Clik here to view.
Interview with Benny Lewis of “Fluent in 3 Months”
Benny Lewis is a fun-loving blogger, YouTuber, author, language hacker, and technomad from Ireland (hence his nickname “Irish Polyglot”). He is the creator of the most popular language learning site...
View ArticleMy 5 Favorite Tools for Watching Mandarin Chinese Videos Online
Video is an especially powerful medium for language immersion given the clear visual context, interesting plot lines, and the inclusion of both listening and reading input for videos with subtitles. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Movies of All Time
Film is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in a foreign language from afar, giving you valuable cultural and linguistic insights from the comfort of your couch. Below you will find my top ten...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Master Mandarin 2.0 is Here!
The long wait is over. After many months of hard work, late nights, and early mornings, I have finally finished the second edition of my Master Mandarin guide. What’s New? A new 300-page PDF version...
View ArticleMy Top Tips for Learning Mandarin Chinese: A Video Interview with Olly Richards
If you are learning Mandarin Chinese, check out this video interview Olly Richards from I Will Teach You a Language recorded with me. Olly is a great interviewer and even went to the trouble of...
View ArticleCognitive Psychologist Steven Pinker on Communicating Clearly in the 21st...
One of the most frustrating challenges I have encountered throughout my diverse career in language, linguistics, education, government, startups, consulting, and nutrition is the widespread use of...
View ArticleWhy Uncertainty is Good For You: Language Learning Lessons from “Antifragile”
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder is the first book I’ve read by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, but it will certainly not be the last. The book is actually the fourth in a four-volume series on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
5 Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Japanese Language Learners
Have you been so busy working, studying, or downing eggnog lattes that you forgot to get a gift for that special someone in your life? Here are some great last-minute gift ideas for those you know...
View ArticleThe Art of Learning & The Road to Mastery
“For much of this book I have described my vision of the road to mastery―you start with the fundamentals, get a solid foundation fueled by understanding the principles of your discipline, then you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Top 5 iPhone Apps for Learning Japanese
A search of the Apple App Store reveals an overwhelming number of Japanese language apps, but sadly (or perhaps, fortunately) the vast majority are not very useful. To save you time and help you focus...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Power of Mind Mapping in Language Learning (And Life!)
What is a Mind Map? British author, speaker, and memory master Tony Buzan defines mind maps as follows: “A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What is the Best Way to Learn Japanese Hiragana & Katakana?
What are kana? The Japanese kana system is a “syllabary”—an alphabet made up of syllables instead of letters—that represents all the sounds of the language. There are actually two separate sets of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Top 10 Tools for Learning Japanese Through Online Videos
We have been conditioned by well-intentioned mothers to believe that television will “destroy our brains.” This might well be true if one spends their time watching “reality” TV shows that don’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Struggling to Learn Kanji? Use Imaginative—Not Visual—Memory
The Problem with “Visual Memory” Does this sound familiar? You stare at a given kanji (漢字・かんじ, “Chinese character”) for a few minutes, trying to will the strokes into memory. You write the kanji out a...
View ArticleHow to Change the Display Language on iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, Kindle,...
I talk frequently about the power of what I call Anywhere Immersion, which is the process of creating a foreign language immersion environment no matter where you happen to live in the world using fun...
View Article5 Kick-Ass Language Blogs to Help Keep You Motivated
We all have days when we’re unmotivated to put in the time. We all endure embarrassing linguistic and cultural gaffes that can make it hard to get back on the horse. And we all encounter learning...
View ArticleCommit to Tiny Daily Language Habits So Easy You’ll Do Them Even When You’re...
You can often spot a new language learner by the scale of their language learning goals and daily habits. When we first start out in a new language, the excitement makes it easy to commit to big,...
View ArticleLearn Japanese with: Video
This is the first post in a new series I’m calling “Learn Japanese with _____.” Each post will highlight a method, tool, resource, website, app, book, or life-hack you can use to immerse yourself in...
View ArticleLearn Japanese with: Amazon Prime Video
This post is part of a series called “Learn Japanese with _____.” Each post highlights a method, tool, resource, website, app, book, or life-hack you can use to immerse yourself in Japanese no matter...
View ArticleLearn Japanese with: Netflix
This post is part of a series called “Learn Japanese with _____.” Each post highlights a method, tool, resource, website, app, book, or life-hack you can use to immerse yourself in Japanese no matter...
View Article