-in text pronunciation utility Google Translate.

And at Lang 8 you can get a free writing test.
The opportunities for free practice are endless.

#6 - Understand that adults are actually much better at learning languages than children

Now you have a ton of resources to get started, so let's get to the biggest challenge. No grammar, no vocabulary, no lack of resources, but a sad misconception about your own learning potential.

The most common misconception that leads you to want to give up is: I'm too old to learn to speak the language fluently.

I am glad that I became the herald of good news. I will tell you that a recent study has confirmed the fact that adults can learn a language much more effectively than children. This study was conducted by scientists from the University of Haifa and showed that, under certain circumstances, adults have a much better intuitive understanding of grammatical rules than their younger learning counterparts.

Moreover, no study has ever made a connection between the acquisition of limited language skills and increasing age. There is just a general trend in language learning among adults, which is probably more dependent on environmental factors that can be easily changed (for example, long working hours prevent many from studying much). My friend Kazumoto (alljapaneseallthetime.com) once said something that I really liked: “Children are no better at learning languages than you, they simply have no other choice.”
And as adults, we can easily emulate an immersive environment without traveling, spending money, or having to go back to our childhood.

#7 - Expand your mnemonic vocabulary

Cramming is not enough.

And although endless repetitions can sometimes simply burn a word into your memory, forgetting a word that has just been repeated dozens of times is also offensive.
But I suggest using mnemonics to memorize words; it will help you “stick” the word to your memory much more effectively. You tell yourself a funny, stupid, most importantly memorable story that you associate with a specific word. You can work with mnemonics yourself, but there is also a great resource for this (and free), I highly recommend memrise.com.

For example, let's say you're learning Spanish and you can't remember that "Caber" means "to approach" no matter how many times you repeat the word. Why not take advantage of the associations that Memrise offers:
This . Associations help remember the meaning.

This can be quite a long learning curve, but once you try it a couple of times, you will quickly understand how effective it is. And you only need to remember this hook a couple of times until the word itself becomes a natural part of your active vocabulary.

#8 - Accept your mistakes

More than half of the world's population speaks multiple languages.
This means that monolingualism is a cultural and not a biological consequence. So when adults (at least in the English-speaking world) fail at learning a language, it's not because they don't have the right genes or anything stupid like that. This is because their language learning system is broken.
Traditional methods of language teaching, like any other academic subject, are based on an approach that has remained virtually unchanged since Charles Dickens studied Latin. The differences between your native language (L1) and target language (L2) are presented in the form of vocabulary and grammatical rules for memorization. Traditional idea: learn “all of them” and you will know the language. Seems pretty logical, right?

The problem is that you can never truly “learn” a language, you get used to it. This is not a thing that you can know or not know, because it is a means of communication between people. Languages cannot be learned by rote learning alone; they must be used.

As a beginner, you should learn a language with an emphasis on communication rather than honing. This is the key difference. Of course, you can wait until you are ready to say, “Excuse me generously, sir, could you please escort me to the nearest restroom?” but “Where is the restroom?” carries the same meaning, only without unnecessary pleasantries. You will be forgiven for being spontaneous because everyone will always see that you are still learning.
Don't worry that you might offend native speakers with your “insolence” that you dared to speak to them in your native language.

One of the best things you can do in the beginning stages is not to try to do everything perfectly, but to accept that it is okay to make mistakes. I try my best to make at least 200 mistakes a day! But I know that I really practice and use this language!

#9 - Set SMART goals

Another flaw in most learning approaches is that you fail to define the end goal.

We usually set New Year's resolutions to “Learn Spanish,” but how do you know when you've already learned it? If this is your goal, how did you know you achieved it?

Vague end goals are like endless pits (for example, “I’m not ready yet because I haven’t learned the whole language yet”).

SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

To start developing your SMART language goals, I highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the European Common Framework, which helps define language levels. This framework will allow you to set specific language learning goals and measure your own progress.

In short, A is beginner, B is intermediate, C is advanced, and each level is broken down into a lower (1) and upper (2) category. So, an already trained beginner student is A2, and an advanced beginner is C1. These specific levels are absolutely measurable, so officially designated institutions can test you and even give you a diploma (without the need to enroll in a course, of course) in your knowledge of French, German, Spanish, Irish and any other European language. You can test yourself in Chinese and Japanese.

So what is your goal? On a practical level, what level corresponds to your definitions of “fluency” and “mastery”?

Now we are on concrete ground, it is important to note that this does not require a level of knowledge for professional activity in this language (in my case, as an engineer or speaker, for example). This level of language proficiency is equivalent to C2.

Although I have reached C2 level in French, Spanish and close to it in other languages, the truth is that all I need is to reach the level of social communication. I don't need to work in other languages. It's important to remember this to avoid disappointment. In most cases, your goal should be to achieve B2.

To make your goal Achievable, you can break it down into parts. I have found that fluency at B2 level can be acquired within a few months if you hone the speaking aspect.
In phonetic languages (like most European ones), you can learn to read as the speaker does, so you get effective learning for free. But let's be real, we usually write emails and messages, not essays. Well, if you are not a writer by profession, unless your goal is to achieve this level in a second language, then focus on developing your speaking skills and listening (and maybe even reading), this is quite possible to achieve in just a few months.

Finally, to make your project time-bound, I highly recommend assigning specific time points several months apart.

Setting goals for a year or more is too distant plans, by then everything may change. Three months is a great time for me, but for you the ideal time could be 6 weeks or 4 months. Pick a specific date in the not-too-distant future (summer vacation, your birthday, a relative's visit), and try to achieve the goal by that time, and work your ass off to make it happen!

To help you plan your goals more intelligently, make sure you're tracking your progress using apps like Lift to help you check off your daily goals.

#10 - Jump from Conversational (B1) to Advanced (C2)

I quickly became fluent in speaking a foreign language because I practiced it so damn much.

From day one until day 90 (and beyond), I spoke at least an hour a day in my second language, and I structured my study time around speaking sessions to make sure my conversation skills improved each time. Not only my basic command of the language, I don’t even use such a vague definition in my speech.

For example, I might start a conversation by asking what a native friend or teacher did last weekend, and then I'll tell them what I did. Then I'll share what's on my mind, try to express my opinion on it, or invite my interlocutor to start a new topic of conversation. It's important to be an active participant in the conversation and make sure you're talking about a variety of topics. Let you have a whole list of topics to discuss, feel free to introduce them (your hobbies, plans for the future, what you like and don’t like, what you plan to do on vacation, and so on). Make sure the level of your conversations rises.

But the work is worth it, you will understand this when you have your first stressful conversation with a native speaker.

To evaluate your B1 language level, you can watch this video of me talking to a native Arabic speaker (my teacher) in Arabic and in Chinese with my friend Yangyang about how she got involved as a guest on a TV show.
At this level I still make a lot of mistakes, but they don't interfere too much with communication.

However, when I reach the level of “good enough”, for me this is the point from which I can return to the academic form of studying the material, grammar, I put my knowledge in order. I find that I understand grammar much better when I already speak the language. This approach is very effective for me, but it is not the only one. For example, Tim was very successful at grammatically deconstructing language from the very beginning of his study. Your approach will depend entirely on your personality.

After a lot of exercises to correct my mistakes at level B1, I can already break through to B2.

At stage B2 you can already have a lot of fun in your new language! You can chat, have any typical conversation you want.

The requirements for obtaining level C1/C2 are very different. You should start reading newspapers, blogs with technical posts, or other articles that are "not easy to come by."

To practice at such a high level, I subscribed to newspapers from my Kindle. Every day I try to read articles from various major news agencies around the world - Europe, South America, Asia. After reading articles on various topics, I wanted to get an experienced professional teacher, ideally a pedant, who would take me deeper into the topic, force me out of my comfort zone, and make sure I was using the right words and not just trying to be understood.

To show you what a more advanced level looks like - here's a conversation I had about the fascinating cultural and linguistic differences between Quebec and France (I was at C1 level at this stage).

Reaching level C2 can be extremely difficult.

For example, I sat for the C2 exam in German. I somehow managed to pass the oral part; I had to talk about deforestation for ten minutes, but I failed the listening test. Which showed me that I need to pay more attention to difficult radio interviews and podcasts at this level if I want to take the exam again.

#11 - Learn to speak like a native speaker

In C2 you should be as good as the native speaker in the professional field, but you will probably still have an accent and other small mistakes.
I was confused with a native speaker in several of the languages I studied more than once (for example, with a Spanish, French, Portuguese, and I was still at level B2). I want to say that this depends not so much on the level of knowledge as on other factors.

First, your accent/intonation.

The accent is very noticeable; if you can’t handle your “R” in Spanish, you will always be recognized as a foreigner.

The muscles of your tongue are not tuned once and for all, you can learn several new sounds that are required in the language you are learning. Time with a native speaker, good phonics lessons on Youtube, and a few hours of practice is all you need!

Much more important, but often forgotten about, is intonation, step, rise and fall of the voice, emphasis in words. When I wrote my book, I interviewed fellow polyglot Luke, who is very good at picking up the accents of his target languages. For this, intonation is most important.

Luca trains from the very beginning to imitate the musicality and rhythm of speech of native speakers by visualizing the sentence. For example, if you really listen, the word “France” in the phrases “I want to go to France” (descending intonation) and “France is a beautiful country” (rising intonation) sounds different. When you repeat sentences in a second language, you must imitate their musicality.

My French teacher pointed out to me a mistake I was making in these same lines.

I tried to raise my intonation before pauses, which is much more common in French than in English. But I overdid it and also did it at the end of the sentence. This made my sentences unfinished, and when my teacher taught me not to do this, everyone told me that I sounded more French.
You can change your pronunciation yourself by simply focusing on the sounds of the language, not just the words.

True, listen to the speech and imitate the sounds of native speakers, this will help you correct your noticeable mistakes. I had an accent and my teacher showed me what it looked like. I saw incredible differences between the Irish accent and the American accent while working on it. To see for yourself how this emphasis works, check out Part 2 with examples from SoundCloud.

Second, walk like an Egyptian.

The second factor influencing whether you are recognized as a non-native speaker is social and cultural integration. It is often overlooked, but is of great importance to me, even in the early stages of learning multiple languages.

For example, when I first came to Egypt with a B1 level in Egyptian Arabic, I was very upset that most people in Cairo spoke to me in English, they didn't even give me a chance to demonstrate my Arabic. You might say I'm too white to be Egyptian, but there's more to it than that.

They took a quick glance at me and saw that I was obviously a foreigner, and this outweighed the language I spoke.

To deal with this problem, I sat down on a busy pedestrian street with a pen and paper and wrote down everything that Egyptians around my age did differently than me. How they walked, how they held their hands, what clothes they wore, what their facial expressions were, how loudly they spoke, how they groomed themselves, and much more. I learned how to deal with some differences, hid my bright light clothes, changed to heavier and darker ones (despite the temperature), replaced my sneakers with simple black shoes, took off my hat (I didn't see anyone wearing a hat at all), began to move more confidently and changed his facial expression.

The attitude towards me has changed incredibly! Every person for the rest of my trip to Egypt began speaking to me in Arabic, including in the tourist areas of the city, where everyone spoke excellent English and knew how to recognize tourists. This transformation allowed me to travel from the Nile to the Pyramids without the hassle of a speculator, and to meet wonderful people.

Try it yourself and you'll see what I mean. Once you start paying attention to physical social differences, they become easier to notice.

You can watch people on the street yourself or watch videos of residents of the country of the language you are learning. Try to analyze everything that people of your gender and age do, and see if you can imitate their behavior in your next conversation in a foreign language.
Imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery!

#12 - Become a polyglot

I wrote a very detailed article on how to get started and try to achieve a good level of foreign language proficiency (and even how to pass yourself off as a local in that country).

If your ultimate goal is to speak multiple languages, you can repeat this process over and over again, but I highly recommend that you focus on one language at a time until you are at least at an advanced level. Take on one language at a time until you reach a level of confidence in them. Only after this can you consider yourself ready to take on the next one!

You can learn a lot in a few months, but if you want to speak this language for the rest of your days, then you will have to constantly practice, improve your knowledge and apply it in life as often as possible. But the great news is that once you reach fluency, you can maintain that level very easily.

Also remember that the tips in this article will give you a good start. There is a huge online community of “polyglots” who are also ready to offer you their support. Quite a few of us gathered on this remix of “Skype me Maybe”.

I have many stories about polyglots, and an even more detailed story on how to learn a language, and all this is collected in my new book “Speaking in 3 months.” You can buy one book on my website to get inspired and start your journey into the world of learning a new language easily. Or several.
Ganbatte!

This is a translation of the article “12 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record Time - The Only Post You’ll Ever Need” by Benny Lewis from the blog www.fourhourworkweek.com.

Everyone knows very well that foreign languages are in fashion today. Nowadays, all formalities when traveling abroad have been greatly simplified, which allows thousands of people to freely travel around the world. Many of them go abroad in search of a better life, some have already found work there, some are still looking. In this situation, knowledge of the language is mandatory and necessary.

And now textbooks and dictionaries, which were gathering dust on store shelves, are instantly sold out, language learning courses are flourishing, and qualified, experienced teachers demand exorbitant amounts of money for their lessons.

Unfortunately, not everyone, due to their employment or financial instability, can afford to attend language courses or use the services of a tutor.

There is nothing else left to do but study on your own. But learning any foreign language is quite specific, so from the start of studying, a lot of problems often arise related to ignorance of the self-learning methodology itself.

What's the schedule? How to structure lessons? How to conquer the correct pronunciation? How, how much and what books and magazines to read? How to remember a large amount of information, many new words and grammar rules?

You will get the answer to all these and many other questions by reading this article to the end! She has collected all the useful recommendations, directions and advice, by listening to which learning will become much easier, more interesting, and most importantly - more effective.

Internal success factors

Any sane person without exception, if desired, can learn any language at any age. There are no people who are completely unable to learn a foreign language, however, language abilities are subject to quite strong variations. For some, learning a language is much faster and easier than for others. However, everyone who believes that they are capable of learning a language, or simply do not want to spend time on serious studies, are lazy - naturally, nothing can help them here, or I don’t have the slightest idea how to correctly and rationally organize all stages of their learning and make this system. The latter will get a lot of useful and interesting information from this article.

As with anything else, in learning any language the result directly depends on the level of interest, effort and perseverance. Be that as it may, knowing a language poorly is still better than not knowing it at all.

When learning a language, it is important to have a good memory for words, be able to imitate a variety of sounds and think logically.

Organization of self-study: basic principles

Unconditional success and obtaining the desired result will be achieved only by a method that the student will not perceive as a heavy burden, burden or necessity. External pressure usually causes only resistance;
Choose a specific time of day for your lessons. Try to study every day, with a maximum of one day off per week. Each class, even if not very long, is much more useful and better than a multi-hour “assault” once or twice a week;
The ideal duration of classes should be 1-1.5 hours a day with mandatory 5-minute breaks or without them if the lesson lasts no more than an hour. After 7-10 hours after the lesson, it will be very useful to conduct a 10-minute review of the material covered;
Be sure to arrange comfortable and cozy conditions for yourself: a comfortable workplace, excellent lighting, maximum silence;
During training, use all your senses: hearing, vision, hands, speech organs. It is necessary to fully utilize all information entry paths, combining and combining their work;
Try to constantly apply the acquired knowledge, persistently practice the language as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Take advantage of any free time for this - in transport, when you are waiting for something or someone;
Create a plan in advance according to which you will constantly repeat the material you have studied. Only deliberately organized repetition can ensure lasting memorization;
Do not try to speed up your optimal pace of language learning, as the dynamics may negatively affect the results;
Gradually introduce various game situations into the learning process;
Do not be ashamed to praise yourself if you have achieved positive results - you should be confident in your abilities and capabilities;
Study the history, geography, economics, culture, art and literature of the state whose language you are studying.

First stage

If you have clearly decided to study a particular language, you will need a textbook, a phrasebook, a couple of dictionaries and light fiction books.

Work through the textbook carefully and point by point, completing all the exercises correctly. Engage in written translation of the text, leaving free space for correcting errors, separately analyze all your errors and their reasons.

Many teachers advise studying simultaneously using several textbooks from different authors. This way you can compare a variety of material presented, and therefore do not tie yourself to a single option. Nevertheless, such a path of learning is very labor-intensive and requires a certain dispersion of attention, which not everyone can do.

Start reading adapted literature, simple plays and short stories as soon as possible. Start with something generally accessible, read the text a couple of times, write down any new unfamiliar words and phrases for further study.

Try to consult with native speakers or teachers as often as possible. Ask them to check you and correct your mistakes, if any, and explain their origin.

Pronunciation

Impeccable and correct pronunciation is the basis for learning any language. Defects and imperfections in pronunciation make it much more difficult for anyone to understand and perceive the speech you are delivering. Learning correct pronunciation is one of the most difficult tasks. During your first contact with a foreigner, he will judge your knowledge solely by pronunciation.

You need to focus on the following points:

It is possible to avoid many errors in pronunciation by following the precise and clear display of the position of the articulatory apparatus when you reproduce the sound given in the textbook in the phonetics section. Practice pronunciation as intensively as possible in the first months of learning the language, until you begin to pronounce all sounds automatically, without particularly straining;
It is possible to learn all the rules of pronunciation quickly and efficiently only when you compare them with the rules inherent in your native language. You need to compare the sound you are studying with the closest most similar sound in your language, fix the position of the speech organs that makes such a sound different;
You should practice for as long as possible in pronouncing the most difficult sounds. Also work through those sounds whose incorrect pronunciation distorts the meaning of the entire word;
It is imperative to practice your pronunciation in front of a mirror - this will allow you to perfectly control the facial expressions that are characteristic of certain sounds. It is extremely useful to watch foreign, undubbed films; this will allow you to “read” sounds solely by facial expressions;
Try to listen to radio programs as much as possible and repeat phrases after the announcer. Training directly on the correct perception of sounds will undoubtedly lead to positive results;
Particular attention should be paid to correct intonation and stress. Acquiring skills in the correct one is quite difficult, since the manner of pronunciation of words in different languages is very different. The assimilation of the correct melody of the language will be facilitated by repeated listening to radio programs recorded, for example, on a voice recorder;
Try to learn poems by heart and read them with expression, while trying to convey all the shades of sound with your voice.

Grammar

Learning a language without mastering grammar is only possible for a small child or a person who, for some reason, found himself in a foreign language environment and was completely cut off from his usual one.

The rules of grammar should not only be known, but also understood. A meaningful principle certainly creates a habit, and the leisurely application of these rules subsequently becomes automatic. All the grammatical patterns that you have mastered act on the principle of a template; in the future, they allow you to “cut” new forms based on it. The entire study of grammar comes down to the production of these patterns, which is why your task is to master as many stable fundamental patterns as possible.

Here are the main basic rules and tips for learning grammar.

Remember that a solid knowledge of the basics of grammar is much more important than a superficial, trivial acquaintance with all the minor elements;
Do not look for any clear logic in grammar, since any language is rich in inconsistent phenomena that are determined by the process of its development. That is why, along with studying grammatical rules, at the same time try to study all the exceptions to them;
Grammar rules need to be memorized by memorizing entire sentences where they are used. This approach will make your learning easier; it’s easier than memorizing the rules formulated in a textbook;
When studying grammar, try to compare the rules of grammar in a foreign language with identical rules in your native language. This will allow you to find similar phenomena and will contribute to the creation of associative connections;
Initially, learn to conjugate verbs and inflect nouns with pronouns, try to determine the structure of a sentence, as well as the order of words in it;
It is imperative to draw up tables of the rules that you are studying, this will give you the opportunity to visually assimilate the material;
Try to formulate questions on your own that include the grammar rules you are studying, and try to answer them using examples.

Your goal should be to create a standard model-sentence, into which you will gradually include several rules of the same type in order to compare various rules with each other, comparing them using the same model.

Language Acquisition

There are four main types of speech that make up language activity: listening, reading, writing and speaking. To know a language well, you need to be fluent in these types of speech.

To understand speech by ear, you need:

constantly listen to tape recordings and radio broadcasts;
communicate as often as possible with people who ideally speak the language you are studying;
read aloud with correct intonation;
constantly repeat samples of heard speech;
use various oral exercises;
gain practical phonetic skills, improve pronunciation.

There are two basic types of reading – extensive and intensive.

During extensive reading, you do not pay typical attention to detail; your reading is focused solely on the essence of the story. We get a more general and less accurate perception. On the other side of the coin, if you read without understanding what is happening, it will not bring any results or benefit.

Intensive Reading- unhurried and thorough, includes an explanation of the smallest and most detailed details, completely all grammatical, lexical and stylistic specifics of the text. In this case, naturally, all interest in the text as such and its meaning are often lost.

A detailed analysis of difficult texts must be combined with quick reading of easy ones. The fatigue that occurs when reading fluently is associated with frequent switching of one’s attention, which is more than compensated for by both the interest and pleasure of reading.

Speak a foreign language fluently- a rather severe characteristic of speech activity. To speak, you need to operate with a huge number of words, various model sentences and speech cliches, and use them automatically, without thinking.

You can learn to speak correctly and efficiently with the help of the following exercises.

It is necessary to remember the maximum number of stamps, various short phrases, as well as stable phrases and expressions. Try to learn and recite some proverbs and sayings, parables, anecdotes and short dialogues;
Speech skills are perfectly developed by modern plays and stories written in a conversational style. They contain the most necessary words and models. Textbooks and manuals often contain slightly artificial texts; they are not always a reliable and thorough source of colloquial speech;
after a couple of months, it is necessary to include retelling of texts in the learning process, gradually increasing their complexity. To automate speech skills, during repeated retellings you need to increase the speed of speech;
After reading the text, ask yourself various questions about the text, answering them yourself;
Learning to speak correctly and beautifully is possible only in the process of speaking. Therefore, you need to practice speaking at the slightest opportunity;
talk to yourself, practice daily, tell yourself what you see and hear around, what you want to do, etc. You must accustom yourself to obligatory monologues.

Despite the fact that writing is far from the primary attribute of language learning, it cannot be ignored. If you cannot express your thoughts in writing, you cannot be called a person who knows the language comprehensively.

You can develop written language in the following ways.

You are required to complete all written exercises in the textbook, in particular those related to translation from your language into the target language;
write questions about what you read;
give yourself self-dictations to test your memorization of newly learned vocabulary;
express the elaborated text freely in writing;
Write essays on topics that interest you most.

Translation

While learning a language, be sure to practice translating text from a foreign language into your native language and vice versa. Translation is not only about combining the meaning of each individual word into one phrase, it is primarily about conveying thoughts. In fact, this is the creation of a new sentence, taking into account all the features of the language into which the text is translated. It will greatly facilitate translation if you memorize figures of speech that differ from those of your language, but carry the same semantic load. Always, remember, always avoid literal translation of the text.

So, to summarize, it must be said that all types of speech activity, without exception, are inextricably linked with one another. Therefore, never pay more attention to one at the expense of the others. Use, to the extent possible, all the techniques and means described above. And most importantly, the only shortcut to full mastery of a language is persistent, painstaking, concentrated, systematic and conscious work.

How language shapes our emotions The School of Life