Learn Any Language Fast: Effective Strategies for Learning Any Language Fast

This book was quite interesting in its approach, but effective in its strategies. Full disclosure: I do have some experience in attempting to learn a language. I took two years of introductory French in high school (about 12 years ago). Additionally, I took two semesters if introductory Latin in college. I wish I'd read this book first! No knock on traditional classroom learning, but the techniques in this book are designed well to prepare students on HOW to learn. For instance, instead of just learning a vocabulary word for Spanish, and correlating it with the English word you already know, putting a picture with it will help you learn the word more immediately and recall it from your brain without having to translate it. This technique, like many others in this book, is extremely different from the ones I learned when learning language in school settings. The book has five chapters, and, as mentioned, is unique in its approach. It begins with a lot of "under-the-surface" stuff about language and linguistics in general, and then proceeds through each chapter by addressing HOW our brain processes language in order to show what we need to do to learn a new language. It gives basic language rules for different languages, and draws-out how to identify them for the language you're studying. It also gives actual study TIPS (like taking breaks!) which casual or new students might not know on their own. It gives lessons on immersion vs. translation. It emphasizes that while knowledge of words is important, the rules that underlie those words are MORE important, and that like small children just learning a new language, hearing others USE those rules is the best way to learn them. The one thing I'll say is DO NOT go into this book without an idea of the language you want to learn. Pick that language FIRST, and then go through this book so you can use its techniques and examples with a specific language in mind, and not just a myriad of random languages. Great for beginners or those who are trying to reintegrate a language into their lives.

Learning a language, can be very time-consuming and people can fall easily behind if putting off their language learning lessons. I never received instructions on how to efficiently learn a language, and this book acts like a crash course in giving me the resources to improve my language skills. This book, was very well done and practical for someone who’s serious in wanting to improve or learn a language. Practical real life example lessons and situations help the reader develop deeper conversations with locals. Even if the reader is not yet traveling to a desired country right away, but would like to improve their language skills in the meantime. When it comes to learning a challenging language like Japanese, I consider myself intermediate and find that this books is also helpful for both beginners and intermediate language learners. This text is organized by the author's own preferences for how to learn languages, but the most useful parts for me were all of the small details for different memorization strategies and exercises. Added bonuses such as audio examples, voice recorder, and image flash cards so you can hear the correct pronunciation which is so helpful when learning a new language. I appreciate the author's passion to teach others her native language. Reading about language learning has to be coupled by actually practicing the tips as well. With all the useful information presented in the book, for a much lower price, this book is a real deal and worth the read.