Antonio speaks numerous languages (French, German, Italian, Khmer, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and Thai), and has used his language skills to good ends. He has devoted the past 10 years of his life to chronicling martial arts masters around the world in his web TV show Martial Arts Odyssey and has worked tirelessly to fight the atrocities being waged against ethnic minorities in Burma.

On top of all this, Antonio has written an impressive trail of books, including The Monk from Brooklyn: An American at the Shaolin Temple, Adventures in Formosa, Rediscovering the Khmers, Boats, Bikes, and Boxing Gloves: Adventure Writer in the Kingdom of Siam, The Desert of Death on Three Wheels, and his latest book, Warrior Odyssey: The Travels of a Martial Artist in Asia.

The Interview:

In this exclusive interview with Antonio Graceffo, he “pulls no punches” (pun intended) when sharing his views on how to learn foreign languages and martial arts effectively. His wisdom stems from years spent living abroad coupled with sound theory.

To learn more about Antonio, visit his site SpeakingAdventure.com.

On top of all this, Steve maintains an informative blog well worth checking out: The Linguist on Language.  Here he shares his views on language learning and other topics of interest.  Many of the articles stir up quite a debate and it is enjoyable to go through the comments to see the vast array of viewpoints (though I must admit I sit firmly in Steve’s corner on nearly all language learning matters…)  If you prefer audio, you can subscribe to The Linguist on Language podcast.

With fluency in so many languages, most would immediately claim that Steve is “simply a natural at language learning” and that they themselves have no hope of learning 10 foreign tongues, let alone one.  But  having learned 4 of those languages after the age of 55, he lays waste to the myth that “only children can acquire a language well”  along with other common beliefs in his popular Pick the Brain article: 7 Common Misconceptions about Language Learning.

Read my interview with Steve to hear more about language learning myths, how to learn Mandarin effectively, and the role of a good teacher.