This is the second part in the language learning guide we are publishing in simple English on Poligo.

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Before we start

Before we begin talking about the nuts and bolts of learning a language, we should address a few of the elements of the psychology and work habits required to pull it off. These are vital, though many people ignore them, or push them to the back of their mind.

Many people wish (and it is wishful thinking) that learning a language were easier than it really is. They falsely reason that kids seemingly do it without any trouble (or at least anything you would describe as “study”), learning ‘naturally’. So, for adults it should all be child’s play.  However, there are some very fundamental differences between adults and kids, and the secret of being able to acquire a second language as an adult (as opposed to learning your first as an infant), is being able to put in the work, and bring to bear a whole bunch of things that kids can’t do.

First of all then, we should put aside childish ideas of magic bullets and super-fast ’systems’ that will have you rabbiting away like a native in an unbelievably short period of time. There are no shortcuts — but there are better ways. Learning a language cannot be reduced to a few short sentences, a guaranteed system of easy steps, or a promise of fluency in 10 days.  It takes time, patience and work.  Learning a language takes dedication and the right frame-of-mind.  You must have the right frame-of-mind.

If you read this series and it seems too much, then maybe you are not motivated enough.  However, if you can keep working, and you do not give up, you can do it. And it is possible to learn faster, if you do it right (you’ll see thought that what is “right” can depend on a bunch of personal factors like interest and goals). It can be fun, rewarding and easy, if you make it that way. But before we begin, it must be clear: learning a language is not magic.

Most important is why you are learning the language and what you need to do with it. A language is not a target: it is a tool. We learn languages to communicate and understand. Learning a language just to know it is not motivation enough for most people. Think deeply about your motivation. Our system is the engine you need to learn, but your motivation is the fuel. If you know what you need the language for, you can design your learning to reach that goal sooner.  Furthermore, if you can use the language to do things you enjoy and acheive your goals. You will be motivated to learn more and work harder.

One more point: “study” is a bad word. We will not use it here. Too many people have painful images of study: writing the same thing out a billion times and it still not sticking; or pouring for hours over mind-numbingly dull textbooks about people you don’t know doing things you don’t care about. You should always be enjoying yourself and interested. If you are sweating, or crying in anguish, then you have to question either your interest in learning the language (i.e. your motivation), or your technique. Either change what you are doing to learn, or re-visit the reasons why you are doing it all in the first place! Whatever you do, do not study the language, learn and use it.

It is important to consider the following questions and answer them truthfully. Bear these things in mind whenever you are learning and using a language (or anything for that matter):

• Why are you learning the language?
• What is your goal?
• Have you reached your goal yet?
• How much further till you reach your goal?
• How will you use the language?
• How does your own brain work?
• What helps you remember things?
• How much time do you have to work on the language every day?
• Can you keep going
• Are you learning the right way?
• Can you be patient?

Remember to keep asking yourself these questions.

If you think you can learn a language, read on. If you have a clear idea in your mind that languages take time, work and patience, read on. If you have a clear goal, read on. You can learn a new language.

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My brother, Michael, and I are publishing our guide to learning a language on Poligo. It is based on our experiences learning and teaching languages.

As a professional academic, Michael has had to learn 8 languages (classical and modern Chinese, classical and modern Japanese, French, German, Sanskrit and Tibetan) to different levels of proficiency. After two or three languages, he developed his own technique for teaching himself. The structure of this guide is based on his advice and experience, which he shared with me in a series of emails.

For my part, I studied Japanese and Latin (Amo! Amas! Amat! Amamus! Amatis! Amant!) in high school. I then came to Japan to learn Japanese. When I was fresh out of high school, I got from a very rudimentary level (I got 16% in Level 3/Basic of the JLPT) to reasonable fluency (Level 2/Business Japanese of the JLPT) in about 8 months going to a language school and working part-time in an amusement park in Tokyo. I taught English part-time in New Zealand for two years, and have also taught English in Japan for over 5 years: That equates to more than 10,000 hours of teaching time, with thousands of different individuals. Through this I have seen what works and what doesn’t—I have watched some students improve very quickly, while others stagnate. I have seen the realities of studying a language part-time, as an adult with a job and/or kids and very limited time.

This series will be very long, and it will have many parts—the original mails from my brother came to over 30,000 words. That is because learning a language to something beyond phrasebook competence takes a long time. It is an involved, intricate process. Essential to our method is its basis in the mix of our personal experience as learners, and empirical case studies of a very large number of language students of a variety of levels and backgrounds (I want to say “evidence” to make it sound more robust, but in truth it is all anecdotal rather than the statistical, scientific rigor we prefer these days). It is a blend of ideal technique and real-life contraints, with a focus on personalised learning styles and maximum effectiveness. It is our guide to learning a language, and it will teach you how you can master any language (or, at the very least, how you can ensure that you will make progress and—this is the key—that you will get what you want out of the language).

Please share this (there is a link at the bottom of the post) with anyone you know who is learning a language. If you want to recommend this to non-native English speakers, you will find a simple English version on Poligo.com. The version here is the version for native English speakers. When I get time, I hope to translate it into Japanese and post it on my Japanese blog (which I have yet to really start…).

I am very busy running Poligo and teaching, so I will publish installments pretty sporadically. If you want, sign up for email updates in the box on the left, or subscribe to the RSS feed and you will be notified when the next part goes up. Friends on Facebook will also see when I post here.

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Learn a new language in 10 days!

Have you seen the ad online for this company? Seriously, dudes?! In the words of a friend of mine, “What do you think it is?! Magic?!” Unfortunately, it is not—you have to put in time and effort. Any kind of wishful thinking is setting yourself up to fail before you even start: from such unrealistic expectations surely comes frustration and demotivation. If we have a realistic outlook from the start, then we can circumvent or even prevent many of the sorts of things that might set us back, or cause us to lose hope and give up.

So, before we begin, we should put fairy-tales aside and acknowledge that languages are complex things: languages are perhaps the most complex combination of cognitive and physical skills most of us can ever hope to master. Consequently, the ways we use our brain to speak and learn languages are complex. If we understand these complexities, we can employ them (and compensate for them) in our approach to learning a language. So, an effective system for learning a language must inevitably also be complex. However, you should not let the complexity of it put you off. Once you have the parts organised, they will mesh with each other like the gears of a machine. The habit you form will keep things ticking over nicely, and each wheel in the machine will whir the others along.

This guide outlines a method for teaching yourself a language, and the fundamental principles required to reach a language goal. The system is complete, but you can adapt and customize the system to suit your goals and learning sytle. If you have less time, it will take you longer. If you have simpler goals than fluency, you can get there faster.

However, there are certain essential components to the method, and it is important that you follow these guidelines for the best results. Our method will teach you how to learn a language intelligently, systematically and efficiently, while enjoying yourself. It will make your language study more effective, interesting and fun. It should take some of the frustration out of learning a language. Though be wary, for here be monsters: the more you learn, the more you might realise that you will never be satisfied with your ability. It is a little bit like sailing a boat to the horizon—no matter how far you go, the horizon keeps shifting. And there’ll be many a time where you feel like Don Music. At any rate, you can use these techniques—if you are teaching yourself, or if you are taking language classes—to ramp up your progress and make the language stick.

The series will have two main sections: Preparation and Study Method. The section on preparation deals with the foundations of learning a language.

Psychology:

• Can you do it? or What you need to know before you learn a language;
• The importance of regularity;
• Motivation;

Learning:

• Knowing your own mind;
• The science of learning;
• Memory;
• How to make things memorable.

The section on study method covers technique for learning a language from beginning to fluency:

• What materials to use;
• How to study the language (grammar, syntax, pronunciation; idiom; vocabulary; real-life usage);
• How to make study notes and examples;
• How to use your study notes.
• How to go beyond study and school to being truly fluent.

We will begin with preparation and some psychology in the next installment. Comments, ideas and your input are appreciated.

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I learnt a good idiom from a student yesterday:

気は確かか？ // Ki ha tashika ka?

It means something like, “Are you on drugs?” Or, “Do you have rocks in your head?” Another version is this:

気でも狂ったのか？ // Ki demo kurutta noka?

It is maybe a little more interesting than something like: ばかじゃない？

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