Language Learning

What is the best way to learn a foreign language? How to learn foreign language? Those question are coming on again and again.

Despite all the technological progress human made the way we learn languages is not optimal to say the least. We have tons of content, much more than we really need to learn any language, still it takes years to learn a foreign language.

Moreover, even after years of learning many language learners don’t feel confident in their target language. Why is that?

Every language is a complicated beast, if it’s not your native language. We admin it.

There are however few simple techniques that can make the whole language learning journey much more efficient and much faster.

Spaced repetition, sentence mining or story telling are all very good and proven methods but only the proper combination of them all is a real games changer in language learning.

/ Language Learning

Is it possible to learn a language at any age? It’s never too late to master a new language

I first started learning a foreign language when I was 15 years old. In post-communist Poland, not much was known about how to learn a foreign language in an effective…

/ Language Learning

Efficient listening exercises in language learning. Shadowing method and others.

I have been learning languages all my life. My adventure with languages began in the early 1990s. At school I studied English and took a course in German. Later I…

/ Language Learning

How to use AI in language learning

Will artificial intelligence make learning languages child’s play? Maybe it won’t even be needed at all, replaced by a tiny chip implanted in the wrist that will make us understand…

/ Language Learning

Spaced Repetition System (SRS) and the forgetting curve in language learning – history, theory and our practice

I started my adventure with foreign languages back in elementary school, when I was 13 years old. I grew up in post-communist Poland, so learning languages was not the norm….

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What is wrong with language learning?

People sitting in front of computers

/ Language Learning

What is the grammar of a language? Is learning grammar a good idea?

I love grammar. As a teenager I was fascinated by German grammar. I loved everything about it and I wanted everything to be perfect when I spoke. My attitude towards…

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What is Comprehensible Input in language learning

I started learning English more than 20 years ago. Later I learned other languages, but unfortunately I didn’t achieve proficiency in every one I encountered. I learned my first languages…

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Is storytelling in foreign language learning effective? How to use storytelling.

“Can I stay with you for a week?” she asked.  “Of course,” I replied. At this point I was still speaking English to her, even though I knew some Italian….

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How long does it take to learn a foreign language?

I started learning English when I was still in elementary school, but it took me a long time to achieve fluency. I even had private lessons, yet some of my…

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How to use memory effectively to learn a language? Types of memory and mnemonics.

When I studied for exams in college, I often used the so-called “three Z’s” method: in Polish, zakuć, zdać, zapomnieć, or “cram, pass and forget.” It worked great for taking…

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What are effective principles of language learning. Effective learning can be simple

Learning a language is strenuous and demanding – after all, you have to learn a lot of new words, understand how to combine these words into sentences, and so on….

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How to Memorize Words in Another Language

A major key to learning a foreign language is memorizing vocabulary. Without a doubt, this is a challenging task. But the good news is we all possess a degree of…

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Benefits of Language Learning for Company Culture

Alessandro just moved from Rome to Amsterdam to take up his dream job. He was surprised that quite often the employees in his company communicated in Dutch, not English, like…

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Anxiety When Speaking a Foreign Language and How to Overcome It

You walk into a café. You notice a group of locals. They’re sitting at the table, chatting in their native foreign language. It’s the one you’ve been trying to study…

present simple
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How Polyglots Learn Languages

Are polyglots just naturally gifted, or are there exact methods for their language learning success? What do they know about how to learn and master languages that most don’t? More…

girl reflection in train window
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Learning a Language Through Songs

I was once visiting Rotterdam with my friends and we went out on Friday evening. I had been studying Dutch for a few years back then, and I was able…

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The best way to learn a language is through sentences

While memorising lists of words and grammar rules is one of the most common ways to learn a language, it is also one reason many people end up quitting. It…

/ Language Learning

The power of learning a language with sentences

Learning a language by memorising sentences has been one of the most efficient ways to improve language skills for decades. It has been used by linguists and polyglots around the…

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The crucial exercise when you learn a language

If you are not creating your own content while learning a foreign language, you are missing a huge opportunity / crucial ingredient.  In this short video I am going to…

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Why are you wasting your time learning foreign language

If you are trying to learn a foreign language, you are probably wasting your time. In this video I am going to explain why and what you need to do…

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How to hack your memory for efficient language learning with Taalhammer (Part 2)

In order to learn foreign language you need to memorize thousands of words and sentence patterns. There is just no other way. Memorization is fundamental to language learning. However, the…

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How to hack your memory for efficient language learning with Taalhammer (Part 1)

Whatever language-learning method you are using, one thing remains the same: you need to memorise a large amount of information (typically thousands of words and patterns) and develop reflexes that…

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If you do the right things (and do them right), you can become fluent in a foreign language faster than you think

Did you know that just 9 words cover 25% of spoken and written English? These words are: and, be, have, it, of, the, to, will, you. With another 50 words,…

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How to battle the fear of speaking a foreign language

Are you learning a foreign language? Do you feel you already know enough to be able to speak but you just mumble – or even worse, freeze – when it…

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How to talk to strangers in foreign language

So you have just started learning a new language, maybe a month ago or so. And you keep telling yourself, well, wouldn’t it be nice to have a chat with…

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What is the best way to learn a language?

In February 2016, I was having a lazy morning at the office. I was drinking a coffee, trying to focus after the weekend, when I received a phone call telling…