Monthly Archives: March 2011

The Mixxer

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsI recently posted about finding language helpers online, offering a host of  resources and ideas for finding a language helper.  Another great opportunity for language learners is the more simple language exchange – a meeting of two language learners who agree to spend half of their allotted time in each language.  This works nicely as…

The EDLL Guide to Sustaining

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsThe Everyday language Learner’s Guide to Sustaining is here and it’s free.  In it I lay out what it takes to keep at the journey of learning another language.  Like most things in life, learning another language is nearly as much about keeping at it as any other factor and so I want to offer a…

2011 Calendars at the Central Asia Institute

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsAs a way to give back, I have decided to work to support the Central Asia Institute (CAI).  You can read a bit more about this , but I wanted to take a moment today to point you to the new 2011 CAI calendar.  I know it’s already almost April, but here is what the…

Sustaining: The Ebook to Keep you Going

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsI am super excited to tell you about a project I have been working on which has been a while in coming.  It basically stems from the Greg  Thomson observation that “if we ignore a whole lot of other problems, the two biggest problems in language learning are 1)  Getting Started; and 2) Not Quitting….

The Importance of Journaling: Yuki’s Story

Finding a Language Helper

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsI have written about using language helpers in the past  but today I wanted to look a bit at how to go about finding a good one.  I want to be careful here lest I talk about language helpers as some sort of commodity – they’re not of course.  They are people like us with…

Putting in the Time

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsI recently began reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers.  So far it has been a great book. So far being the first two chapters.  In chapter two though he discusses the 10,000 hour rule.  Research into those who are at the top of their selected fields, the best of the best, were not found to be…

I Am Not Dr. Arguelles

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politics As a language coach and a learner myself, I am always on the look out for new ideas, new methods and new tips to both use myself and to pass on to you.  That said, I’ve come across some pretty interesting ideas.  Youtube is filled with videos about language learning, both how to videos…

Language Learning Tip: Read Out Loud

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politics Reading in the target language should be an integral part of your language learning journey – and it should be one that never ends as life long language learners.  The importance of reading cannot be overstated.  However, if you pay attention to how you read in English (or your native language) you will notice…

Little Things

Tweetgovernment,politics news,politics news,politicsI recently stumbled across this quote:  “If you are interested, you will do what is convenient. If you are committed, you will do whatever it takes.”  As an everyday language learner, this may seem to strikes a blow in the heart of our desire to learn another language.  We are interested, but not committed.  Life…