Radio Drama Can Make Waves in Language Learning
In this guest post, writer and editor Matthew Pink shares how language learners can acquire vocabulary, improve pronunciation, build confidence, and have an all around good time recording radio dramas.
Most recent articles
Supercharge Language Acquisition by Improving Brain Fitness
Language ability obviously starts in the brain, so we should do everything we can to maximize this organ’s blood flow, plasticity, and functionality. Fortunately, there are three guaranteed ways to do just that…
Language Learning | Why Most Fail & How You Can Succeed
If an adult fails to learn a foreign language (and most do), most of us assume they simply don’t study hard enough or just aren’t good at languages. It’s certainly true that some learners are lazy, and given the same methods, certain folks tend to pick up languages faster than others. But neither of these is the real issue; both are but symptoms of the underlying problem: 1) Crappy Methods, 2) Crappy Materials, and 3) Crappy Attitudes.
The NOT To Do List for Successful Language Learners
To do lists seem like a good idea in theory, but they have one major disadvantage: there is an infinite number of potential to do items. With this in mind, Timothy Ferriss, best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek (and a speaker of 6 languages), recommends “not to do lists” instead. Since they isolate a finite set of behaviors that are getting between you and your goals, they are far more effective than traditional to do lists. This tool applies perfectly to language learning, where most learners waste a lot of time on ineffective methods, bad materials, and counter-productive attitudes.
The Only Way to Learn a Language
Disregard everything I have written or said since beginning this blog and the Language Mastery podcast. Ignore every single one of the 150,000+ words in my Master Japanese guide. There is only ONE way to learn a language…
Benny Lewis Interviews Tim Ferriss, Author of “The 4-Hour Chef”
Benny Lewis, the Irish Polyglot, and Tim Ferriss, the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, and The 4-Hour Chef, discuss language myths, and how to learn languages quickly using the 80/20 rule.
Review | Skritter’s New Japanese and Chinese Apps for iPhone & iPad
Skritter has been on my radar for quite some time, but the need to sit at a computer was less than ideal. With the release of their iOS apps, however, Skritter has finally been given the touch-based format it deserves.
5 Good Reasons to Raise Your Children Bilingual
Are you a parent seeking ways to improve your child’s future academic and professional prospects? Read on to see how being bilingual can give your children a leg up in today’s hyper-competitive world.
Review | The Michel Thomas Method
From surviving Nazi internment camps to teaching French to Hollywood stars, Michel Thomas was truly an amazing man. Read on to learn more about his life and his unique language learning approach.
Effects of English Hegemony on Education
In this guest post, writer Estelle Shumann discusses the effects of English on world education, culture, and ideology, and how some consider the prominence of English a form of neo-colonialism. What’s your stand?
Comedy is Translation | Chris Bliss TED Talk
In his excellent TEDxRanier talk, Chris Bliss posits that “Every act of communication is an act of translation” and that great comedy can “translate deep truths for a mass audience”. I couldn’t agree more.
Interview | Paulino Brener
Paulino Brener is one of the few people I know who’s managed to successfully blend all of his passions into one. In our interview, he discusses creative ways to harness one’s passions in language learning & teaching.
Interview | Jason West of English Out There
In my interview with Jason West, the creator of English Out There, we discuss the weaknesses of traditional English schools, methodologies, and materials, and how his approach aims to overcome them.
10 Secrets Language Schools Don’t Want You to Know
Language schools can be a wonderful place to learn more about your target language, meet fellow learners (who can become both study partners or even lifelong friends), and get your linguistic and cultural feet wet before (or even while) immersing yourself in a new culture and foreign tongue. However, language schools can also be a major impediment to the very goal you go there to achieve: learning a foreign language as quickly and efficiently as possible. This may come as a shock to those who have been conditioned to believe that classrooms are the only place, or at least the best place, to learn a language. Read on to see the top ten disadvantages of formal, classroom-based language learning.
The Secret to Learning a Language in 10 Days?
Check out this beautifully illustrated talk about how to learn foreign languages using the Pimsleur approach. No, I don’t believe you can learn a language in 10 days, but you can certainly get started in one, and Pimsleur is a good way to help get your brain and tongue used to a new language.
Join the Newsletter
Top 5 Reasons to Join
1. It's free.
2. Your information will NEVER be shared with anyone. I hate spam as much as you.
3. You'll get exclusive language learning tips.
4. All the cool kids are doing it.
5. You'll get 2 bombtastic bonuses:
Bonus 1:
My exclusive interview with renowned linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen.
Bonus 2:
25% off my 574-page Master Japanese language guide.
About Me
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die. No wait, my name is John Fotheringham. I'm a writer, linguist, and entrepreneur passionate about foreign languages and cultures, "edutainment", ancestral nutrition, mobile technologies, and making corny puns. My core skills center around writing, teaching, language acquisition, and chopsticks, but I have yet to figure out how to monetize the last one…
I originally hail from Seattle, but have spent most of the past decade living, learning, and working in Japan, Bangladesh, China, and Taiwan. I currently reside in Los Angeles, but “home is where the heart is” and mine will forever belong to the Pacific Northwest. Or New Zealand. I’m a bit bifurcated on that one. That’s one of my favorite 50¢ words by the way. It’s just fun to say: Bifurcated. Bi-fur-ca-ted.
In addition to a PhD in Applied Pun Making and a Masters in Advanced Movie Quotes, I hold a B.A. in Linguistics from Western Washington University, with a focus on Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and T.E.S.O.L. One of the above is true; I’ll let you guess which.