Hi everybody. My name is Luca, I come from Rome, Italy. This blog is entirely dedicated to my biggest passion: languages. I’ve been learning languages for almost 20 years. Other than my mother tongue Italian, I speak: English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese and I am in the process of acquiring two more languages: Japanese and Romanian.
In the last 2 years I had some sort of revelation. I had always been absorbing languages without really wondering why what I did was so effective. I just did it. Then I started “cogitating”, thinking, and I ended up looking for information on the “language learning” issue from a a scientific point of view. The more I read the more I figured out that only one conclusion is possible: languages cannot be taught, they can only be learned. Everything turns around the learner and his/her passion, drive.
Once this point has been fully understood, the whole approach towards this issue changes dramatically and one understands why learning languages in a classroom is not very effective. That is why I decided to share not only my passion, but also to explain how to face the acquisition of a new language.
With optimism and method. Passion and experience. Learning a new language takes time, but it is not difficult. That’s my mission: make you understand that. And to all those who will tell you that “nah, the only useful language to learn is English, the rest is a waste of time”, well, tell them that “who learns another language, acquires another soul”
Salve a tutti. Sono Luca, un ragazzo italiano di quasi 30 anni. Questo canale è dedicato alla mia più grande passione, le lingue. Oltre alla mia lingua madre, parlo inglese, francese, tedesco, spagnolo, olandese, svedese, russo, portoghese, cinese, e sto imparando altre 2 lingue: giapponese e rumeno.
Imparo lingue da quasi 20 anni e negli ultimi 2 ho avuto una specie di “rivelazione”. Ho sempre imparato senza domandarmi troppo perché quello che facevo funzionava. Lo facevo e basta. Poi ho cominciato a riflettere e a cercare informazioni sull’apprendimento delle lingue da un punto di vista formale e scientifico. La conclusione è che le lingue non si insegnano. Si imparano.
Una volta capito questo, tutto l’approccio cambia enormemente, e si capisce perché la maggior parte delle famose “classi di lingue” non funziona o attecchisce molto poco. Perciò ho deciso di condividere non solo la passione e le mie lingue in sé, ma anche il modo di affrontare lo studio.
Con ottimismo e metodo. Con passione ed esperienza. Per imparare una nuova lingue ci vuole tempo, ma non è difficile. E la mia missione è far capire proprio questo. A tutti quelli che vi diranno che nella vita serve solo l’inglese, rispondete così “chi impara un’altra lingua, acquista un’altra anima”






355 comments
Vladimir says:
Jan 10, 2011
Luca,
amazing website man!
looking forward for great articles.
Vlad
Matt says:
Jan 29, 2011
Hey Luca,
I was wondering if you could let me know what has been your biggest struggle in language learning? Personally, my problem is over-confidence. I learn how to pronounce the language well and then I am constantly told by native speakers my language skills are quite impressive which leads me to think I don’t need to study or I’ve got this language down which isn’t true.
Do you experience this?
Luca says:
Feb 1, 2011
Dear Matt, my biggest struggle was with German: I started learning it by trying to figuring out its grammar. After a 2 month fight, I realized that I needed a totally different approach. As for the rest..I have a lot of fun with languages, I’ve never really struggled to acquire languages because I know that they are big walss: it takes time to build them, brick by brick, day by day. If I don’t understand an aspect of a language (be it a sound, grammar rule or something else) I relax, move on, and go back to it later. No matter how big your talent is, what really counts in language learning is your attitude: being humble and working every day are 2 important factors towards success. Luca
inga says:
Jun 14, 2013
Ciao Luca,
ho visto il tuo video “Learning more than one language at a time: some useful tips”. Le lingue straniere mi piacciano moltissimo( sopratutto la lingua italiana!). Il mio problema e pero, la pratica, cioe come praticare le lingue. Vivo in Germania e non conosco tanti stranieri (anche se io sono in Germania una straniera)con qui potrei parlare per esempio italiano oppure inglese. Forse conosci qualche website dove si potrebbe mettere in contatto con altri a chi piacciono altre lingue e magari altre culture?
Complimenti per il tuo inglese.Non si sente l`accento italiano!
Inga
admin says:
Jun 18, 2013
Cara Inga,
http://www.conversationexchange.com/
http://www.sharedtalk.org
Con questi 2 sei a posto :)
L
Chayan says:
Feb 14, 2011
Hello Luca! I’m impressed to your language skills . Are the Hugo books helpful for learning languages????
It would be great to see you learn a language like Hindi or Bengali tooo!!!!
Irina says:
Feb 18, 2011
Caro Luca,
Mi piace studiare l’italiano. Normalmente leggo, ascolto e scrivo ogni giorno. Mi piacciono le canzoni di Andrea Bocelli…. Luca, I absolutely agree with you that ‘languages can’t be taught, they can only be learnt’. I think you can’t force a lagnuage down somebody’s throat. You have to, you need to WANT to learn it. But I believe, the teacher’s abitlity to inspire the pupils and teach them how to learn the language is also essential. The methods of teaching in many schools, for instance, are out-dated (though the text-books are modern). Children are bored. Who should show them how exciting it is to learn languages?- A teacher…Thanks to you I’ve decided to learn German (as soon as I am able to speak frequently in Italian)!!!Luca, Вы часто говорите по-русски с русскими? Ваша речь звучит так, будто Вы жили в России лет 5 или больше. Мне нравятся Ваши статьи и видео-материалы.
Спасибо,
Grazie,
Thank you,
Irina
Luca says:
Feb 23, 2011
Grazie del bel commento Irina! Sì, il segreto è fare qualcosa con la lingua tutti i giorni: leggere e ascoltare, ma anche scrivere e, possibilmente, cercare di parlare. La musica è un altro ottimo modo di migliorare le proprie capacità..canore e linguistiche
In inglese mi pare si dica “you can lead a horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink”. Penso sia un principio generale, che vale per tutto. Per me il ruolo di un insegnante, o “tutore”, è quello di mostrare i dettagli, incoraggiare, scegliere il materiale più interessante per il suo studente (o i suoi studenti, se ne ha tanti). Ma alla fine è lo studente che impara, e se non ha volontà e soprattutto se non ha INTERESSE. Siccome io sono limitato nel tempo e nello spazio, non ho l’arroganza di parlare di cose che non conosco, ma mi sembra che il sistema scolastico non si sta adattando come dovrebbe alla rivoluzione di Internet. E’ una maniera antiquata di concepire l’insegnamento, incentrata ancora troppo sull’insegnante. Il risultato è che gli studenti, come tu stessa suggerisci, sono annoiati e passivi. Con i miei studenti la cosa che faccio è: prepararli ad imparare prima di tutto, e motivarli durante il processo, stimolando il loro interesse con materiale apprpriato e le parole giuste nei momenti di difficoltà.
Что касается русского языка..нет, я не очень часто общаюсь с русскими людьми. Разговариваю/практикую русский время от времени по-скайпу и смотрю видео на Ютюбе, но, как ты знаешь, этого не достаточно для того чтобы говорить свободно по-русски. Тем не менее, спасибо за комплименты и за интересный комментарий :-)
Лука
David the Philomath says:
Mar 4, 2011
Hi Luca I’ve loked around your site for an e-mail address. Is there anyway I can send you an e-mail of some sort. Could you possibly send me an e-mail so I can reply? It’s regarding a project I would like for you to be apart of. If you’re interested of course.
Leandro says:
Mar 12, 2011
Hello Luca!
I watched your last inserted video “Native accent 3/3: phonetic analysis” and noticed that you said “informations”. There is no plural for this specific word, it is uncountable.
Best regards,
Leandro*
* From Brazil, my family has italian origin.
Tommy D says:
Mar 21, 2011
Hey Luca. You totally inspire me to learn languages. I’m currently learning Spanish and American Sign Language. In context to Spanish, I find myself reading a lot of Latin American Literature like Jorge Luis Borges and Pablo Neruda. The translations are on the opposite pages. I’ve been listening to you, Steve Kaufman, Richard, and Moses on Youtube. I am trying to process the methodology of language learning. I’m loving this journey. My objective is to become fluent and live in the beauty of other cultures. Being from New York, I have a good opportunity to speak with native spanish speakers. Necesito mucho practicar para mi futuro! Gracias Luca. Come visit New York City!
Luca says:
Mar 23, 2011
Thanks for the lovely comment Tommy :-) As soon as I get the chance, I’ll surely go to NY..I have to hit american ground sooner or later! Luca
Lee Murphy says:
Mar 21, 2011
Ciao Luca,
first off wanted to congratulate you on this website, it is looking very good, bundled with heaps of information and well-worth technical information that only has a positive effect on us all. We have spoke before via E-mail on youtube, i wanted to request the possibility of some of your help, would be even better if i could actually get the chance to actually talk to you to using Skype or Msn if that was to be a possiblility, as one person has written here that he is over confident, i like most i would guess, am under-confident and due to this lack of confidence am not performing to my best, another problem i have is intonation, i find it really difficult to produce certain sounds and would appreciate any time you would have to maybe explain your approach in more depth, my final problem (of the major ones) is word retainment and how i go about intensifying this so that i can maximise my learning capabilities?
Übrigens lerne ich gerade Deutsch und Spanisch, ich so wie du hatte so viele Probleme (Deutsch meine ich) um die Grammatik zu verstehen und muss echt sagen, dass bis zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt, verwirrt mich die Sprache noch immer, insbesondere Adjektivendungen, abhängig von welchem Fall ich rede. Jedenfalls so wie ich gesagt habe, wäre es schön, wenn ich die Möglichkein bekommen würde mit dir einmal zu chatten.
Mach weiter so und ich hoffe wir hoeren uns bald.
bis dann und danke im Voraus bei irgendwas Hilfe zu bekommen
Luca says:
Mar 23, 2011
Dear Lee, I am doing exactly this work (lessons via skype): I not only “teach” how to learn a language, but also work with my students on pronunciation AND confidence. The “Psychological factor” is key to language learning. If you want to have more information, you can send me a PM on Youtube. And thanks for the nice words! Luca
Josh Kaasik says:
Mar 26, 2011
Hi Luca!
You said earlier that your biggest struggle was with German and mentioned having to take a different approach than figuring out the grammar. I’ve studied German in formal classroom settings for a long time and am still terrible at it. I was wondering what approach you took that finally worked?
Luca says:
Mar 28, 2011
I just figured out that focusing on grammar can be hard, discouraging and not very useful, especially at the beginning, where it is easy to give up. So I came up with the idea of translating texts back-and-forth (in both directions). This technique offers countless advantages and it allows one to absorb a language (and thus its grammar!) without necessarily using grammar books. You infer the meaning of words and how therey are connected together by induction (analysis) AND deduction (synthesis) Once you have a good foundation of the language (6-9 months later), grammatical notes and explanations become accessible, clear, “light”, and you can leaf through a grammar book with pleasure and satisfaction. As for Spanish..it might sound boring, but my favourite book is ASSIMIL. Teach Yourself is also a good book to start with, but ASSIMIL is (according to my humble opinion :-)) much much better. Luca
Josh Kaasik says:
May 10, 2011
Thanks for the reply! Once I can speak it a bit better, I’ll come leave a comment in Spanish haha!
Josh Kaasik says:
Mar 26, 2011
..Also, I’m just now starting to learn Spanish. Is there anything in specific you would recommend? You should try out Estonian for a challenge! :D
paolo says:
Mar 30, 2011
Vabè, visto che fai tutto questo gratis non posso far altro che farti i complimenti. Gestisco un sito e so quanto possa far piacere ricevere un commento di supporto, e te lo lascio volentieri. Keep up your great work.
Luca says:
Mar 30, 2011
Caro Paolo, grazie mille per i complimenti, ricevere un commento di supporto fa, come dici tu, proprio piacere :-) Condividere una passione con gli altri è un modo di vivere, una filosofia di pensiero, non so come chiamarla. Quello che offro in cambio di qualche soldino sono lezioni private (in pronuncia, metodologia, e lingua target in genere), ma le persone sono liberisse di prenderle o meno, a seconda delle loro esigenze e disponibilità. Però devo dire e constatare con gioia che gli studenti si stanno moltiplicando a velocità vertiginosa :-)) Questo mi rende ancora orgoglioso perchè significa che si interessano e credono al lavoro che faccio qui e altrove, e alla passione che cerco di metterci dentro e trasmettere agli altri. Grazie ancora del commento e buona giornata! Luca
Isabella says:
Mar 30, 2011
Ciao Luca,
parlo un po d’italiano allora cerco di scriverti in italiano…
ho appena trovato il tuo channel a youtube e sono veramente impressionata! È incredibile!:)
ma cosa ti volevo chiedere è come lo fai di imparare tutte queste lingue.. non avrei mai il tempo.. quando scrivo degli esami a scuola sono troppo stanca la sera per imparare l’italiano ancora. O l’ultiama volta che non imparavo l’italiano era a causa del DELF, perché avevo paura di mescolare (?) l’italiano e il francese..
C’era un po di tempo che mi sedevo alla scrivania quasi ogni sera, ecceto la fine settimana, per imparare l’italiano, ma non lo riesco più e mi fa triste… che credi quanto tempo dovrei (?) imparare l’italiano ogni giorno?
Tanti saluti!
Isabella
Luca says:
Apr 3, 2011
Cara Isabella, grazie per le belle parole. Il tempo lo si trova, se si vuole :-)
Per quanto riguarda la tua domanda..la cosa importante è studiare tutti i giorni, anche solo per 5 minuti. Se sei troppo stanca, non studiare, è inutile. Se invece sei stanca ma non proprio distrutta, cerca di fare attività semplici, come leggere e ascoltare un testo. Nel weekend, invece, se non lavori, dedica invece 1 ora alla parte attiva della lingua (parlare e scrivere), soprattutto la mattina, in si è “frais et dispo” che corrisponde al nostro “fresco e riposato”
Luca
jonathan says:
Apr 6, 2011
dear, luca, good evening from new york and, first of all,your videos are incredibly inspirational and thank you for having taken the time you took to make them. specially those concerning intonations and pronunciation, they are especially helping me right now.
nonetheless, i have a question, i am at the point to start talking to myself in the targeted language that i am learning however, i don’t know exactly how to do it in terms of, should i translate the sentence from L1 to L2 to speak it out or should i just do that sometimes? for exemple, when i just speak, i know that i am making too much mistakes and when i write down what i had just said, and translate using google translate or whatever, it looks terrible. it looks like i am just stringing random words together or at least getting closer to the meaning but not quiet there…. i hope you understand what i am trying to ask, which is basically, should i translate it back and forth or just continue talking? extra info: i am using your method.
thanks you in advance for answering this question.
Luca says:
Apr 17, 2011
Dear Jonathan, speaking out is important. Articulating sounds with your mouth is mandatory if you want to develop fluency AND a good accent. I suggest you translate back and forth by writing things down. When you translate towards the L2, you utter the sentences that you are translating. So you are having your brain work both in written and oral form. The important thing is being ACTIVE, other than just reading and listening. Forget google translate :-) Possibly, try to get hold of bilingual texts (in your mother tongue and in the target language). Luca
Jesus says:
Apr 6, 2011
Hi lucas how are you? , you´re pretty awesome i´m watching your video speaking swedish, and i´m wondering how you learned to speak swedish, i want to learn it , i speak english, french and portuguese, but swedish is like my greatest fantasy, i really want to say that your work is very impressive and you have inspired me.
Greetings from Venezuela!!!!!!!
Luca says:
Apr 17, 2011
Dear friend, I started using TEACH YOURSELF SWEDISH and then moved on to ASSIMIL. They are both quite good. I then go to know some swedish friends, which is what definitely boosted my fluency in this beatiful language. Thanks for the nice words! Luca
Kolya says:
Apr 6, 2011
Dear Luca,
I noticed that you say you prefer the Assimil course. I was wondering, do you follow the two wave approach (passive and then active) or do you simply use the parallel text and audio for your own approach of full circle translation without following Assimil’s approach?
Luca says:
Apr 17, 2011
Dear Kolya, my approach to ASSIMIL is slightly different from what they propose: I don’t wait until the 50th lesson and then go back for the active way. I apply my full circle translation since the very beginning, being passive and active at the same time. I find this to be a very effective approach in the long run. Luca
Caterina says:
Apr 20, 2011
Ciao Luca!
a parte i complimenti che sono scontati…davvero sei molto bravo e sei da inviadiare. Avrei da chiederti un consiglio, mia sorella sta studiando da poco il cinese insieme ad una sua amica madrelingua, ma vorrebbe utilizzare un manuale per approfondire meglio la lingua. Ha l’ASSIMIL, che credo tu conosca…ti volevo chiedere se conosci altri manuali che possono esserle utili, o che magari hai usato tu stesso e che ti sono risultati utili per l’apprendimento della lingua cinese.
Grazie per la tua gentile attenzione.
Caterina
Luca says:
Apr 20, 2011
Ciao Caterina. Grazie per le belle parole, come al solito :-) ASSIMIL è buono ma non è la cosa ideale per il cinese. C’è poco materiale per essere un corso intero per principianti. Serve qualcos’altro, come giustamente vuole fare tua sorella. Non sono a Roma adesso ed ho lasciato la maggior parte dei miei cari libri di cinese lì, ma alla Feltrinelli dovresti trovare un corso della HOEPLI che è fatto bene (http://www.hoepli.it/libro/cinese-per-gli-italiani—yidaliren-xue-hanyu/9788820336172.asp). Io ho usato quello successivo (livello avanzato), ma mi piace molto come è strutturato il testo. Usarlo insieme ad ASSIMIL mi sembra la scelta migliore. Per la fase intermedia e quelle successive dì a tua sorella di venire qui sul blog e farmi tutte le domande che vuole :-) Un saluto! Luca
Caterina says:
Apr 20, 2011
Ciao Luca!
a parte i complimenti che sono scontati…davvero sei molto bravo e sei da inviadiare. Avrei da chiederti un consiglio, mia sorella sta studiando da poco il cinese insieme ad una sua amica madrelingua, ma vorrebbe utilizzare un manuale per approfondire meglio la lingua. Ha l’ASSIMIL, che credo tu conosca…ti volevo chiedere se conosci altri manuali che possono esserle utili, o che magari hai usato tu stesso e che ti sono risultati utili per l’apprendimento della lingua cinese.
Grazie per la tua gentile attenzione.
Caterina
Gianpaolo says:
Apr 20, 2011
Ciao Luca,
sono un architetto di 39 anni di Chieti interessato come te alle lingue straniere. Per prima cosa voglio complimentarmi con te per il tuo sito e per i tuoi video davvero molto interessanti. Hai centrato in pieno il metodo ottimale per studiare una lingua straniera: l’entusiasmo, la curiosità e la motivazione. L’approccio prettamente grammaticale lascia il tempo che trova e prima o poi ci si ritrova davanti a difficoltà che portano ad abbandonare lo studio.
Imparare una lingua è come vivere una seconda vita, dove ti si aprono scenari che non immaginavi e ti apre la mente dandoti una marcia in più.
Io non sono un poliglotta ma sono sempre stato affascinato alle lingue in genere anche se parlo inglese, spagnolo (madre argentina) e studio da tempo il russo.
Tra le altre cose, l’amore per la Finlandia e la sua cultura, non poteva non farmi cimentare con la lingua finlandese. Da pochi mesi cerco di studiare questa lingua che è bellissima e difficilissima al tempo stesso. Dal punto di vista fonetico noi italiani siamo molto avvantaggiati ma il fatto di non essere una lingua indoeuropea la rende così diversa ma non impossibile. In internet ci sono dei siti fatti benissimo che insegnano il finlandese. Al di là di questo mi ero avvicinato anche alla lingua rumena, bellissima anche questa. Scusa se ti ho portato via un pò di tempo ma volevo condividere conte questa passione, senza sentirmi “solo”, alla quale però posso dedicare pochissimo tempo…pazienza.
Vai avanti così e spero di riscriverti più in là per condividere qualche altro pensiero sulle lingue e la linguistica in generale.
Ciao e grazie di tutto.
Gianpaolo
Raitei says:
Apr 21, 2011
Hi Luca,
My name is Khalil, I’m 20 years, I’m from Morocco and I speak Arabic (Native, I can speak but mostly understand all Arabic dialects and Classical Arabic), French (second language, fluent), English (second language, fluent), Spanish (in the process of learning the language, intermediate level), Japanese (I have a lot of vocabulary, but I need to learn Kanji characters for writing), German (still on my hit list, I’ve just learned the basics)
I watched your videos on youtube and I have to say that I’m really impressed !
I like the way you hadle languages, you try to speak as much as possible with a native person’s accent, that’s what I do too, I mean I too have picked up English from watching movies and TV series and I wasn’t even aware that the English I spoke is actually an American accent..
My goal is to, someday, be able to speak 10 languages fluently, so I could really use some advice from you, it would really be great if you could contact me by e-mail or skype me at “d0raichan”.
If you’re ever interested in learning any Arabic Dialect I’ll be pleased to help you.
Waiting for your answer =)
Dans l’attente de ta réponse =)
Kimi no kotae o matte imasu =)
Estoy a la espera de su respuesta =)
أنا في إنتضار جوابك =)
Luca says:
May 11, 2011
Dear Khalil, thanks fhe message. Sorry for replying so late but I have been terribly busy lately and I am looking forward to posting new articles here on the blog (as well as making new Youtube videos :-)
As far as speaking with a native-accent is concerned..well, I find accents fascinating, and I found out that they do play a huge role when dealing with foreigners. The impact that your way of articulating sounds has on other people is huge in terms of social interacton. It is indeed a nice thing to be able to pull off and I am convinced that the main hindrance that people experience in this regard is mainly due to psychological reasons, rather than phisical/phisiological ones.
Speaking 10 or more language is not an impossible achievement if you have passion, drive..and time
I will learn Arabic someday, thanks for offering help :-)
Luca
TANIA says:
Apr 25, 2011
Hola Luca! Me alegra tanto, que me siento como pez en el agua, y eso es lo bueno de la era cibernética, he encontrado más gente de la que creía, cuya pasión es la mía, LOS IDIOMAS. Como muchos, navegando por la red encontré en youtube y este blog.
Ahora, mismo aprendo alemán, y mi nivel es súper básico, hasta ahora de los idiomas, es el que más se complica, pero creo que con tesón, paciencia y pasión, se puede. Aunque muero por aprenderlo, porque mi trabajo lo requiere. Gracias porque la llamita sigue encendida, y esto une a la humanidad, increíblemente.
Tschüss!!!
Tania
ian says:
May 9, 2011
hi luca,your videos are inspirational and they really inspire me to work harder.
i’ve hit a crossroad in terms of my language and i’m stuck since i’ve already learn a bit , would you advise me to go back and translate everything again or should i just move on while using your method ?
Luca says:
May 9, 2011
Dear Ian, thanks for the nice words. If you want to use my method my suggestion is: move on to new material and to work on that one with my method. Luca
Jamika Weddell says:
May 10, 2011
I have been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
Loni says:
May 10, 2011
Hej Luca!
Först måste jag säga att du låter fantastisk på alla språk! Vill fråga en sak bara… vad skulle du rekommendera till någon som redan pratar flera språk och vill inte glömma dom? Vad gör du själv? Pratar du alla språk minst en gång per dag eller försöker du prata ett språk i veckan osv?
Tack för hjälpen och inspirationen!
Mvh Loni
Luca says:
Jun 16, 2011
Hej Loni!
Ursäkta att jag är sen med mitt svar…
Många människor har frågat mig hur man lär sig ett språk men få vet att ett annat stort problem är att behålla språkkunskaperna: ju fler språk man talar desto svårare blir det att hålla i sär dem. Det handlar inte att tala 10 språk varje dag. Jag har tur som bor i Paris, det är en stor stad med en massa utlänningar from alla hörn av världen. Vad jag tror är: Möjligheter att tala språken är nyckeln till att hålla språken vid liv. Du måste försöka finna dessa saker genom att bygga ett nätverk av vänner med vilka du kan använda språken.
Luca
Trent Tuplano says:
May 11, 2011
Wow, awesome blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is fantastic, as well as the content!
Jerald Drenth says:
May 12, 2011
Hello There. I found your blog using Yahoo. This is a really well written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will certainly comeback.
Alan says:
May 15, 2011
Dear Luca,
I’m Alan from Tunisia. I’m 19 and I’ve been learning languages for almost 10 years now and I find it pretty amazing and very enjoyable. I’ve always been fascinated by anything that has to do with languages. Actually languages are all my life. I just can’t live without them :)) Unfortunately there is no enough time to learn as many languages as we want, so there has to be a limit. However, I believe we can do our best and try to speak each others’ languages as long as we want to.
I wanted to congratulate you for your brilliant achievements with all those languages. And I wanted to tell you that you are so inspiring, and for that you should be so very proud of yourself. I don’t know how you do it, but everything you say, and every advice you give just works easily and effectively :-)
After learning French, English, Hebrew, and Russian together with my mother tongue Arabic, I’ve been learning Italian and German for a year now, Mandarin and Turkish for 6 months and I just started learning Spanish. I sometimes forget my Russian due to a lack of practice.
I’m curious about how did you manage to learn your second language, and what are the languages you were able to speak when you were 19. Did you learn all those languages at home? I’m learning some languages at home using some books, and some CDs, and sites, but I’m wondering if one day I’ll be a fluent speaker thanks to my self-studies. Unfortunately ASSIMIL books are not available here, and as for the e-books, they’re not for free. So I just use free sites such as Busuu, Livemocha, Quizelet, onlinenewspapers… and some other books and dictionaries I find in the library. I’m sorry I can’t get all the necessary material for learning a new language, but I’m trying to manage with what I have.
One day, I’ll be able to speak Icelandic, Inuktikut, Greek, Swahili, Croatian… The list never ends.
Again, thank you Luca for your effort, and for being such a unique inspiration.
I’ll be waiting for any advice.
Thank you
Alan :)
Luca says:
May 17, 2011
Hi Alan. Thank you so much for the nice words. At the age of 19, I could speak Italian, English,French,Spanish, German and some Dutch. I learned all these languages at home, by using books and CD’s. Odd as it may seem, I started using the Internet to learn languages only a couple of years ago, with Chinese and Portuguese.
You can find ASSIMIL on-line, on amazon or other sites where you could even download it for free. With the Internet everything is possible. It is really a treasure trove for us language learners. My advice is always to buy a good language course to start with, and then move on to the internet, retrieving interesting content to download, analyze and absorb. Take care. Luca
Danny says:
May 18, 2011
Ciao Luca! Sono Italo-Americano, amo imparare le lingue… ma devo dire che la mia problema piu grande e la mia inabilita a capire la lingua parlata! Italiano per me non e’ una problema grandissima, pero una volta ogni tanto anche con l’italiano mi trovo nei guai, specialmente mentre provando capire un film romano o di qualche paese del sud. (Sono Toscano) Ma! Con il spagnolo, ho difficolta!
Che ne dici!
Grazie mille!
Alan says:
May 18, 2011
Thank you for replying to me. I really appreciate it.
You’ve been so helpful, and inspiring.
Thank you again.
Alan
Ilenia says:
May 24, 2011
Ciao Luca,
mi chiamo Ilenia ed insegno da orami 8 anni l’italiano in Germania. Un partecipante al mio corso mi ha mostrato un tuo video su you tube e mi piacerebbe molto avere la tua autorizzazione di fare altrettanto in classe.
Insegno ad adulti e il problema maggiore dei tedeschi nell’apprendere l’italiano (ed in generale le lingue romanze) è la paura di parlare, di fare errori e di mettersi in gioco nonchè la convinzione di NON poter imparare questa lingua bene.
È da 8 anni che faccio con passione il mio lavoro ma mi piacerebbe dare a loro una motivazione extra presentandogli il tuo video.
Ti saluto e ti consiglio di imparare il finlandese come prossima lingua……..per me rimane la più complicata:)
Luca says:
May 26, 2011
Cara Ilenia, sono onorato che il mio video possa essere fonte di motivazione per i tuoi studenti, e non hai neanche bisogno di chiedermi il permesso di mostrar loro la mia “performance” :), visto che la ragione principale per la quale l’ho messo su Youtube è proprio quella di convidivedere con tutti la mia passione per le lingue. Hai ragione; una delle difficoltà principali, soprattutto per gli adulti, è di natura psicologica, ed è, a mio modesto parere, il PRIMO aspetto su cui lavorare. Anche io ho una decina di studenti (anche se le mie sono lezioni private) e una delle cose più entusiasmanti è vedere come il loro entusiasmo e motivazione cresce sotto e con l’aiuto di una guida. Posso chiederti dove insegni?
Il finlandese è una lingua bellissima, ma per adesso sono impegnato con il giapponese e prossimamente, forse, con l’ungherese..
Un abbraccio!
Luca
Guilherme says:
May 25, 2011
Hello Luca ,
I using your methor for learn english (I don’t know is be right), I take one audio in english , I do one list of the words that I don’t know (BUT , I don’t try remember the list) I listen the audio , when I understando 80% of audio , I use your method , I make one translation for my language native and then of 4-5-6 days , I translation back. It’s correct ?
All right , thank you for everything.
Alan says:
May 26, 2011
Hello again Luca,
I’ve been facing some problems lately with the languages that I’m learning. Well, first, thank you again for your last reply, after a long search I found ASSIMIL books online, and I downloaded them all.
And then, my current problem is that I’m getting confused when using my languages, especially that my end-of-year exams are getting closer. I’m currently taking self-teching courses, to learn some languages together with my online courses, and the material I’ve recently got.
Well, I have a major problem with Russian and the other European languages, I just keep writing “H” instead of “N” in the other languages like Italian and French, and this has been a very annoying problem. And somtimes I do get confused with the use of some expressions that differ from a language to another, I sometimes drop the subject when speaking German just like how we do in Spanish and it makes me go crazy. Besides a few other confusions that I usually get when swiching flanguages.
I just love Hebrew and Mandarin, I don’t get confused with these :)
Did you use to start learning a language, and work on mastering it, and then moving to another one, or did you use to learn more than one at the same time? I guess learning several languages at the same time could require a lot of effort, but is certainly possible.
What was the language that didn’t take you too much time to learn, and how much time did it take you to learn it?
Thank you very much Luca
Alan
Luca says:
May 26, 2011
Dear Alan, of course it is possible to learn multiple languages at a time. The more languages are involved though, the less time you have for each one of them, and my advice is always to stick to one language, especially if you are not an experienced learner.
Portuguese was relatively easy to acquire, and it took me 8 months to get to a decent level (I made the video in Portuguese on YT after 8-9 months of a relatively relaxed study of this beatiful language :))
Luca
Alan says:
Jun 2, 2011
Salut cher Luca,
Je suis vraiment désolé pour tout ce dérangement, c’est que vous êtes le meilleur à pouvoir répondre à mes questions.
Donc, je viens de commencer mes cours de portugais, et je me demandais comment était le cas pour vous. Vous m’avez dis auparavant que vous avez appris le portugais en seulement 8 mois, et je sais déjà que vous utilisiez généralement ASSIMIL, ce que je ne sais pas c’est votre emploi de temps typique, donc comment vous divisez votre temps généralement? Et que se passe t-il pendant votre journée ordinaire concernant l’étude du portugais, ou des autres langues.
Ma curiosité et ma passion pour les langues, me poussent à vouloir connaitre tout à propos de vos expériences antérieures, vos outils, et les pas que vous avez pris afin d’apprendre n’importe quelle langue.
Merci d’avance
Alan
Gabriel says:
Jun 4, 2011
Hello Luca, if you have to translate a word which you do not understand, what would you recomend to use ?
For instance monolingual-dictionary(book) or translator from the internet.
Thank you, greets from Germany,
Gabriel
Luca says:
Jun 6, 2011
Dear Gabriel, it all depends on the level you are in the language and your objective. Translators (a glaring example of this is Google translate) are fast but often inaccurate. On the other hand, using a real dictionary (bilingual or even monolingual) is slower, but it can be very rewarding, especially if the dictionary is not cumbersome and well conceived. Dictionaries (paper or on-line) provide not only the strictly direct translation of the word (and that is the case of the aforementioned Google Translate), but also add and explicate the various shades of meaning of the term itself, as well as showing what they mean in-context. Take a look at this site: http://www.wordreference.com/. It is more than a mere translator and I use it often not only to understand the word the term you encounter, but also to acquire a broader vision of its overall usage. Hope this helps :-) Luca
Vlad says:
Jun 13, 2011
Ciao Luca ! Mi chiamo Vlad, ho 20 anni e sonno natto, in Romania. Ho visto i tuoi video e sono una motivazione grandissima per me. Parlo rumeno, inglese, francese, italiano, russo e adesso sto imparando il portoghese. Volevo solo sapere come ti sembra il romeno ? Non ci sono troppe differenze tra il rumeno e il italiano, io non ho fatto grossi sforzi per imparare la tua bellissima lingua (e vero, non e ancora perfetto :) ).
Deci, vroiam sa vad cum te descurci cu romana :). Stiu ca e mai complicat pentru italieni sa invete romana pentru ca noi avem destul de multe influente slavone, germane, unguresti si chiar turcesti. Iti urez succes cu limba romana si esti o inspiratie pentru foarte multi oameni. Felicitari ! :)
Luca says:
Jun 15, 2011
Caro Vlad, grazie per le belle parole. Il rumeno non è una lingua particolarmente difficile, ma ultimamente, a dir la verità, non ho molto tempo per studiarla, né tantomeno il giapponese. Ma mi sono ripromesso che prima o poi la riprendo e forse chissà farò anche un video su Youtube :-) Un abbraccio e conmplimenti per il tuo italiano scritto! Luca
Guilherme says:
Jun 17, 2011
Hello Luca , how are you ?
What you think about the spaced repetition system (SRS) ?
I’m crazy to see you speak in Japanese.
Thank You.
Luca says:
Jun 17, 2011
Dear Guilherme, I must confess that I don’t know much about SRS, even if I have heard of it quite a few times. Luca
Guilherme says:
Jun 19, 2011
How going your Japanese ? What level is it ?
Noel says:
Jun 24, 2011
Hi Luca,
Love you inspiring comments on your home page – especially the idea of acquiring another soul. I am starting to learning Spanish using Assimil
and other courses including FSI. In a nutshell, how do you recommend I use an Assimil effectively for Spanish.
Luca says:
Jun 25, 2011
Hi Noel, I am glad you find my comments inspiring. If you type “Luca Lampariello easy way” you’ll find the main lines and the details of my method. It is universal so you can use with Spanish. Luca
Catherine says:
Jun 26, 2011
Hi Luca,
Just stumbled on your blog and listened to you on YouTube. Incredible! I’m especially impressed with your Putonghua. Je suis chinoise-americaine and I’ve been learning languages forever to no tangible progress. I started with Italian, Russian, French and German. Now, I’ve narrowed it down to French and still struggling. Putonghua is my latest struggle and embarrassingly, it’s worst than my French!
I’m truly humbled and inspired by your ability to learn a foreign language and to dissect it for others as well. Thank you for sharing your talent. If you ever come to visit L.A., would love to meet you in person. Ciao.
Luca says:
Jun 27, 2011
Hi Catherine. Thank you for the lovely comment! I think that we can all pick up languages proficiently, but we have to do it “the right way”, otherwise we run the risk of getting frustrated for not getting the results we expected. I am glad to know that you find my ability inspiring, and I hope it will motivate you to bring your Chinese and French to a great level. You can do it. It is just a matter of time, motivation..and a good method :-) Luca
Fredrick Kieran says:
Jun 29, 2011
Hey Luka.
I’m fred, 18 years old. So i’d like to aks a simple question. so Am i too old to speak english with a corect native or (native-like accent? You know how i mean. I don’t want the Americans to know that i’m not from there or Canada. I’m already pretty good. I just want to know what you think as a language genius. ( i jusd moved to St.John’s by the way so im in an english skeaking country :D
Thank you
Fred
Luca says:
Jun 29, 2011
You are never too old to improve yourself and your abilities. You just need to do it the right way and dedicate some time to it. It is indeed true that age plays a role in language learning, but motivation, drive and a daily work can do miracles :-) Luca
Fredrick Kieran says:
Jun 29, 2011
i look up to you dude. so much
Nana says:
Jul 6, 2011
hi, Luca, 你好。我现在在学习瑞典语,无意中看到了你的网站,做的真的太棒了,真的很难想象外国人可以把中文发音发得这么好的,我一直对语言都很感兴趣,但是,遗憾的是现在除了母语中文和英语,我刚刚才开始学第三门语言,瑞典语。看了你的网站很受启发,希望能够尽快的学好瑞典语。
Hi, Luca. I ran into your website accidentally since I am currently learning Swedish and trying to figure out how to sound like native, especially with the rolled R. I am so impressed by ur website and your chinese pronunciation! one word, brilliant! I have always been interested in languages but unfortunately i just started my third language swedish now with chinese my mother togue and english my working language. Got so inpired by you and your method and hope my swedish can be as good as ur chinese!
Nana
Nana says:
Jul 6, 2011
btw, Luca. I do have a few questions. first, i still have problems with rolling R in swedish, the same as in Italian, I think. Second, I searched Assimil but they dont teach swedish in English or Chinese. what else learning material do you recommend? and the last question is how you view the musicality of swedish? last but not least, any specific tips of learning swedish? (curious, how long did it take for u to master swedish :))
Luca says:
Jul 8, 2011
Nana, 我很高兴,你找到了我的网站而且很喜欢它 :-) 我很高兴越来越多的人看到我的博客。我喜欢学语言也喜欢和其他人分享我的心情。我十分相信学语言不难,但我们要花时间、精力和正确的方法。
Now, in answer to your questions: It is a bit of a surprise to find out there is no ASSIMIL from English. I used the French version some time ago (Le suedois sans peine) because th italian version didn’t exist. This lack of other versions is probably due to the “mild” popularity of Swedish. Now, the only other book I used for beginners is TEACH YOURSELF SWEDISH. I prefer Assimil by far, but if you have no alternative, the teach yourself series is a good way to start. As I always say, the way you use books is way more important than the book itself. Once you’ve gone through that book, go to http://www.lingq.com. It is a GREAT site for intermediate learners.
As far as pronunciation is concerned, the “R” is a big issue for asians in general. The swedish R is not always the same: “Stockholmare” pronounce it their own way, but it you go to Malmo it changes violently. First of all, you should try to stick to the standard r. Secondly, listen and pay attention. Unfortunately, the mere listening to the sound isnot sufficient. You have to “see” how it is produced in your mouth. Sometimes books provide a rough explanation of the “mechanics” of sounds. Teach Yourself has a nice introduction to all the hard sounds of the language (such as “sj” or “r”or “sk”). Once you have figured out the mechanics of the sound, listen again. This time your listening will definitely have a different quality because your brain got feedback from your active “understanding” of the sound. And then speak out loud. If you still have problems, look for a native and try to get help. Remember anyway that the more you listen to the language, the more natural your oral production will become
The musicality of Swedish is incredible. It is by all means a tonal language, and it is absolutely mandatory to grasp the notion of swedish tones from the very beginning, otherwise one runs th risk of developing bad habits. This is the number one tip that I can give you. Don’t forget it :-)
A lot of people ask me “how long did it take you to MASTER language X”. There is no such thing as “mastering” a language. They are too complex for us to fully grasp them. We can speak them fluently, yeah. We can use them as we like but not master them. Let us say that it took me roughly two years to start speaking it with confidence, and that happened because I finally met native speakers I could hang around with a practice/expand my Swedish. Meeting up with native speakers and getting the chance to use what you have learned inrcedibly speeds up our learning rate.
希望我能满足你的好奇心,祝你在学瑞典语上好运 :-)
卢卡
andrew wickham says:
Jul 7, 2011
Hi Luca
Got your name because my daughter just saw you at the Polyglotte cafe in Paris.
I’m a consultant in language training here in France and I’d be interested to hear what your point of view on teaching students to improve their accent is.
Most of the teaching I’ve seen in this area – including specialised phonetics training – is almost completely ineffective, though it seems in India they have developed a technique for call centers that is relatively succesful.
There is also a teacher who has developed a technique based on “aping” a native speaker : what he says is that people are perfectly capable of adopting the accent of another language when speaking in their own, for a laugh or to poke fun, but have difficulty replicating this when speaking in the target language. He therefore starts by getting them to speak in their native language, but with the target language’s accent, then once they have confidence, gets them to transpose this skill into the target language. This, apparently works.
My own feeling after many years of training, as well as my own experience of learning languages (I only speak three), is that, as you say, aside from the pure mechanics of teaching your mouth to move in a very different way from the way it does in your mother tongue, psychological factors are key. The way we express ourselves in front of others, the way we move our mouths, the intonation, the rhythm – all these things have become intrinsic to our identity from the time when we first expressed ourselves socially – and changing the way we do this is hard because it brings with it a questioning of who we are and rubs out our identification with the group we originally came from. Thus, when you ask French people to speak the way the English do (with sliding dipthongs and barely moving their lips, like ventiloquists!) they hate it, because they say it’s like speaking with mashed potatoes in their mouths – the English on the other hand, when asked to pronounce French the French way (ie: with a lot of sharp mouth movements and pursing of lips), tend to grimace and say they feel they are being rude.
So the key would be to start by removing the psychological barriers. What’s your opinion on this ?
Luca says:
Jul 8, 2011
Hi Andrew. Interesting. I talked to a few girls yesterday but I gave my professional card just to a couple..and nobody told me they had a father in the language training businness :-) May I ask your daughter’s name? (out of sheer curiosity :-))
Speaking like a native speaker or acquiring an excellent pronunciation is the result of a long process, where an incredible quantity of factors are involved. Many of these are neglected or completely ignored by language teachers all around the world. Many “educators” see the acquisition of the language (and its pronunciation) as a mere accumulation of knowledge, carried out by the very same tools used in other subjects. That is – to my humble opinion – a terrible mistake.
This “academic approach” lead to frustrating results and to the common belief that just a few people can attain native-like pronunciation. Thus the whole process is dismissed as a very minor issue by teachers, and as an unrealistic goal by learners. The real goal – some maintain – is communication. While I do agree that languages are “vectors”, I believe that the quality of one’s pronunciation plays a huge role in a social context. I saw it myself first hand. If you speak like a native (or almost :-)), you can reach a incredibly high level of empathy with your interlocutor. It can change your life.
Speaking another language is first of all a “social and psychological act”. THAT is my starting point. I work with my students on this aspect, even before starting working with pronuncation, intonation etc..Without this conscience, all the specialised phonetcs training of the world won’t make a difference..
I remember that when I started speaking English fluently, a lot of my friends used to mimick my “nasal” american english by uttering weird sounds. They were not used to listening to me speaking another language. They found it strange and their very first reaction was unease, which they transformed into clumsy mockery. I didn’t care, but many people do find speaking differently rather emberassing, especially in front of their own countrymen. And a few people confessed to me that that was a huge barrier to acquiring a good pronunciation. They could have done it, but they chose not to,out of psychological and social reasons. .
I firmly believe that in order to reach a goal, you have to believe in it. We all speak other native language rather well, we all have a tongue, a mouth, a couple of years and above all and increidibly efficient learner at our side: our brain. We have the RIGHT to believe that we can do it.
“You can lead a worse to water but you can’t make him drink” – they say.
Change the mind of the horse since the very beginning and it WILL drink by himself :-)
On a final note, you wrote “There is also a teacher who has developed a technique based on “aping” a native speaker : what he says is that people are perfectly capable of adopting the accent of another language when speaking in their own, for a laugh or to poke fun, but have difficulty replicating this when speaking in the target language. He therefore starts by getting them to speak in their native language, but with the target language’s accent, then once they have confidence, gets them to transpose this skill into the target language. This, apparently works”
Take a look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABo_DCIdpM
I am sure that this guy could learn italian, russian, French or whatever other language he sets his mind to, and reach a native-like pronunciation. The problem is that speaking a language is pronunciation AND all the rest. Coordination of sounds and words. A lot of people find coordination rather difficult to perform.
If you are around Paris and want to have a chat in person, give me a shout, it it always interesting to chat on this topic with other language enthusiasts :-).
Luca
Robert says:
Jul 12, 2011
Luca,
I had just found your website and have found it amazing that you have been able to acquire so many languages. I have been learning Arabic(at elementary conversational level). I also want to start learning French and wanted to ask if you knew of any resources that I could use to begin.
Good luck with the two new languages that you are trying to learn.
Respectfully,
Robert
estogettingfluent says:
Jul 14, 2011
Hi Luca!
You mentioned on your language method video that if anyone wants more specifics on your method, they should send you a message? I was wondering specifically about your method of reading dialogue, translating it into your native language, and then back into the original language. How do you go about doing this? Do you attempt the last step by memory or do you use a dictionary/books to help? If you happen to have a moment to answer and maybe give me a couple tips on your method, feel free to email me at joshkaasik@gmail.com. I’d be very thankful!
All the best!
Luca says:
Jul 18, 2011
Hi. I posted the whole script here in the blog (“about me” – comment section). Luca
Dominic D. says:
Jul 15, 2011
Hello, io sono degli Stati Uniti e sto imparando Italiano e Spagnolo. Ho solo una domanda per te: how can you remember the same words, but in all the different languages you speak quickly? The biggest problem I have is when I speak Italian and I am trying to say something, I can’t remember the word right away, but I remember it in the other language.
Mathias Lorentzen says:
Jul 23, 2011
Hello Luca.
I find your way of learning languages very interesting, and in general i’m pretty fascinated by it. I’m from Denmark, and i’ve been studying spanish for 2 years in high school. It’s just that i find our way of learning very slow like you also describe it can be if you learn languages in school. Currently i’ve vacation, and therefore i’m studying spanish by myself via some english books i got recommened.
My actual question is if you could possibly recommend some websites with spanish articles and maybe with some tv in spanish or something like that? It would be very helpful in my progress of learning speaking spanish in a proper way.
Thank you very much ^^
Best Regards from Mathias.
Luca says:
Aug 1, 2011
Dear Mathias, there are two interesting websites for Spanish. One is http://www.lingq.com, the other one is http://www.project-syndicate.com. Luca
Luca says:
Aug 2, 2011
Hey Luca, I happened to come across your answer to Mathias and just wanted to add another great resource for learning Spanish online. Hope you don’t mind ;-)
http://www.audiria.com/
It offers videos and podcasts for different levels along with scripts and useful exercises for building vocabulary.
Thanks for always being an inspiration for all of us!
Luca
Marco says:
Aug 7, 2011
Ciao!
mi chiamo Marco, conosco abbastanza bene l’inglese e il francese.
Ho ammirato su internet le tue grandi capacità e ti faccio i complimenti.
Vorrei chiederti qualche consiglio. La mia ragazza è polacca e vorrei veramente imparare la sua lingua. Così ho comprato dei volumi di grammatica, e un dizionario. Il polacco senza sforzo della assimil e colloquial polish, in inglese. per quanto siano due ottimi volumi, ho delle grandi difficoltà. Nel tuo curriculum non c’è il polacco, ma ho visto che conosci il russo e penso che le due lingue abbiano punti in comune per quanto riguarda il livello di difficoltà.
Non c’è niente di facile in questa lingua, nè la pronuncia, nè la grammatica, con ben 7 casi, generi maschile animato, non animato, femminile e neutro, eccezioni, cambi vocalici, aspetto perfettivo/imperfettivo, insomma c’è di tutto. E io che alle superiori mi lamentavo degli accenti in francese! Vorrei veramente impararla, perlomeno a un livello base… come fare? Con la mia ragazza non mi vedo molto spesso perchè lavoriamo a molti km di distanza, e quando ci vediamo parliamo sempre in italiano (lei vive qui da dieci mesi e conosce perfettamente l’italiano, ma come fa? a proposito, è vero che le persone di lingua slava sono più predisposti a imparare le lingue straniere? )
Ti ringrazio, aspetto tuoi consigli!
puoi rispondere anche direttamente nella mia mail: mpaolini15@yahoo.com
Luca says:
Aug 19, 2011
Caro Marco, anzitutto grazie per le belle parole. Per quanto riguarda la tua domanda..il polacco è una lingua affascinante. Ho conosciuto di recente una ragazza polacca qui a Parigi, che mi ha insegnato un po’ di frasi, diciamo così, “di apertura” (tipo “voglio imparare il polacco perchè è una lingua bellissima, mi è piaciuto il paese quando l’ho visitato” e via dicendo). Mi è venuta una voglia matta di imparare la lingua ma mi sono frenato considerando i miei attuali impegni ed il fatto che sto dedicando parte del mio tempo ad imparare/migliorare il giapponese, che non rientra ahimé nel gruppo di lingue “abbordabili”. Ma tornando al polacco..condivido quanto hai detto: è una delle lingue più difficili del gruppo slavo, insieme a ceco e russo. Se già si conosce una lingua slava, è certamente meno impegnativo. Tutte o molte delle proprietà che hai elencato si trovano già appunto in russo. Il che non toglie che la pronuncia (ogni parola è un nuovo groviglio/ammasso sconfinato di consonanti) rimane difficile nonostante la previa conoscenza di altre lingue slave. Ora..dire che il polacco è impegnativo, è un semplice dato di fatto, una constatazione. Tuttavia, come ho già sottolineato in un video (“complessità/difficoltà) la complessità dovrebbe rappresentare una sfida positiva, un incentivo. Per imparare il polacco ti devi mettere l’anima in pace e dirti: ci vuole tempo. E cominciare passo dopo passo. In 2-3 anni (per quanto la parola “anni” sia quasi sconfortante”) puoi parlare un ottimo polacco, soprattutto se hai una partner madrelingua. Comincerei con il solito ASSIMIL per poi usare la Rete e gestire/organizzare la tua schedule come vuoi. Datti un giorno X e comincia. A piccoli passi. E non fermarti più. Ci vuole convinzione. Ad ogni momento ti dirai che se milioni di polacchi parlano la loro lingua senza sforzo, ci puoi riuscire anche tu. E per rispondere alla tua ultima domanda..ho sentito spesso dire a russi e polacchi che francese o italiano sono “relativamente” facili. E questo perchè, effettivamente, la grammatica delle lingue slave (parlo di quelle più difficili, cioè ceco russo e polacco) è più complessa. Un saluto! Luca
maciej says:
Aug 9, 2011
Hi Luca!!
My name is Maciej. I am from Poland. I love your site (both this one as well as your material on YouTube. It’s really great. Thank you very much for your language learning tips.
Keep it up. I have a very important question for you. I am currently trying to figure out what other foreign language I should start to learn (apart from English). I was almost certain it should be French, but recently I got the idea of learning Mandarin or Arabic. The former is more advantageous because of China’s growing economic power and overall influence/clout, but Arabic seems equally appealing plus its script seems much much much easier to learn. What do you think? Which of these languages should I learn in your opinion. My main criterion is usefulness in the future and not just learning it for fun and sake of it.
I would appreciate your answer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bye from Poland,
Maciej
symon78@gazeta.pl
Luca says:
Aug 20, 2011
Hi Maciej. All languages are worth learning, but if your criterion is usefulness, I’d say that Mandarin is surely an investment for your future. Arabic is an important language, and yet Modern Standard Arabic is not as spoken as you might think. It is the language of the media (newspapers, Al Jazeer etc) but you if you go to, say, Egypt, you’ll have to learn the local dialect if you want the conversation to be both ways (to be understand as well as understand your interlocutor). The same goes for all the other Arabic countries. Luca
Álex says:
Jan 22, 2012
Besides Chinese, I would also suggest Spanish. It’s easy to find Spanish speakers in most countries (besides the Americas and Spain) and for many people it is a relative “easy” language to learn.
Johan says:
Aug 19, 2011
Hi Luca!
Your a great inspiration! I`m from Norway, and when I was young i didn`t believe that i was even gonna learn English. And people always told me that i didn`t have a talent for languages, because I was very good at math. They told me that I was good at math and they where good at languages. Also I was told that you had to live in a country to learn their language. But after a while I realized that I actually spoke better English than most people in Norway because I had see so much of it on TV without subs. I also realized that I had gained a lot of culture and knowledge trough English. So I got inspired to learn some new languages. I actually just started a little over a year ago and I already have learned a lot! My German is getting better, and I am also starting to understand a lot of Italian, Spanish and Dutch. Also I have learned a lot of Bulgarian. I also try to find out good methods to learn faster. And all you said is just so true. It is exactly the same way of learning that I am using now. I also experienced that a good way of learning is to learn away to others. When I do that I`m learning very fast, but the people I try to learn it to usually don`t learn anything. They usually say something like: “I`m gonna learn some Spanish one day, but not now. Don`t teach me anything now, please, I don`t want to think about it now. But one day I`m gonna sit down and really learn it.”. So in my opinion it`s all about attitude. I was just in Italy actually and I had been learning Italian for some four weeks. I met a guy there who could speak Italian ans Danish (which I understand) and he said that I had learned more Italian in those four weeks than every single person he taught Italian when he was teaching it in Denmark. Also people where very friendly when I only spoke Italian when I was buying something. Right now I`m trying to learn with the Michel Thomas-method. It may be the best method I`ve tried so far. I hope that I one day can learn as much as you ;)
Thanks for good advise!
Ciao!
Johan
dario belluomini says:
Aug 22, 2011
Ciao!
Sono Dario e ho una grande passione per le lingue. Innanzitutto complimenti: essere riuscito a imparare tutte quelle lingue per me è fantastico, sei un grande! Personalmente, adesso sto studiando il portoghese. A me piace l’accento europeo, ma purtroppo online finora ho trovato scarso materiale (a differenza del brasiliano). Siccome dai tuoi video mi sembra che anche tu abbia imparato il portoghese europeo, volevo chiederti che risorse e strumenti hai usato a tal scopo. Se tu potessi qualche consiglio te ne sarei davvero grato. Grazie, e ancora complimenti.
Luca says:
Aug 22, 2011
Ciao Dario. Essenzialmente ho usato ASSIMIL (che offre un corso veramente eccellente) e poi ho usato un sito per scaricare podcast e testi che si chiama lingq (altra risorsa veramente eccellente per i cosiddetti “intermediate students”) e poi ho usato un sito di chat (sia scritta che orale) che si chiama http://www.sharedtalk.com. E poi, naturalmente, ho avuto la fortuna di parlare portoghese nella vita reale, vivendo con un ragazzo brasiliano. Luca
dario belluomini says:
Feb 23, 2012
Ciao Luca.
Sono ancora io. Sto procedendo nello studio del portoghese, ma credo che a questo punto mi sia necessario avere un supporto “cartaceo” oltre alle risorse online. Tra i corsi di lingua più consigliati (come del resto anche tu stesso mi hai detto) c’è Assimil. Volevo chiederti cosa ne pensi e, se hai avuto modo di usare il testo relativo al portoghese europeo, un giudizio su questo in particolare. Sai, sono corsi che costano quasi 100€, e prima di spenderli vorrei essere certo che il gioco valga la candela.
Grazie e complimenti (continuo a seguire i tuoi video su youtube).
Ciao
Polyglot Goodness « FickleFolly says:
Aug 23, 2011
[...] want to share with you a video I found several months ago of my polyglot inspiration, Luca Lampariello (<—– see his WordPress blog there). In the video below he is demonstrating his [...]
Aback says:
Aug 29, 2011
Ciao Luca,
ti seguo da un anno ma solo ora mi sono deciso a scriverti. Ti ammiro molto (io studio Interpretariato di Conferenza), e per me sei semplicemente un genio.
Volevo chiedere la tua opinione su un argomento che sto affrontando per la mia tesi; questo è il concetto di partenza: prendi un italiano qualsiasi che ha studiato inglese alle medie o al liceo. Gli sottoponi un testo breve in italiano e gli chiedi di leggerlo con l’accento inglese. Ebbene, il soggetto in questione riuscirebbe a produrre un testo imitando un accento molto simile a quello dei madrelingua inglesi che parlano italiano.
Invece, se chiedi alla stessa persona di produrre un testo direttamente in inglese, allora questa persona avrà un forte accento italiano, e sembrerà dimenticare qualsiasi nozione abbia acquisito seppur inconsciamente sull’accento inglese.
A cosa è dovuto questo fenomeno? Suppongo entrino in gioco i fattori psicologici, fisici e il sound mapping a cui hai accennato in uno dei tuoi ultimi video. Mi domandavo però quale fosse la tua opinione al riguardo, e se conoscessi libri o autori a cui potrei fare riferimento. Grazie mille.
Antonio
Luca says:
Aug 29, 2011
Ciao Antonio.
Lasciami dire che i complimenti non mi lasciano mai indifferente, ma non è falsa modestia risponderti che la parola “genio” non mi si addice. Il fatto che sappia parlare 10 lingue non è il frutto di un talento divino, ma di un lavoro svolto per anni, e sostenuto da una passione indomabile. Non sono risultati disumani, ma molti “umani” non hanno né voglia né tempo di dedicarsi a questo tipo di avventura.
Per quanto riguarda il tuo quesito, copio una parte di ciò che ha scritto sul mio blog Andrew, un consultente esperto in traning linguistico che vive qui a Parigi (puoi leggere l’intero intervento su “about me” qui sul blog):
“Most of the teaching I’ve seen in this area – including specialised phonetics training – is almost completely ineffective, though it seems in India they have developed a technique for call centers that is relatively succesful. There is also a teacher who has developed a technique based on “aping” a native speaker : what he says is that people are perfectly capable of adopting the accent of another language when speaking in their own, for a laugh or to poke fun, but have difficulty replicating this when speaking in the target language. He therefore starts by getting them to speak in their native language, but with the target language’s accent, then once they have confidence, gets them to transpose this skill into the target language. This, apparently works.
Il fenomeno è complesso, ma in prima istanza direi che un primo fattore è che ci si sente più a proprio agio con la propria lingua: quando si legge nella madrelingua l’unica vera cosa che richiede concentrazione è proprio quella di imitare un accento straniero, mentre quando si legge in una lingua straniera le cose su cui fare attenzione (cioè sulle quali si disperde la nostra “energia linguistica”) diventano più numerose e complesse, perchè non sono più scontante: pronuncia, intonazione, significato. E’ difficile leggere bene se non si capisce cosa si legge, perchè non si vedono “i contorni” delle frasi (quest’ultimo concetto è un po’ lungo da spiegare e mi perdonerai se non mi dilungo).
In secundis, a parte appunto i problemi prettamente fisici (per articolare nuovi suoni ci vuole tempo, i muscoli della bocca e tutto il sistema fonatorio si devono abituare), il fattore psicologico è, secondo me, ciò che pesa di più in termini di successo (o insuccesso). nel pronunciare ed “intonare” una lingua straniera. Per parlare come un madrelingua o avere una buona intonazione LO SI DEVE VOLERE. E se lo si vuole, si deve imparare ad essere flessibili e critici verso sé stessi, a chiedere correzioni qualora si sbagli a pronunciare una parola o ad intonare una frase, e ad imparare ad ascoltare. Tutte cose che molti ignorano o omettono perchè lo ritengono uno sforzo troppo grosso, al limite impossibile..o semplicemente inutile.
Le persone che hanno imparato a parlare come un madrelingua hanno “assorbito” la lingua perchè, in maniera cosciente ed incosciente, avevano ed hanno la volontà di sentirsi a volta “diversi”, altro da sè”, pur restando sè stessi
Luca
Alexandre says:
Sep 1, 2011
hi Luca, I’m Alexandre from Brazil. we share the same passion for languages,
. I’d like to have some contact with you. Do you have messenger or something like that? If so add me : asb2009ri@hotmail.com.
Daniela Hem says:
Sep 6, 2011
Hallo Luca,
das ist ja unglaublich! Manche Menschen sammeln Briefmarken, andere Sprachen. Ich bin gebürtige Deutsche, hab es aber bisher leider nur geschafft, ganz gut italienisch und englisch, ein paar Brocken spanisch und französisch zu lernen. Aber das Problem mit dem Vergessen durch mangelnde Praxis kenne ich gut. Wobei dein Gedächtnis fantastisch sein muß!
Falls du jemanden zum deutsch üben brauchst oder auf dieser Seite eine deutsche Version erstellen möchtest, darfst du mir gerne schreiben. Ich würde mich sehr freuen und könnte gut jemanden zum italienisch-plaudern brauchen :-)
Viele Grüße aus Deutschland,
Daniela
Luca says:
Sep 7, 2011
Hallo Daniela. Hab’ dir eine private Nachricht geschickt :-) Luca
Mike says:
Sep 10, 2011
Hey Luca what language are you studying now? What languages are you hoping to study in the near the future? Just curious.
Thank you.
Mike
Luca says:
Sep 13, 2011
I am currently dealing with Japanese. As for other languages, only time will tell :-) Luca
Tere says:
Sep 12, 2011
I just watched one of your videos. Your English is excellent, especially the pronunciation. Bravo! I’ve been studying Italian on my own for a few years (with some interruptions). I love the language but I am sometimes convinced that I’ll never “get it”. Seeing your accomplishments, though, as well as those of other polyglots gives me hope that it really is possible. Thanks!
Tere
Luca says:
Sep 13, 2011
Thank you for the lovely comment Tere :-) L
Bancov says:
Sep 24, 2011
Hallo!Danke das du mir geschrieben hast! Ich dich und was du machst toll!Ich bin eine Ungarische Frau spreche Yugoslawisch und Deutsch !Lerne ich ganz alleine Englisch und ich habe noch nicht rausgefunden welche ist meine Methode!Aber ich fand das ser scöne Gefühl eine Sprache zu erlernen und wie man sich fühlt wenn man die neue gelernte Sprache verstehet!Das ist eine tolle gefühl! http://tesl-ej.org/ej45/tesl-ej.ej45.fr1.pdf This is our Hungaryan famous polyglot it`s wort to see!
Jana says:
Sep 25, 2011
Salut Luca ! Je m’appelle Jana et je viens des Etats-Unis, mais j’habite maintenant à Paris (depuis un mois environ). Je suis passionnée des langues tout comme toi. Je parle couramment le japonais et le français, et maintenant j’éssaie de perfectionner mon français tout en apprenant le russe aussi. J’ai vu tes vidéos sur Youtube et en a été vraiment impressionnée. Et maintenant que je vois que tu habites à Paris, je me demande s’il serait possible de te rencontrer ? J’imagine que tu es très occupé mais j’aimerais vraiment parler avec toi sur tes méthodes d’apprentissage. En fait j’ai un blog où j’écris parfois au sujet des langues et ce serait vraiment super si je pouvais t’interviewer, si tu veux bien ! Je dis tout cela dans ce commentaire parce que je ne vois pas d’autre moyen pour te contacter… Donc si tu as le temps, envoie-moi un e-mail ! ご連絡いただければすごく嬉しいです。^^
Luca says:
Sep 26, 2011
Salut Jana, ça me fait plaisir que tu t’interesses à mon blog et à mon travail. Pour se rencontrer il n’y a pas de problème, c’est toujour agrèable de rencontrer de nouveaux gens, surtout s’il s’agit de passionés des langues comme nous. Je vais t’envoyer un message privé sur ton mail, ok? A bientot! Luca
Trent says:
Sep 28, 2011
Hello Luca! I noticed you’re currently learning Japanese, I was wondering where you start when learning a language, specifically Japanese, as I too am looking to learn the language. Do you start at basic grammar, sentence structure, verbs, kanji? I’ve been looking for a place to start from to learn the language. Thanks!
Trent says:
Sep 29, 2011
I’ve been studying french, in school, for 10 years (gr.1 – 10) I’m currently in an enhanced french class and I feel like I know less than I should by this point. I still struggle a bit with sentence structure, conjugation, and I don’t have that big of a vocabulary. Any tips for increasing my knowledge?
Also, regarding the last post, are there any resources you are currently using that you recommend for learning Japanese. My current plan of action is to buy a book of kanji and read japanese books and I’m looking for any second opinions
oliya says:
Oct 22, 2011
Hi Luca,
I would like to ask you:
I just started to study Italian. If I have no one with whom I could speak Italian every day, nor anyone who could correct me on my pronunciation/intonation, is there a way to HEAR myself, so I will not have Russian(or any other) accent while speaking Italian?
GRAZIE MILLE!
Ciao
Luca says:
Oct 23, 2011
Hi Oliya. Being able to “hear” your mistakes or your intonation is not easy at the beginning, especially if you are not an experienced language learner.
It is always a good thing to have a foreigners correcting your pronunciation/intonation. You can always find lots of people on the Internet willing to give you a hand (and getting some feedback on, say, Russian in exchange).
.
If you have no Italian around you, one great way to tackle this problem is to record yourself. Get hold of an italian text with audio. Record your voice and then compare both versions: this way will help you figure out where your problems are, in terms of both intonation and pronunciation.
Luca
oliya says:
Jan 12, 2012
GRAZIE MILLE!! I am doing much better with my Italian pronunciation/intonation… Ciao
Danny says:
Nov 4, 2011
Hello Luca!
This January I am planning on starting to learn Russian, I wanted to know what course you recommend specifically for Russian as I see you have already learned it, and I am a huge fan of yours and want to know what you did for Russian!
If you have any advice or pointers for me to start out self studying Russian it would be greatly appreciated!
Grazie Mille,
Danny
Marvin says:
Nov 7, 2011
Hi Luca! I really need an advice from you. I’m not Italian, but I came in Italy 4 months ago so I could study here. Right now I’m frequenting the ‘liceo linguistico’ and I’m studying French and German. languages are my passion, I hope one day I could speak as many languages as you can, lol.
But I’m having lots of difficulties. The hugest part of the pie is Italian. I find it very hard. Every day I try hard to learn up to 50 words a day, but I end up remembering nothing. I read lots of magazines and books in Italian, no result. I’ve heard that Italian is better learned when spoken, but it’s harder for me because my friends won’t correct me.
I’ve been studying English for 5 years and I guess I’m good at it, and I think I can do more to learn Italian, but every method I try, it’s not worth it. I’ve never studied English basing to the grammatical rules of it, I’ve learnt it like a baby learns a language, no rules, no grammar…
Italian grammar is hard. Way too hard. So I want to spend less time in learning the grammar, (which confuses me, it doesn’t help me) and more in learning italian in a more natural way, and then, when I’ll feel comfortable, learn the grammar. I can perfectly understand Italian, the concept and everything, but I can’t form the sentences. My biggest problem is mistaking. If I’m not sure about something, I don’t say it wrong, I skip it, so I end up saying nothing at all. can you suggest me a method for learning Italian better? Thanks a lot. (I love your videos, really helpful)
Luca says:
Nov 10, 2011
Dear Marvin,
the first thing that you have to do is relax. One step at a time. The inability to form sentences is a very common issue. A lot of people understand a lot but can barely speak, and this is mainly due to the way we relate to human beings and the world around us. Attitude is also key. You must know that mistakes are an incredible way of learning. The more numerous the mistakes, the better and faster your learnig process. Many polyglots (myself included) have made countlless mistakes before reaching real fluency. Remember: mistakes are your best friends, don’t be afraid of them :-)
Try to find a partner/tandem on Skype and pratice with him/her. Tell him to correct you whenever it is necessary and note down all your mistakes on a piece of paper. Also, try to get hold of a bilingual text and do the back-and-forth translation: it is very effective to improve the accuracy of expression in the target language.
So, if you have a text in Italian, try to read it and listen to the audio as much as you can. Then, translate it into your own language (in written form, possibily on a Microsoft Word file). Then, some time later, retranslate it back into Italian. This passage (called synthesis) will allow you to check out your own mistakes, learn to form sentences in your mind and improve your general accuracy of expression. To make a long story short, this full-circle method (that’s how I call it) helps you activate the language.
You can find interesting stuff (and not only in Italian) on which to apply the aforementioned method on this website: http://www.lingq.com. Give it a try, it is worth it :-)
Luca
Lisa says:
Nov 8, 2011
Hi Luca!
Surfing through the internet today, I first came across one of Richard’s videos and then across the interview of you two and I just have to say, you guys are amazing. I can so much relate to your passion for learning languages, as I am more or less the same (even though I’m just up to 5 languages on quite advanced level, so rather less ;-) ).
In school I just learned English and a bit of Spanish (apart from my mother tounge German). But once I’d finished school in Austria, I went abroad to go to school for another year and there’s where it started. I would even call it a slight addiction to learning new languages, as I then realized how indescribably wonderful it was to be able to 100% dive into another culture, as you can communicate with the people there. My big dream then became to be fluent in 7 or (maybe 8 languages max.), as I really have to concentrate on my “working languages” (as I’m studying interpretation). ;-)
People like you show me that it is possible to realize such a dream, as here in my surrounding I often get told, that my goal is just set unreachably high.
I would really love to talk to you somewhen, as you really have reached (or actually surpassed =D ), what I want to achieve one day. Plus we could have a German or a Danish/Swedish conversation. :-)
All the best to you!
Lisa
Luca says:
Nov 10, 2011
Hi Lisa, thank you for the lovely words. I myself am studying Conference Interpreting here in Paris, where are you at? ETI? It would be interesting to have a chat on Skype. You can reply in German if you want (or in any other language that we share :-) L
Lisa says:
Nov 14, 2011
Hallo Luca! Nein, ich bin momentan noch in Wien, aber ich würde gerne in Schottland (Edinburgh) weiter machen. ETI wäre zwar sehr toll, aber momentan spreche ich noch kein Französisch. ;-)
Welche Arbeitssprachen hast du in Paris?
Lg, Lisa
Luca says:
Nov 16, 2011
Hallo Lisa!
Ich bin an der ISIT, und meine Sprachkombination ist: Italienisch (A), Englisch (C), Französich (C) und Deutsch (C).
Luca
Lisa says:
Nov 17, 2011
ah super! wie geht es dir mit 3 C Sprachen im Bezug auf fachkommunikationsspezifische Terminologiearbeit? Ich habe nämlich auch 3 C Sprachen, aber in Dänisch hinke ich doch sehr hinterher in den verschiedenen Fachbereichen.
lg, Lisa
Lisa says:
Nov 26, 2011
Hej Luca!
kannst du mir eigentlich eine Email schreiben, ohne dass ich meine Adresse hier an deine Pinnwand posten muss? Ich bin mit so etwas nämlich immer ein wenig vorsichtig… bzw. könnten wir dann auch Skype Kontakte austauschen. :-)
LG, Lisa
jack says:
Nov 13, 2011
Hello Luca, I’m learning Spanish, can you tell me the resourses you used to learn the language. I’m also interested in french.
Luca says:
Nov 13, 2011
Hi. I used Lo Spagnolo Per Te – De Agostini – Edizione 1996 and then I perfected it by talking to native speakers, reading magazines, newspapers, books and by watching movies. Luca
Emet says:
Nov 25, 2011
Hi Luca,
You’re just amazing. I learned and can speak 5 different languages: English, German, French, Arabic, and Turkish but not as good as you. I’m also learning now Chinese. I’m also Mechatronics Engineer. I heard you’re also an electrical engineer? are you? How can you manage the both at the same time?
If you need any help in Arabic(native) or Turkish then don’t hesitate to contact me at my email.
best regards
yours Emet
Julio César Aragón Valdés says:
Nov 27, 2011
Hola Luca,
cómo estás? Me llamo Julio César, y soy mexicano. De hecho te agregué en FB y te escribí en italiano. Mi italiano aun no es bueno pero trato lo mejor de mí. Debo felicitarte por tu esfuerzo a las lenguas extranjeras. Qué bárbaro!! Y aún sigues por dos más? Órale!! Eres chingón, como diríamos los mexicanos. Aunque en español, hablas como español, aunque no me molesta en lo absoluto pero está mejor el acento de acá, jeje. Y si quieres conocer más sobre el acento mexicano, escríbeme a jcaragonv_2303@hotmail.com y agrégame a skype, para platicar contigo. julcesaraval. Aquí lo tienes para lo que quieras. Una pregunta. Se pueden estudiar dos idiomas al mismo tiempo? Estas vacaciones quisiera aprender ruso y también tengo en mente aprender japonés. Si es posible estudiar los dos al mismo tiempo? Qué me recomendarías? Uno por uno o de una vez los dos? Para matar dos pájaros en un tiro. Bueno, es todo y nuevamente, enhorabuena y yo soy un políglota prometedor, sobre todo para mi país y quisiera llegar a ser un político internacionalista políglota.
Te mando un fuerte abrazo y saludos cordiales desde México.
Adiós.
p.d. si no entiendes algunas palabras de español mexicano, me dices ;)
Luca says:
Nov 27, 2011
Ciao Julio
Ti rispondo in italiano così fai pratica anche tu.
Certo che si possono studiare 2,3 o più lingue allo stesso tempo. Ma ti devi attenere ad alcune linee guida importanti.
Prima di tutto, non scegliere 2 lingue troppo difficili: giapponese e russo non è una buona scelta. Se per esempio scegliessi portoghese e russo, o portoghese e giapponese avresti modo di gestire il tuo tempo in maniera efficace (80-20%) imparando entrambe le lingue.
Quando dici “Para matar dos pájaros en un tiro” (che in italiano corrisponde a “prendere due piccioni con una fava) devi stare attento perchè questa è un’illusione: pensi di guadagnare tempo facendo 2 cose contemporaneamente ma il rischio è quello di fare male entrambe, soprattutto se non sei uno studente esperto di lingue. Per questo consiglio sempre di studiare un sola lingua alla volta, e quando sei pronto, di passare alla successiva
Un abbraccio e ti auguro successo con la carriera politica..e linguistica :-)
Luca
PS: capisco “chingon”, “wey”, “orale” perchè parlo spesso con un’amica francese che ha vissuto in Messico e mi insegna le espressioni tipiche del tuo paese
andre says:
Nov 30, 2011
Ciao, signore. Mi chiamo andre gurgel e sono uno studente brasiliano. Portoghese è mia lingua madre, ma so parlare anche inglese, francese, italiano, tedesco, spagnolo e un puo di danese e cinese e sto imparando rumeno con una tutora nativa. So leggere in tutte le lingue neolatine e un puo nelle germaniche. Scrivero questo messaggio in italiano. Ancora credo che la lingua di Dante e Petrarca è la piu bella lingua che conosco. forse perche è la lingua dei opere di Mozart, Verdi, Puccini e Bellini. si vuoi, possiamo fare un cambio di lingue-, scusa non sono certo di come si dice ciò in Italiano, in inglese si dice, “language exchange”. vedo che hai interesse nel portoghese e io vorrei imparare svedese e olandese. ho adesso 7 tutori che mi aiutano, si vuoi, ti posso pagare per le classi e tu puoi diventare il ottavo. Sarebbe un grande onore per me. mio indirizzo di e-mail è andrebgurgel@gmail. mio skype è mio nome latino tacitus.saturninus.
grazie mille
a presto
Luca says:
Dec 2, 2011
Ciao Andre. Ti ho aggunto su Skype, parleremo dei dettagli lì. Luca
jurukopp says:
Dec 2, 2011
hey luca i want to tell you that you’ve been such an inspiration for all of us who want to learn foreing languages or plan on being polyglots someday soon,so first of all i wanted to thank you for that
on the second hand i want to ask you something that it is always killing my brain,well i am from colombia so i can speak spanish as a native language , i fell in love with english at the age of fourteen ( i am 22)and now im really looking forward to learning more languages ,some of them have been studied very little by me cuz ive been more focused on searching what are the most spoken ones , easy ones, the hardest, the most beautiful, and learning linguistics topics such as phonetics and phonology before getting to know the languages well and you know that even if this is so boring and tedious our passion makes it exciting; Now ,after doing that , i want to get a level of proficiency and this is of course going to be according to how much i produce or i get exposed to the languages AND there is where my problem is as i am very very psychorigid person i already have a purpose for each language for example english is language that i use for studying no matter which subject,maths physics ,languages,then it comes esperanto which i use with my wife for not letting people get what we are saying when we have to argue about something personal and i use it for translating or writing my personal things, i want to use french and portugues (my favorite ones) for reading literature, listening to music and studying its lyrics (aznavour,jacques brel, joe dassin,roberto carlos) these are the ones i want to get a high level and ive chosen them cuz their level of intelligibility with spanish is good
then i have italian (yours) and german which i want to speak at an intermidiate level, this is posible taking into account iwill be able to speak spanish,portugues, french and english by then
and finally there is a group of languages that i also want to learn by just learning its grammar to see how these language work and by getting basic vocabulary they are: (LATIN, MODERN GREEK,ARABIC,RUSSIAN,TURKISH,CHINESE MANDARIN)the reason i just love the way they sound, so on average i have a 12-language project, something for which people can call me crazy or even naive here in my country
so my questions are do you have a purpose for each of the languages you speak?do you worry about the proficiency ? and how would define your languages proficiency?
thank you man
Lynn says:
Dec 3, 2011
Hi Luca,
Where to begin? First, your American accent video was utterly astonishing. I detected only two or three instances of phonemes in the entire thing that didn’t sound 100% American.
I am a native American. I speak Italian, or should say perhaps that I spoke it many years ago. I never had any trouble at all in speaking but often had great difficulty understanding when the speech was very fast. I studied veterinary medicine for a year in Pisa, but understood only one of my teachers. His very clear enunciation was an exception.
I’m sorry to say that I have the same problem when listening to your videos in Italian. This is not a criticism of you but a failing in me. I want to be able to understand Italian as most Italians speak it.
People learning another language usually have the opposite experience, don’t they? They understand but can’t speak. Other than the obvious, listening over and over again, do you have any advice for me with regard to Italian?
That reminds me of another question. Do Italians listen to contemporary literature on audio books? They’re wildly popular in the States, but I’ve so far found only one website that sells any in Italian. Unfortunately, they’re all classics from another time, such as Shakespeare in translation and Dante. I’m looking for a modern novel or non-fiction book. Would you know if this exists, and if so, where I might find it?
Thank you, Luca. I look forward to hearing, seeing and reading more of you online! :-)
Lynn
Luca says:
Dec 7, 2011
Thanks Lynn!
Yes, it is important to listen to the target language as much as you can.
Here are some links:
(letture graduate per chi studia italiano)
http://www.voicebook.com/searchresult.php?cat_lng=2&cat_diff=-1&cat_results=10&searchtype=2&I2.x=36&I2.y=11
http://www.radio.rai.it/radio1/fantasticamente/elencoaudiolibri.cfm?Q_PROG_ID=132&Q_TIP_ID=1103
https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?title=&author=&status=complete&action=Search
http://www.audiolibri.it/audiolibri%20gratis.htm
Hope this is useful :-)
Luca
Jan Reeves says:
Dec 7, 2011
Hi Luca
I just saw what I think is your first youtube where you explain the fundementals of how to learn a new language: listen/reapeat a few times/write in your native language/translate the next day into you new language etc.
I looked her and can’t find a transcript – do you have one please?
Thanks Jan
Luca says:
Dec 7, 2011
If you dig around the comment section of “About Me” or “An easy way to learn foreign languages” you should find it easily. Luca
Daniela says:
Dec 10, 2011
Ciao Luca! Sei fantastico. Ti ringrazio per quello che fai e per quello che condividi con i tuoi spettatori o meglio dire “fans” perche’ devo dire che la tua determinazione proprio mi spinge ad essere “the best I can be.” : )
One of your comments in particular touched me. You wrote, “Le persone che hanno imparato a parlare come un madrelingua hanno “assorbito” la lingua perchè, in maniera cosciente ed incosciente, avevano ed hanno la volontà di sentirsi a volta “diversi”, altro da sè”, pur restando sè stessi.”
Proprio cosi’ mi sento io quando studio delle lingue…provo questa sensazione di voler essere “diversa” essendo allo stesso tempo, me stessa.
Comunque mi presento brevemente. (hehe) Mi chiamo Daniela e abito in Florida negli stati uniti. Sono figlia di siciliani. Being born in America of Sicilian parents, I have always felt the extreme need to differentiate myself from the other “Italian-American” kids just because I wanted to represent my culture to the fullest. Allora ho deciso di “padroneggiare” (o almeno cercare di padroneggiare, hehe) sia l’italiano che il dialetto siciliano. (Parlo il dialetto a casa con i miei e con i miei fratelli) Questa passione per le lingue ha suscitato in me una gran voglia di imparne di piu’. Quindi ho imparato (a scuola ma anche per i fatti miei) lo spagnolo ed il portoghese (Brasiliano). So, 5 languages total, but for me, still not enough!
Il fatto e’ che, I can identify with many cultures, not simply on a linguistic level but on a cultural level as a whole e allora questa sensazione di sentirsi un po’ come un “cameleon,” cioe’, being able to blend into any situation or ethnic group, e’ stata per me un “coping method” for my childhood identity confusion and has helped me discover myself and form my own identity!
Auguri di nuovo!! Sei bravissimo and not to mention, bello da guardare. ;)
I hope this message finds you well!
Daniela
P.S. Se hai facebook e se accetti amici che sono fans, fammelo sapere che ti aggiungerei molto volentieri. ciao ciao
Luca says:
Dec 10, 2011
Ciao Daniela, ti ringrazio del messaggio pieno di calore.
Le lingue sono un vettore di culture e pensieri, non c’è dubbio. Si impara un altro modo non solo di esprimersi, ma di pensare in generale. Avere più visioni del mondo arricchisce e completa la nostra vita.
Certo che mi puoi aggiungere su Facebook! :-) Ho 2 pagine: la prima la trovi scrivendo “Luca Lampariello” (foto di me appoggiato ad un albero) e l’altra è la pagina Facebook di Polyglotdream:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Polyglot-Dream#!/pages/A-Polyglot-Dream/227784060568092
Un abbraccio e ti ringrazio ancora del bellissimo commento, se hai domande o curiosità sono qui.
Luca
Alice says:
Dec 10, 2011
Hallo Luca,
ich bin vor kurzem per Zufall auf deine Videos in Youtube gestoßen und ich bin wirklich beeindruckt! Vor allem die Tatsache, dass du so viele Sprachen nahezu akzentfrei sprichst, hat einen großen Eindruck bei mir hinterlassen. Meine Einstellung zum Sprachenlernen hat sich dadurch geändert und ich bin jetzt wieder richtig motiviert meine eigenen Sprachkenntnisse zu verbessern! Nicht, dass ich vorher nicht motiviert war, aber ich habe geglaubt, dass es Jahre braucht, um eine Sprache einigermaßen flüssig zu sprechen und dass man eine längere Zeit im Ausland verbringen muss, um nahezu akzentfrei sprechen zu können. Du bist der Beweis, dass dem nicht so ist und das motiviert mich sehr.
Ich bin ebenfalls total fasziniert von Sprachen. Meine Muttersprache ist Deutsch, in der Schule habe ich Französisch, Englisch, Spanisch und Chinesisch gelernt und selbstständig habe ich angefangen mir Rumänisch(die Muttersprache meiner Eltern), Italienisch, Japanisch und Koreanisch beizubringen.
Ich bin momentan 19 Jahre alt, habe gerade erst die Schule beendet und ein Studium angefangen. Genauer gesagt ein Studium der Mathematik, also eines, das nichts mit Sprachen zu tun hat, genau wie du.
Ich würde mich sehr gerne mit dir darüber austauschen, wie du es gemeistert hast, dich auch während deines Studiums mit Sprachen zu beschäftigen, denn, wie ich beides miteinander in Einklang bringen kann, ist eine Frage, die sich mir momentan stellt.
Ich studiere jetzt in Frankreich(Straßburg), um gleichzeitig mein Französisch zu perfektionieren, aber für die anderen Sprachen muss ich noch herausfinden, wie ich mir die Zeit am besten einteile. Allgemein bin ich gerade dabei herauszufinden, wie ich am besten selbstständig Sprachen lernen kann und dass ich deine Videos und deinen Blog entdeckt habe, hilft mir dabei sehr. Mach weiter so!
Ich habe dir übrigens auch eine Freundschaftsanfrage auf Facebook geschickt.
Alice
Ana says:
Dec 18, 2011
Sus vídeos es muy inspirador para mí. Soy sueca y sólo puedo hablar inglés y un poco español, pero estoy aprendiendo como puedo utilizar las lenguas aparte de en mi colegio. He estudiado español durante de tres años en mi colegio y también atendiendo un curso de chino, pero al ver sus videos estoy comprendiendo que puedo aprender tan mucho más. Muchas gracias, 谢谢,tack så mycket, and thank you very much for your inspiration!
Ana
Luca says:
Dec 21, 2011
Gracias por los cumplidos Ana :-) Luca
ashleeliu says:
Jan 11, 2012
很高兴昨天认识你。 我觉得自己没有什么语言天赋, still believe that the only way to learn a new language is through immersion. Can’t believe that you haven’t been to China and can speak the language so well! Je voudrais pratiquer français et de l’améliorer rapidement a Paris. Alors à bientôt! :)
Luca says:
Jan 11, 2012
谢谢!我也昨天认识你啊!Yesterday was a fun night :-) Actually, living in-country is not necessary to learn a language well. I am going to write a whole post on this soon :-) Thanks for swinging by! L
Jane says:
Jan 11, 2012
I saw your videos on youtube after trying to search up videos of which to hear someone speaking fluent Italian. I’m trying to decide between Italian or German to learn as a fourth language, but it’s going to be the first European language that I tackle (if English doesn’t count as one, but it’s my mother-tongue anyways). Your content is very inspiring and helpful; please keep it up! =)
Luca says:
Jan 14, 2012
Thanks for the ovely comment Jane :-) L
Isaiah Gilliland says:
Jan 12, 2012
Ciao Luca!
Mi chiamo Isaiah. Capisco un po l’italiano, ma voglio imparo piu.
I don’t know a lot of Italian right now, but that’s my first stop. My native language is english. I’m discovering my love of languages as well now. I’ve experimented some with korean and arabic before now but never got too far. I’ve decided to go full on and learn a language to fluency. So I decided first to learn something I really wanted to learn in passion. I found that in Italian :D. So far I love the language, and really, I enjoy it now more than I do english.
And since Italian is your native language, I was hoping you could give a post about others wanting to learn Italian specifically. Or even just a reply would be nice^^. If I want to speak fluent Italian, what are the huge mistakes you notice? One major problem I’ve seen in the material I’ve found so far is that it’s very formal. That’s been a bit annoying to me as I want to learn conversational, and be at home with native speakers.
Great blog, maybe soon I can commune in Italian better. Sono in fino fine
Luca says:
Jan 14, 2012
Caro Isaia,
ti rispondo in italiano così fai pratica.
Mi hai posto una domanda un po’ generale. In generale ci sono alcuni problemi che i madrelingua inglese riscontrano nell’imparare l’italiano: in termini di pronuncia, la “r” è sicuramente la consonante più difficile. In termini di prosodia invece ci sono tutta una serie di problemi legati alla differenze fra l’intonazione dell’inglese (britannico e americano) e l’italiano.
Per quanto riguarda i corsi, la maggior parte dei corsi per principianti è abbastanza formale, ma è un passo necessario se impari da autodidatta. E’ alla fine di questi corsi e con l’uso di materiale “vero” quale libri, film o giornali che comincia il vero e proprio apprendimento della lingua
Luca
Antonio says:
Jan 15, 2012
Ciao Luca sono il ragazzo che ti ha posto quella domanda su youtube sotto lo pseudonimo -KIREINATITU- :) spero tu mi possa dare una risposta concreta a questo dubbio che letteralmente mi attanaglia. La passione nello studiare le lingue e sopratutto di viaggiare e fare pratica nei rispettivi paesi c’è sempre stata in me ma purtroppo la scuola ha affievolito non poco questa passione rendendo una cosa che mi piace molto povera e rendendo l’insegnamento della stessa a volte noioso.Innanzitutto volevo sapere se tu hai studiato da autodidatta o se ti sei servito di qualche corso eo università. Come già detto su youtube io devo affrontare un passo abbastanza complicato ovvero quella di iscrivermi all’università alla facoltà di “Mediazione linguistica” per approfondire il mio inglese e per studiare il tedesco ma il problema su cui verte la domanda è che in un futuro anche prossimo vorrei cimentarmi nello studio di due lingue orientali ovvero il cinese, che sia cantonese o mandarino, o entrambi perché no XD, e il giapponese e la mia domanda consisteva in questo : se fosse meglio studiarle all’università o se era possibile studiarle tramite un corso in terra nostrana e poi all’estero magari. Il mio sogno è quello di viaggiare sapendo fronteggiare le difficoltà linguistiche che dividono i popoli e scoprendo la cultura di ogni paese facendola mia magari dando un mio contributo ad ognuna di esse, dopo l’università infatti il mio viaggio avrà inizio e come prima tappa c’è la spagna:) grazie in anticipo per la risposta e scusa per questo messaggio gigantesco spero che dall’alto della tua esperienza possa darmi un giusto consiglio. Colgo l’occasione per porgerti un grande saluto. Antonio
Luca says:
Jan 15, 2012
Caro Antonio,
Il rischio più grande che si corre, a scuola come nelle università, è di subire un insegnamento passivo, mentre la lingua è un’abilità che si acquisisce attivamente con la pratica. Una lingua si impara, non si studia. Questa è una differenza fondamentale ed è la ragione principale (ma non l’unica) per cui il sistema scolastico in generale non è in grado di mettere le persone in condizione di acquisire una lingua straniera in maniera efficace (se ti stai domandando che accidenti significa questa differenza, ho già scritto un lungo articolo sull’argomento che pubblichero a a breve sul blog).
Il mio consiglio è il seguente : se vuoi seguire un corso all’università, seguilo. Ma ricordati che se vuoi avere successo nell’apprendimento di una lingua, devi lavorare soprattutto tu a casa, senza aspettarti che un docente te la « infonda ». E’ un aspetto assolutamente in ogni processo cognitivo.
Un saluto !
Luca
Antonio says:
Jan 15, 2012
Grazie per la risposta:)… beh non mi resta che rimboccarmi le maniche e studiare sodo. Un saluto, complimenti per il sito e un grande in bocca al lupo per il tuo lavoro e per la vita in generale:)
James says:
Jan 16, 2012
Dear Luca,
I don’t really know where to begin, except by firstly saying that I was absolutely bowled over when I discovered your youtube channel.
I’m an English guy and to date I have studied Spanish at university (but still only speak it to maybe C1 level, with many holes in vocabulary and freedom of expression), and I currently live in Paris (your neck of the woods I believe!), where I am attempting to learn French. I studied bits and bobs of French before coming here, so I wasn’t a total beginner, plus, knowing Spanish to some extent helps.
The problems I’ve encountered are so numerous it’s difficult to know where to begin. Firstly, I think that anglophones are at a bit of a disadvantage, because everybody wants to speak English to us, whenever we make the slightest effort abroad. The amount of people that respond in English whenever I speak to them in their languge!! It’s my pet hate. Even for the most enthusiastic of people, the temptation just to give up and switch to English whenever someone is pushing for it is so tantalising that it’s sometimes irresistable. IMO we have a harder time of it because people want to speak with natives, no matter what. Students that I teach here in France even tried to justify it by saying that “English for a French person is more valuable than French to an English person”, which I thought was very unfair.
Second, the language education system in England is truly awful. It’s not the teachers’ fault – I had some truly great language teachers – but the course content is so badly designed I almost think it’s intended to discourage you from learning a language and make you go backwards instead of forwards. After 5 years of going over the same phrases again and again (“where is the post office? I have a flat tyre. I think smoking is bad for business” etc etc) students STILL don’t really know what a verb, noun and adjective are, and certainly not the direct object etc.
One thing I did want to know your viewpoint on is people’s learning styles. I always had a hard time of learning Spanish throughout school and university, and it was as though I was putting far too much effort in without really getting much out. When I spent some time in Spain, however, all that changed because somehow the spoken language – rather than the written one – seemed to stimulate my brain a lot. I learned virtually all my Spanish in Spain, and though I have studied the grammar independently, to this date I have never read a Spanish novel from cover to cover (not that I haven’t tried – I’ve tried so many times but the information just doesn’t seem to stick!) I’ve been told that this is because I am an auditory rather than visual or kinesthetic learner … out of interest, which one are you? (I get the impression you’re auditory but it’s just a guess!) Do you believe this theory that some people learn through different mediums than others?
The biggest problem I have, though, and I wondered if this has happened to you or anyone else on here, is that I simply can’t understand what’s being said. This is particularly true at the moment for French, which I am finding a lot harder than Spanish due to the variations and similarities between the vowel sounds. I can watch tv with subtitles and pretty much understand it, but take the subtitles away and I can’t understand a word! It seems that no matter how hard I try, however many hours I listen and try to decipher it, it just doesn’t get any easier and it’s frustrating. How did you get round this? How did you manage it so that you understand everything that’s being said? Does it just come with time? Or is there a method? It’s so incredibly frustrating, because I can’t identity what’s being said, and it makes me feel that I’m just wasting my time listening to a jumble of sounds!
I hope that wasn’t too-long a message! I live in Paris at the moment and it would be really great to meet up with you sometime and discuss languages :) (if you have time/want to).
James
Luca says:
Jan 19, 2012
A lengthy message indeed!
The reason why you had a hard time with Spanish at University and you did much better in Spain is simply because you stopped studying and started learning. Learning to speak a language is an ability, something very practical. As children, we acquire this ability as a whole, without thinking about its single aspects.
In school, a language is seen as an object to study: grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary are seen as different parts of the language. Students end up focusing on the single parts and treat them separately, completely losing sight of the general picture.
This is one of the reasons why learning languages at school is a painful and rather useless experience, at least for the majority of the students.
As for learning styles..no, I believe that we all learn the same way. When learning a foreign language, I rely on my ears and on my eyes: reading while listening is a very powerful way to get the language in you. Everybody can do that. Then, of course, if you like listening more than reading or viceversa, go for it. Another key factor in foreign language acquisition is to do what you like to do
Being able to understand native speakers in a live context, TV, radio etc.. takes a lot of time. It is normal not to understand much at first. As I said before, I suggest you get hold of texts with audio and start listening and reading at the same time. Make sure you always understand what you are learning. We acquire the ability to read,write,speak and understand with time. There is no shortcut. Work every day, be patient and you will achieve your goal :)
Yeah, I live in Paris, and I have no problem to meet up for a chat. I often go to the Polyglot Bar (SNAX CAFÉ 182 RUE SAINT MARTIN). It is open on Tuesday and Thursday night (20h-00h)and it would be the perfect chance for you to practice a bit of French ;-)
Luca
Luca says:
Jan 19, 2012
Here is a YouTube video about the “Polyglot nights” at the SNAX: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnyzSOXcDFE
Luca
Alexandre says:
Jan 16, 2012
Caro Luca,
Prima di tutto, voglio ringraziarti per tutto il lavoro/sforzo che hai fatto sul tuo blog e sugli altri blog a cui hai partecipati. Grazie a te e alla motivazione che ci procuri, posso comunicare in Italiano con il nonno di mia moglie.
Ho letto molto delle tue entrate/post in linea dove spieghi il tuo metodo. Ma ho una domanda specifica per il Giapponese (so che in questo memento l’hai modificato leggermente se ho capito bene). Cioè: come applicheresti il tuo metodo con ASSIMIL: le japonais sans peine ? E più specificamente, come impareresti i kanji con questo metodo ?
Ho una idea di come iniziare il giapponese: Imparare lo hiragana e il katakana (fatto !) e dopo imparare le ~200 chiave (radicals). Ma dopo ? È meglio di imparare i kanji nel ordine di ASSIMIL o di farelo in un altro modo ? Almeno che non abbia deciso di imparare a scrivere a mano il Giapponese..Ma comunque, sarei interessato al tuo metodo applicato specificamente al Giapponese perché ho letto che tu non usi SRS, Anki e altre cose come queste per i kanji.
Un abbraccio e grazie ancora,
Alexandre
Luca says:
Jan 19, 2012
Ciao Alexandre,
Per quanto riguarda il mio metodo applicato ad ASSIMIL..lo applico come con le altre lingue, l’unica differenza é che in sede di sintesi utilizzo la tastiera giapponese (che puoi settare facilmente sul computer). Ti basta sapere la pronuncia dei kanji ed é fatta. Con un simile metodo non ho alcun bisogno di SRS, Anki e diavolerie varie :)
Non ti consiglio di metterti ad imparare a scrivere a mano i kanji. soprattutto all’inizio. Se il tuo obiettivo é addentrarti in fretta nella lingua, quella dei kanji non é, a mio modo di vedere, la scelta più lungimirante. Se invece la calligrafia ti appassiona, cerca di imparare i kanji gradualmente, cosi come sono presentati da ASSIMIL e sempre in contesto.
Luca
Alexandre says:
Feb 3, 2012
Ciao Luca,
Ti ringrazio di avermi risposto. Ho letto di nuovo qualche entrata da te su Internet (women learn Thai, il tuo blog e altri blog..) e credo di essere pronto a iniziare l’apprendimento del giapponese.
Farò quello che mi consigli e non imparerò dall’inizio a scrivere i kanji.
Un abbraccio,
Alexandre
AJ says:
Jan 26, 2012
Hi Luca!
i learned quite a bit of spanish in high school, but it is really the bare minimum when it comes to fluency. I have the opportunity to go to costa rica for 6 months and for 4 months out of the six i could have an actual class to specifically learn spanish. my goal is to become conversationally fluent and be able to think in spanish. Would you say this is enough time? what if i could only go for 3 months?
and i dont know if youve ever been immersed in any of the other languages you speak, but im just curious as to how much you have to actively study and how much you can simply absorb naturally, in an immersion situation?
Love from the US!
Alessandro says:
Jan 26, 2012
I have a couple of questions:
I was wondering where you find material for self-teaching. I’m currently learning Japanese in school, and I’ve taken some Italian, but I don’t have access to any speakers or classes for the latter at my school. Do you know any sites or books which would be beneficial?
Also, how do you learn to get rid of the thinking style of your native language and go into your L2? With Japanese, as it’s so different from English, I have a very hard time doing this, so any tips would be appreciated.
Luca says:
Jan 26, 2012
Hi Alessandro
As far as finding material is concerned, I suggest:
Introduction to Intermediate Japanese – Mizutani. You can download it from the internet (www.uz-translations.uz) or buy it via Amazon
Another great sites is: http://www.lingq.com, you can download podcasts and audio from there
As for the second question, it is normal to have problems with Japanese. When you try to express yourself in L2, you don’t have to think in words, but in ideas, concepts or images. Otherwise you wil be constantly translating L1 into L2 in your mind. This translation obviously impairs and slows your capacity of expressing yourself fluently. I know it is a bit vague, but I will expand on this idea on a new post..I a writing quite a few things for 2012 so..stay tuned
Luca
ebba says:
Feb 2, 2012
Hello Luca!
I just wanted to say that your videos are so inspiring, your passion about languages is contagious! I’m very interested in languages myself, so whenever I’m watching any of your or Richard’s videos I’m always amazed by your knowledge. I could only dream of getting to your level, but I would be more than happy to know spanish and italian one day, and maybe greek in the future :) do you have any plans on studying greek?
Greetings from Sweden!
Ebba
Luca says:
Feb 3, 2012
Hej Ebba.
Tack för dina vänliga ord. Grekiska är inte på min att-göra lista just nu, men man vet aldrig när det gäller språk. Det är som jag ofta säger, att jag känner att det är språken som väljer mig, inte tvärtom.
Jag tittade på din blogg. Fina teckningar! :-)
Ha det bra
Luca
ebba says:
Feb 6, 2012
Hej igen! Okej, då förstår jag. Tror inte det kommer bli något problem den dag du får för dig att studera det… ;)
En fråga: Jag har läst en del spanska och lite mindre italienska, men tänkte nu följa ditt råd och öva lite varje dag! Kan jag läsa båda samtidigt, eller är det en så pass stor risk att blanda ihop dem att jag bör studera dem var för sig?
Kul att du gillade teckningarna! Skrev förresten ett inlägg om dig där – ni polyglotter har verkligen gjort ett djupt intryck på mig, haha :)
Med vänliga hälsningar
Ebba
Gaby says:
Feb 3, 2012
Hola Luca,
Muy interesante tu blog. Estoy aprendiendo galés con http://www.saysomethinginwelsh.com/home/ y encontre alli un link a tu conversacion con Richard Symcott. Soy Argentino y vivo en la provincia de Torino. Hablo tambien italiano, frances, ingles y aleman. Mi piacerebbe rimanere in contatto.
Un abbraccio,
Gaby
Nicholas says:
Feb 4, 2012
Hello Luca, I spoke to you on youtube and you suggested that I repost my message here. Also, thank you for all your help and willingness to readily help out others, it is always great to meet kind people.
I think I’ll actually just post something new because my last message wasn’t really as clear as it should have been on some points.
Okay, here it goes.
Recently you gave me advice concerning my intention to learn Spanish and recommended the Assimil Spanish with ease course, and it seems quite good, but I live and the United States and read that there are some differences between the Spanish of Spain and the Spanish of Latin-America that warrant further consideration.
For instance, I read that in Spain the c and z when preceding e and i are often pronounced as th but in Latin-American Spanish these instances are typically pronounced like s instead. Another note of phonetic difference is that of the ll which I read is often pronounced like english y in Latin-America but in Spain more like the first consonant in the word | genre | a sort of french j or something. So then should I use a course focused on Latin-American Spanish, which I realize is made of of many dialects itself, or should I use Assimil and simply pronounce the ll and c|e/i and z|e/i instances like s ?
I have read and understand some of your techniques such as the translating back and forth and I think they are very useful, but was wondering about your specific methods for memorizing vocabulary. Should I learn words in isolation or take phrases and sentences from dialogue and make notes on their usage in that particular context ? Also considering the answer to the previous question do you find word-list or phrase-list or even list of entire sentences useful for memorization ?
One last thing that bothers me is the issue of verb conjugation in Spanish which I am not accustomed to in English, so then should I actually memorize the conjugations in isolation which seems very imitating to me or instead just learn them as I go from analyzing their usage from dialogues ? and further more aren’t there forms that are more frequently used than others ? I mean I couldn’t learn all the conjugations by rote memorization that is just too much for me. I was thinking it might make sense to learn at first only the two or three most frequent forms. Or just deduce them from usage in dialogues ?
Please keep in mind that I am 25 years old and an absolute novice when it comes to learning foreign languages and also when learning systematic in general.
I really would like to work around two hours a day- ( in 30 minute chunks perhaps )-and hopefully achieve an advanced conversational level in approximately one years time, Do you think it’s possible for an adult learning a second language to achieve b1 or even b2 level in one year. Of course, English is my native language although my grammar doesn’t reflect this fact, so Spanish will be my first exposure to foreign language learning.
Anyway, I really appreciate all the help and think you are a great person for readily helping people like you do.
Sincerely, Nicholas
Nicholas says:
Feb 4, 2012
heh, in the section about verb conjugation I meant | intimidating | not imitating, I type fast and misspell things often, sorry.
Irene says:
Feb 4, 2012
Ciao Luca
sono una ragazza (vabbè..ragazza si fa per dire visto che sto sui 30) e ho appena ripreso a studiare le lingue straniere. Io sono stata per anni (tanti anni) uno studente B e ora mi ritrovo ad aver studiato tanto 4 lingue contemporaneamente e conoscerne discretamente una sola (ma non ancora perfettamente) e le altre averle scordate completamente. Mi sono sempre chiesta come mai avendo studiato tanti anni a scuola il tedesco non riuscissi e parlare bene mentre invece altre persone dopo pochissimo sapevano parlare molto meglio di me. Solo grazie a internet ho cominciato ad avere,ora,un approccio diverso con lo studio delle lingue. Il mio inglese grazie a youtube è migliorato molto nell’ascolto ma non riesco ancora a parlare bene perchè non ho con chi esercitarmi.Ieri ho scoperto il tuo blog e oggi mi sono iscritta a quel sito di chat che hai segnalato. Devo proprio ringraziarti,perchè non lo conoscevo e oggi c’ho passato 2 h e mi sono pure divertita eheheh.. esercitandomi. Ho ripreso anche il tedesco da un paio di mesi con assimil,che conoscevo già e mi trovo molto bene,anche se ancora non mi sento di chattare in tedesco. E anche io ero appena giunta alla conclusione che per ora sarebbe un inutile e improduttivo sforzo mettermi a studiare anche le altre lingue ormai dimenticate :( Comunque il tuo blog mi ha aiutato a capire che non è una mission impossible e nemmeno che sono io a non essere portata ma solo che sbagliavo completamente metodo. Una domanda: a un certo punto dell’apprendimento, senti l’esigenza di andare a stare un po’ nei paesi di studio (non in vacanza,intendo mesi) oppure pensi che sia possibile imparare a parlare (e sottolineo parlare) bene una lingua senza MAI essere andato nel paese in questione? Io avendo famiglia a cui badare difficilmente potrei partire per settimane o mesi…pensi abbia qualche speranza?
Luca says:
Feb 5, 2012
Ciao Irene.
Mi fa molto piacere che, nel mio piccolo, il mio blog ti serva da guida. Una delle missioni più importanti della mia presenza on-line è di motivare le persone, ma anche di sfatare i falsi miti. Nessuno è di per sè “negato” per le lingue. Se hai imparato la tua, puoi impararne altre. L’impedimento non è fisico, ma mentale. Partire già convinti con l’idea di non essere “adeguati” è l’ostacolo più grosso.
Venendo alla tua domanda, dopo aver imparato una lingua per alcuni mesi o un anno, non sento l’esigenza di andare all’estero, ma di cercare contatto umano. E’ quella la chiave di volta nel mio percorso linguistico. Imparo le lingue per comunicare con gli altri, e l’obiettivo primario è quindi quello di cominciare a conversare con i madrelingua non appena dispongo del bagaglio necessario. Ieri ho fatto un video su YouTube spiegando come sia riuscito ad imparare l’Inglese americano senza mai aver messo piede nel “nuovo continente”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Tgko8cxA8
Quindi, senza necessariamente partire per mesi, puoi migliorae le tue capacità da casa (trovando persone susharedtalk o scaricndo podcast lingq) e se poi riesci addirittura a trovare un tandem con cui fare scambio”faccia a faccia” almeno una o due volte a settimane, llora 6 mesi basteranno per stravolgere (in senso positivo) la tua abilità a conversare con gli altri e capire la lingua.
Ricorda: il segreto è dedicare alla lingua un po’ del tuo “spazio mentale”, e farlo tutti i giorni anche solo per 10 minuti.
Luca
Marco says:
Feb 6, 2012
Complimenti Luca! Ho scoperto i tuoi video e il tuo blog questa estate, e mi hai fatto davvero venire voglia di mettermi a studiare di nuovo l’inglese, dopo le frustranti esperienze scolastiche che mi avevano convinto di non essere portato per le lingue. Sono passati 6-7 mesi e con il tuo metodo vedo già i primi risultati. Fra due anni spero di raggiungere il mio sogno linguistico, cioè parlare un inglese fluente :)
Continua così!
Marco
Luca says:
Feb 6, 2012
Grazie sono molto contento che il blog ti piaccia e soprattutto che ti abbia convinto a seguire un percorso da autodidatta. Un abbraccio e buona fortuna! L
Ion Neacsu says:
Feb 15, 2012
Hi Luca,
My name is John (Ion in Romanian language). I also know some languages : English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Sanskrit, Hindi/Urdu, Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian and some other in which i’m not fluent, just beginner……Except sanskrit, I never learned purely from grammars, because I can not do it.
Back to the subject. I’ve wrote you because I’ve seen your video and the fact that you want to learn romanian and I wanted to tell you that my language is not hard at all, because italian and romanian are romanic languages. Belive it or not, I’ve teach myself italian just from TV, ITALIA UNO, RAI UNO, RAI DUE and from Un uomo finito by Papini, Giovanni.
Grazie e spero che nel prossimo futuro vorremmo migliorare le nostre capacità.
Arrivederci e grazie per i tuoi video.
Giovanni
Siru says:
Feb 20, 2012
Ciao Luca, complimenti! Sei un fenomeno! I tuoi video sono molto utili per me; sono finlandese e abito in Islanda, e adesso sto per finire il mio periodo Erasmus in Sardegna. Ho studiato 11 lingue stranieri però non posso parlare per esempio in greco antico, è troppo difficile per me. Adesso sto studiando il sardo e il basco. Sei bravissimo e un giorno spero di diventare così brava anche io :) Tanti saluti da Cagliari, e grazie mille per questo blog!
Siru
Vivian says:
Feb 21, 2012
Hola, Luca! Me llamo Vivian, y soy de Puerto Rico. I just came across one of your videos by looking up different dialects to listen to; I gotta say, you may just have become the kick I needed to realize dedicating my life to languages is what I want. I’ve been struggling in regards of my career path (being in the middle of a biology major), and my question to you concerns that. I know this is personal, and you might not find suitable to answer, but… Is this your career? What do you do (in terms where you work, if you teach, etc.)? Did you study foreign languages at a college (is it your major?), if so where? Any recommendations? I always tend to ask these sort of questions in search of guidance and examples of how people work through the process. It’s hard to find someone relatable, who can help, in Puerto Rico. Please excuse me if these questions have been answered before (if so, please indicate me!); I just found you twenty minutes ago!
Luca says:
Feb 26, 2012
Hi Vivian.
I have a degree in Electronic Engineering. I am currently attending a Conference interpreting school here in Paris and working as a language consultant on-line. I get most of my students from both this blog and YouTube, although I have never announced it officially. Working as a language tutor is an exhilarating and enriching experience
Un abrazo!
Luca
Márcio says:
Feb 21, 2012
Olá Luca. Seus vídeos são inspiradores para quem está em busca de aprender novas línguas.Parabéns!
Peço-te uma orientação: quando se INICIA estudar uma nova língua com o método assimil, deve-se utilizar apenas esse material ou, pelo contrário, deve-se utilizar mais fontes(imersão total)?
Grato antecipadamente,
Márcio, Brasil.
Luca says:
Feb 26, 2012
Olá Marco,
para mim a coisa melhor quando inicia-se a estudar uma nova lingua é utilizar uma fonte so, e ASSIMIL é sem duvida uma das melhores
Luca
Andrew says:
Feb 21, 2012
Hey Luca – an article about hyperpolyglots on the BBC website today
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17101370
Luca says:
Feb 21, 2012
Thanks! A very interesting read indeed! :-) L
Nicola B says:
Feb 21, 2012
Ciao Luca! Sono arrivato a questo blog grazie ai tuoi video su youtube! Ho un buon livello di inglese, molto basilare il francese e mi piacerebbe imparare il russo; pensi che sarebbe utile provare ad imparare il russo utilizzando libri o comunque corsi dall’inglese? Lo scopo sarebbe imparare le basi del russo affinando il mio inglese, già di per sé valido. Questo perchè tra un anno all’università vorrei fare lingue ed il russo mi ha da sempre affascinato. Altra cosa: in un futuro, dopo aver imparato il russo, sarebbe utile imparare un’altra lingua slava come l’ucraino pur essendo molto simile al russo? (vedi questione della lingue simili che hai affrontato)
Comunque sentiti complimenti per il tuo blog e grazie per aver condiviso la tua passione sul web!
Nicola
(Ho scritto qui perchè non sapevo altro luogo dove porti queste domande)
Luca says:
Feb 21, 2012
Ciao Nicola,
Ti consiglio di affinare l’inglese separatamente e di imparare il russo dall’italiano. Talvolta si ha l’impressione di prendere “due piccioni con una fava” usando una lingua per impararne un’altra, ma lo farei solo se il tuo livello di inglese è partciolarmente avanzato.
Una volta imparato il russo, imparare altre lingue slave risulta senza dubbio più facile, soprattutto se si tratta di lingue slave orientali (come l’ucraino o il bielorusso).
Un abbraccio e grazie per i complimenti, fanno sempre molto piacere :-)
Luca
Daniel says:
Feb 24, 2012
Hei Luca, det er veldig bra at du kan snakke så mange språk og du er en inspirasjon for alle. Unnskylld for snakker norsk men jeg kan ikke snakke svensk og engelsk er mitt første språk, men jeg liker å snakke på norsk. Kanskje jeg vil også snakke da godt som deg snart :)
Takk, ha det bra!
Fasulye says:
Feb 25, 2012
Hoi Luca,
Je schrijft heel goed Nederlands, trouwens! :) Ik heb nog een goed advies voor jou, want je kunt op je computer desktop de “Teletekst Browser” installeren, zodat je elke dag vers uit Nederland het nieuws kunt lezen. “Teletekst” het in Duitsland “Videotext” en gewoonlijk kun je dat op de televisiescherm lezen.
Hier is de download voor de Nederlandse Teletekst-browser:
http://www.teletekstbrowser.nl/pages/download.php
Het kost helemaal niets en het is een goede vervanging of aanvulling van De Volkskrant.
Hartelijke groeten,
Fasulye
learningslovak says:
Feb 26, 2012
Hello! Greetings from Bratislava!
I am an italian student now studying slovak :)
Very interesting blog! Keep up the good work!!!
Davvero complimenti! Non molti blog sono fatti così bene
Ciaoo
D.
Luca says:
Feb 26, 2012
Ciao, grazie!
Ti consiglio il blog di un ragazzo slovacco che parla più di 10 lingue:
http://www.foreverastudent.com/
Vlad è veramente fantastico!
Un abbraccio,
Luca
learningslovak says:
Feb 26, 2012
Grazie mille! Ci darò subito un’occhiata :)
learningslovak says:
Feb 27, 2012
Volevo inoltre aggiungere che sono piacevolmente stupito dalla presenza di questa “comunità” di poliglotti online!
Mi sono appena avvicinato al mondo dei blog e sto incontrando molto materiale interessante :)
Complimenti ancora una volta!
Philip says:
Mar 6, 2012
Hi Luca,
Thank you for all of your tips and posts! I have read the blog posts about your learning method, and I have one question. After listening to and reading the text, and you are translating from the target language to english, are you listening to the audio only and then writing down the english? And when you are translating back to the target language, are you writing out what you hear on the audio, or trying to translate from reading your english transaltion?
Thanks to anyone who can help :)
Ovidiu says:
Mar 14, 2012
Hello, Luca! Greetings from Romania! :)
I’m Ovidiu. I watched several of your videos on Youtube and also read this blog. I wanna congratulate you for the good tips on foreign languages and also for your language abilities. ;) I also noticed that you are keen of learning my language, good luck on your way! :D I’m looking forward to hear/see you speaking Romanian.
If you’ve got some spare time, it’ll be great if you could help me on a certain matter. Nowadays I’m learning German, and it will be very helpful for me if you could do a phonetic analysis for German, as you did for Italian in your video. If you lack the time to do so, please write some phrases and examples using those specific marks (as far as I know, you used those 4 Mandarin Pinyin tone marks), either on email or here on the blog, for others to see.
Thank you in advance! I hope to hear from you soon! ;)
Toate cele bune! :D
Tschuess!
ibrahem taha ( nazareth) says:
Mar 15, 2012
hi ..
i really like u and ur vedios .. i dont exagerate if i tell the u r the best one on the youtube ( or maybe in the internet ) that can help us ang gave us advices and lead us .. anyway //
u talked about learning that differante from studing.. can u gime me ( or us) an book or name of techniques to apply them in my language studing..
thank u very mush .. u r the best
Luca says:
Mar 18, 2012
Hi Ibrahem. Thanks for the lovely words
I would use ASSIMIL to start learning a language.
I started learning English at the age of 10. It takes time to learn to speak a language well, but if you enjoy the learning process, you won’t count the the hours anymore, it is loving what you do that counts the most.
L
ibrahem taha ( nazareth) says:
Mar 15, 2012
hi luca ..
can u tell us ,, how old r u .. and when u started to learn each language .. and how much it takes .. ( its a kind of motivation .. )
relly thanx..
ebru says:
Mar 21, 2012
ciao Luca,
ho visto il tuo blog per caso e mi ha fatto molto piacere sapere che ci sono delle persone come te che danno molta importanza a imparare e a parlare una nuova lingua. io sono turca e adoro la lingua italiana, e la studio da 6 anni. ti vorrei dire un grande “complimenti” per il tuo interesse. buono studio.
Luca says:
Mar 22, 2012
Grazie mille delle belle parole :-) L
James says:
Mar 22, 2012
Hi Luca,
How many of your languages do you speak with a virtually native accent? I heard you speak English and I can definitely say that you’d pass for a native US citizen. Are you mistaken for a native in your other languages as well?
I am learning French at the moment and am finding the accent physically impossible to master. Do you have a technique or any tips?
Cheers
Luca says:
Mar 22, 2012
Hi James,
I am usually mistaken for a native in English, French, Spanish and German.
You said “I am learning French at the moment and am finding the accent physically impossible to master”. This is a very common problem, and it is psychological, rather than physical.
I wrote a series of articles on this topic:
http://thepolyglotdream.com/2011/01/20/native-accent-in-foreign-languages/
http://thepolyglotdream.com/2011/02/11/native-accent-in-language-learning-part-23/
http://thepolyglotdream.com/2011/03/03/native-accent-in-language-learning-phonetic-analysis-part-3-3/
On a final note, I am a language consultant on-line. People normally ask me to teach them how to acquire a great accent/pronunciation/prosody etc. If you are interested, let me know.
Luca
James says:
Mar 24, 2012
Hi Luca,
I took a look at the articles and they’re really very interesting – I’d be very interested in your language consultancy, is there anywhere I can private message you to discuss it further? If you could help me get a near-native French accent/intonation, I’d be very grateful!
Thanks,
James
Luca says:
Mar 24, 2012
Hi James,
just sent you a PM.
Luca
Giulio says:
Mar 26, 2012
Ciao Luca. Innanzitutto complimenti per la tua passione. Mi ha colpito sopratutto il fatto che parli svedese e olandese, due lingue che trovo veramente affascinanti. Come le hai imparate?
Un’altra domanda: io parlo decentemente inglese, francese, spagnolo e catalano e posso capire e farmi capire in una conversazione di media difficoltà in arabo. Il problema è che dovrei migliorare la padronanza di ognuna di queste lingue ( soprattutto il catalano e l’arabo, lingua veramente complessa, anche per le differenze esistenti tra lingua classica e lingua popolare). Cosa mi consigli di aspettare e perfezionarle senza buttarmi nello studio di un’altra lingua?
Stavo pensando al portoghese, hai qualche consiglio da darmi?
Luca says:
Mar 27, 2012
Caro Giulio, grazie per i complimenti.
Ho imparato lo svedese e l’olandese con il solito metodo: ho preso un libro (ASSIMIL), l’ho “assorbito” con la mia tecnica, acquisendo così una solida base, e poi ho perfezionato questa base leggendo libri, guardando film, e naturalmente parlando con i madrelingua che ho incontrato nel corso degli anni.
Per quanto riguarda la seconda domanda, come dico sempre, dipende solo da te. Se vuoi perfezionare le lingue che già sai o vuoi impararne un’altra è una scelta che dipende solo da te. E lo stesso vale per la scelta lingua.
Domandati perchè vuoi imparare tale lingua, cosa ti può portare nella vita, cosa ti piace di quella cultura, del popolo o popoli che la parlano e poi..buttati :-)
Un saluto
L
Sara says:
Mar 27, 2012
Hi Luca
You are really talented, great job!
I really need your advise on something and I hope that you will get back to me. At the moment I am in Paris will be staying here for around 5 weeks, my French is just ok, I can understand but my conversation skills are somewhat weak. I am not in Paris for work or anything of that sort and I don’t have any French speaking freinds. I am desperate to improve my French, what can I do? At the moment the only French I speak is when I order food. How can I take advantage of my time here?
Thanks,
Sara
Luca says:
Mar 27, 2012
Hi Sara,
I also live in Paris (as I think you know). Why don’t you come to the Polyglot Bar on next Tuesday night? That would be a wonderful chance to speak French and I can tell you what you to do for your French..face to face! Plus, you can meet quite a few native French people willing to chat and help you.
Let me know what you think of the proposal and I’ll forward you the details (when, where etc..) :-)
Luca
Raul says:
Jul 18, 2012
Dear Luca,
I would like to take language lesson from you.
Could you contact me?
Andrew Pshenichnykh says:
Mar 28, 2012
Здравствуйте, Лука !
Очень впечатлен тем, как вы говорите на русском и английском. Когда вы говорите не быстро акцент практически не слышен.
Я, вдохновившись вашим примером, тоже пришел к выводу, что изучать языки – довольно интересное хобби. Но у меня к вам есть несколько вопросов, буду очень признателен, если вы на них ответите:
1. Вы писали, что использовали Assimil, и Teach Yorself, про первый даже тут, в России ходят легенды :), про второй не знаю почти ничего. Способы изучения языка с использованием Assimil я примерно представляю, но как вы изучали грамматику ? И как совершенствовали свое произношение ? Вы, наверное, изучив определенный базис начинали беседовать с носителями языка ?
2. На ваш взгляд – действительно ли Assimil with easy доводит до уровня B2, а Assimil advanced до уровня С1 ?
Luca says:
Apr 4, 2012
Здравствуйте, Andrew, cпасибо за сообщение!
Вы писали, что использовали Assimil, и Teach Yorself, про первый даже тут, в России ходят легенды , про второй не знаю почти ничего. Способы изучения языка с использованием Assimil я примерно представляю, но как вы изучали грамматику ? И как совершенствовали свое произношение ? Вы, наверное, изучив определенный базис начинали беседовать с носителями языка ?
Моя философия в том, что мы не изучаем язык через одну грамматику, мы изучаем грамматику через язык. Это значит,- мы должны читать интересные тексты, стихи, слушать аудио и на основании этого делать грамматичесике заключения и выводы. Это именно то, что я делаю через мои “Луца метод” или “фулл сиркл метод”. Вот ссылки к деталям методики:
http://womenlearnthai.com/index.php/an-easy-way-to-learn-foreign-languages-part-two/
На ваш взгляд – действительно ли Assimil with easy доводит до уровня B2, а Assimil advanced до уровня С1 ?
Для того чтобы добиться уровня Б2, тебе понадобится намного больше ресурсов(книг, материалов), чем АССИМИЛ. После того, как ты закончил АССИМИЛ, ты, наверное, добился уровня А2. Дело в том, что многие люди не имеют представления об изучении языков и особенно об уровнях системы СЕФР. Б2-это очень высокий уровень
Пока!
Лука
sara says:
Mar 28, 2012
Thank you very much Luca for your reply, yes that sounds like a great idea, can you please forward me the info for next Tuesday’s meeting, and hopefully I will make it if it’s not very late at night.
Luca says:
Mar 28, 2012
No problem Sara, my pleasure :-)
Now, some extra info:
SNAX BAR
182 Rue St.Martin
It is a VERY central area. I suggest you get off Etienne Marcelle (line 4), the bar is at a 5 minute walking distance. If you have a map of Paris, you should have no problem finding the place.
The “soirée” normally starts around 20h, but I am always there around 21h
Let me know if you are up to it and if you need some extra info :-)
Luca
Marc says:
Mar 29, 2012
Hello Luca,
Wonderful to hear your recent interview with David. It certainly made for a great listening on my way to work this morning!
I’m just sending you a message regarding language consultancy/lessons and how I’d go about booking a few with you. My email is attached to this mail (or least I think it is) so I’d appreciate so more information regarding this.
All the best
Marc
Luca says:
Mar 29, 2012
Hey Marc,
I just got back home and it is very late here in Paris, I am going to send you a message tomorrow with some extra info (yeah I can see your email adress I’ll send you a PM)
Talk to you soon
Luca
Frank says:
Apr 2, 2012
Ciao Luca tu hai detto che hai utilizzato i libri di “ASSIMIL” per imparare una lingua, e per esempio per l’inglese quale hai utilizzato, perchè ho visto che ci sono varie versioni. Esempio c’è quella per l’inglese britannico e quella per l’americano, poi c’è quella per il “perfezionamento” o vi è anche la versione “senza sforzo”. Quale utilizzare? Consigliami tu!!!
Luca says:
Apr 3, 2012
Ciao!
In inglese non usato nessun corso come ASSIMIL, TEACH YOURSELF etc, ma ho imparato le basi a scuola e poi ho avuto un’insegnante privata. Dopo un anno e mezzo con lei, sono passato direttamente a libri, film e amici madrelingua.
ASSIMIL è un corso eccellente. Non ti posso consigliare una versione piuttosto che un’altra perchè è una tua scelta personale. L’unico consiglio che mi sento di darti è il seguente: scegli una delle due versioni e poi sii coerente con quella scelta.
Un saluto!
Luca
Jonathan Jelliff says:
Apr 5, 2012
Hi, Luca!
Thank you for everything that you’ve generously given to everyone! I just finished listening to your excellent interview with David M. and found it helpful and enjoyable. Thank you!
I was intrigued by your mention of private tutoring, especially when you said that you try to help people find what works best for them based on what kind of a learner they are. Do you think you could help me?
J.
Luca says:
Apr 5, 2012
Hi Jonathan,
thanks for the compliments :-)
Of course I can help you, it has become my job to show my students what I call “their linguistic path”. If you want some more information (price, time schedule, training etc..), I can send you a PM to your email adress (it is visible only to me).
Let me know and take care!
Luca
Jonathan Jelliff says:
Apr 6, 2012
Thanks! Yes, I would be interested in more information! Please feel free to e-mail me!
J.
Akire says:
Apr 9, 2012
Sono akire dal Messico, Complimenti! mi hai motivato grazie mille…. allora vado per altra lingua “il francese” grazie..
cordovez says:
Apr 9, 2012
Ciao Luca,
I am a native Spanish speaker, but now I use English most of the time. I am now living in Paris and in the process of learning French using various methods. I have a few questions for you. Can I ask you via email? Thank you for all your posts.
cordovez says:
Apr 9, 2012
Hi Luca,
What a coincidence. I just realized that you may be living in Paris. I moved to Paris last August and I am in the process of learning French. Let me know if I can ask you a couple of questions via email.
Luca says:
Apr 10, 2012
Hi!
I normally answer questions here on my blog. Since you are in Paris, the best way to ask me questions would be to meet up in the SNAX BAR (182 Rue St.Martin, every tuesday and thursday at 20.00p.m). It is also a wonderful chance to meet up with a lot of people willing to do a language exchange (FREN,ENESP,ESPFR and so on).
Have a great day!
L
cordovez says:
Apr 10, 2012
Thanks. Sorry for the repetition it was a mistake. I am learning French at the moment, but once I feel I have a grip on it, I want to attempt another language. Perhaps Italian or german. If I opt for German I want to research phonetics more (Italian is easy for me to pronounce).
Do you know of any good resources for learning and using the international phonetic alphabet in language learning?
Luca says:
Apr 11, 2012
Hi. I have to confess that I don’t use the IPA that much. I consider it as an excellent tool but it is not strictly necessary to acquire a good pronunciation/intonation in a language.
cordovez says:
Apr 10, 2012
PS, I would also like to learn Irish and that is a hellish language to learn without a good phonetics grounding.
独行靓仔 says:
Apr 10, 2012
卢卡,请问你的普通话经历过那个Epiphany point吗?
Mar Sar says:
Apr 13, 2012
Hi Luucaa!
I’m Mar Sar from Poland and I really like your blog! I also love foreign languages and would like to meet another language ”freak”. ;);) So please do me a favour- contact me!!! ;););) skype: marsar888888 , email: marsar0@autograf.pl facebook- we’re already friends ;) mar sar,
Btw, I have sent you an email so check your spam :):)
James says:
Apr 17, 2012
I started taking classes with Luca around a month ago because I am learning French, and I can thoroughly recommend him as a language tutor. Even though I live and work in Paris, I was still struggling with the language and getting frustrated, especially with pronunciation and intonation. It was becoming clear that simply living in the country does not equal guaranteed fluency!
Luca is really a master of his craft – if you’re reading these words you probably already know that he speaks some ten languages completely fluently. What really stands out, however, is his passion and enthusiasm for languages, and the fact that every second of the lesson counts. If languages interest you, you are extremely unlikely to be bored in his lessons. He might be Italian but speaks French, Spanish, German and English without a foreign accent, in addition to the others of which he has an excellent and thorough command.
The best thing, though, is that he really is a great teacher, inspiring and encouraging, and makes language-learning come alive – no easy feat. He has very innovative methods for language learning, and they actually work and save a lot of time and stress that the “traditional” ways cause. He has a deep and detailed understanding of how learning (any) language works psychologically, and the best approach to learning in the beginning, through intermediate and the advanced stages, what will make something stick, etc. Learning a language with him is probably about as far as possible from learning it from a verb-table in a book (which I find very boring). He provides all the materials, specially picked for individual students, whose lessons he specifically designs, and is constantly monitoring your progress and reacting accordingly.
I can honestly say that studying with him has given me a lot of confidence and direction, which I was lacking before, and when I am actively studying French on my own I am channelling my energy far more efficiently with his methods. Above all, though I genuinely feel that I am improving my French!
With him, language is not just about giving you words to learn, etc, because it’s just as much about the methodology in learning a language, i.e. learning smart as well as hard. There are many subtleties of learning which traditional methods ignore but that Luca discusses in depth. There is of course a lot of hard work to be put in on the student’s part, but having someone like Luca (who is one of the most competent linguists and teachers on the planet) is really a rewarding experience and you will come away a much better linguist than you were before.
Catherine says:
Apr 17, 2012
wow, reading this makes me want to fly to Paris right away and take some lessons with Luca! Unfortunately, I’ll be stuck here in the U.S. for awhile. Any chance to do it over the internet?
Luca says:
Apr 17, 2012
Hi Catherine! I mainly give lessons on skype (even with James, who lives in Paris). I am what people call a “language consultant on-line”. So if you want to give it a try..I am here. You just need to drop me a line here and ask for more info about the lessons and I’ll forward them to you :-) It is amazing what one can do with just a credit card and a computer these days^^ Luca
Luca says:
Apr 17, 2012
Wow James, thank you so much for the lovely words! As I told you before, I love teaching and interacting with people. My job as a language tutor is to help people discover their potential, motivate and guide them. The rest is up to them. You are doing an incredible job and the merit is all yours. Luca
Catherine says:
Apr 18, 2012
Yes, Luca, could you send me more info about the lessons and your consultancy please? I might not be able to start right away; but, I’d like to plan ahead. Thanks!
cordovez says:
Apr 18, 2012
Me too Luca. I would like information on consulting online with you if possible. I am currently taking some lessons, but would like to learn how to learn better by myself.
Peter says:
Apr 22, 2012
Ciao Luca!
Io sono Brasiliano e mi piace molto imparare lingue straniere. Ora so parlare cinque lingue (inglese, portoghese, spagnolo, francese e italiano) e sto cominciando a imparare il tedesco. Potresti consigliarmi qualche risorse per imparare il tedesco. Ho gia comprato Assimil, Pimsleur e qualche libri bilingui. Mi piacerebbe molto se potresti anche darmi consigli per imparare il tedesco o degli collegamenti dove ne possa trovare. Vorrei dire anche che davvero mi piaccono i tuoi video e mi ispiri con i miei studi di lingue.
Grazie Mille
Danielle says:
Apr 24, 2012
Hi Luca,
I’m a publicist working on behalf of Stone Bridge Press. I represent a book coming out this spring on Chinese language and culture by a husband-and-wife team who have spent decades teaching Chinese to students. Would you be interested in reviewing this book and sharing it with Chinese language learners on your blog?
Please get in touch via email and I will be happy to send more information on the book and its authors.
Thank you for your time,
Danielle
estogettingfluent says:
Apr 27, 2012
Luca, I’m also curious about the possibility of some lessons/help. Would you mind forwarding me some info about it as well?
All the best,
Josh
Mohammad Hasan Javed says:
Apr 27, 2012
Hey Luca,
I would just like to say that it was your first youtube video that inspired me to go on my own linguistic journey. I know only English (I kind of know Urdu and Arabic as well), but I have a lot of languages on my hitlist, so to speak. I’m interested in possibly taking advantage of your tutoring via skype! If you could send me the info, I’ll be happy to see if we can work something out.
Cheers,
Hasan
thiago ferino says:
Apr 28, 2012
Olá Luca!
Antes de tudo,quero te parabenizar pela iniciativa de formular esse site,pautado no tema de aquisição de língua estrangeira.Eu tenho um ponto de vista semelhante ao seu,no que diz respeito a língua estrangeira,e estou escrevendo uma monografia com o tema “aquisição de língua estrangeira na infância”;pois bem,gostaria de saber se você tem algum referencial teórico a esse respeito que pudesse me sugerir? obrigado.^^Thiago
AvocattoBe says:
Apr 28, 2012
Dear Luca,
Hi from the States! I just stumbled upon your site a few days ago and have been very inspired by your videos to continue pursuing my language study. I am a second-year law student in the US, and as my parents are from the Congo, I speak French, English, and some Lingala and Kikongo. Have you tried any African languages yet?
I am interested in the Skype lessons you’ve mentioned on your website and was wondering if you could send more information on that. I gather that you are quite busy these days, so I would also be interested in a short term set of lessons on applying your “native speaker phonetic system” to French. Could you send me more info on lessons when you get a chance? Thanks a lot, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Luca says:
Apr 29, 2012
Hi there! I just sent you a PM. Luca
Hasan says:
May 2, 2012
Hey Luca,
I got “Assimil: Italian with Ease” and I was going to start using it but now I’m not sure. Should I also get Teach Yourself Italian and then use Teach Yourself for the elementary phase and Assimil for the intermediate phase? Thank you very much for your help!
Marlon says:
May 4, 2012
Hello Luca
Interested in Spanish help from you, could you email me regarding any tutoring and such? I also purchased Assimil Spanish course based off your recomendation on your youtube interview but Amazon said it will take a month or two for it to get to the States wondering what to do in the mean time, I also read a blog post from someone that said you skip the passive stage of the Assimil course and start right away with the active course, can you talk about that?
thanks
M
Luca says:
May 4, 2012
Hi Marlon
Yes, I use the Assimil course “the Luca way”, which I (and fortunately other people as well) find very efficient. If you want, I can send you a PM to your email adress (which is visibile only to me as an administrator of this site) and forward you all the information you need. II not only help you how to learn a language, but I give you the tools to become an indipendent and effective language learner. The instruction on how to use ASSIMIL (or any language material for the matter) are an integral part of my Skype lessons. Let me know if you are interested. L
Marlon says:
May 4, 2012
Absolutely, send me a PM
Idil says:
May 5, 2012
Salut Luca,
J’essaie d’apprendre le français et tu m’influences beaucoup! J’apprends les mots vite mais je ne peux pas dire le meme chose pour la grammaire :) Toujours mon cerveau va a Anglais! Je peux dire que j’ai cree une langue que j’utilise les mots Français et la grammaire Anglais :) Je veux apprendre Français autant que je peux et apres aller en France pour quelques semaines ou peut-etre moins pour l’ameliorer.
Ok, going back to English now! I’m very interested in languages but unfortunately I haven’t been as dedicated as I would have wanted to be. I speak pretty good English (well good enough for me :) and some French which I’ve studied in high school but haven’t practiced until last month. It’s funny that I thought I didn’t remember a single word before I started practicing but now it’s all back! I’ve also studied Italian for 1 year in high school but that’s also hidden somewhere in the dark side of my brain :) And the worst one: I’ve lived in Austria for 6 months and I learned just a tiny bit of German, what kind of person does that?! Aber nach lerne ich Französisch, ich werde lernen Deutsch sprechen :) So, I decided to stop regreting for what I haven’t done and take some action! I’m 25 now, my goal is to be fluent in French, German and Italian before I hit 30! And maybe Azeri since it’s incredibly similar to my native language which is Turkish by the way. All I need is some motivation and practicing occasions. So I’m very interested in your Skype lessons and I would be more than happy if I can take some advice from you.
I hope hearing from you soon!
Arrivederci :)
Luca says:
May 27, 2012
Hi Idil, I am not sure I replied to this message before. In case I didn’t, I hope you’ll forgive my inexcusable late reply, I have been pretty swamped lately :-). So, let me know if you are interested in taking the lessons and I will forward you some information. Luca
Idil says:
May 29, 2012
Hello Luca,
It’s great to eventually get your reply :) Yes, I’m interested in taking lessons and I’d be happy to get further information.
Bye for now!
loperamida says:
May 9, 2012
Hola!
Estoy asombrada de como hablas varios idiomas sin acento italiano. Yo estoy aprendiendo francés y no consigo desprenderme de mi acento español. Voy a trabajar a París como enfermera y creo que me seria realmente útil aprender a pronunciar bien,así mis futuros pacientes podrán entenderme mejor, Cómo puedo contactar contigo via skype? ( Actualmente vivo en Barcelona)
Muchas gracias
Elena
Lidia says:
May 10, 2012
Hi Luca, I’m Polish and I’d like to learn Italian very well. I thing I’m not a liquistic talented person. Could you give me same tips and maybe same links, which are helpfull. I’ve watched your film about your method of learning language, but I don’t know where can I find the best natural dialogues in Italian. And what is the most important, specific for Italian? Is anythik I should especially focus?
And one more question: Are you going to learn Polish? :)
Best wishes
Lidia
Luca says:
May 15, 2012
Hi Lidia.
I suggest you buy an ASSIMIL course (you can also find it on-line, namely on Amazon).
You can look in this amazing forum for some extra info on good resources for learning Italian:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum
Advice center (Italian): http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30832&PN=1
After completing a beginner course like ASSIMIL (or Teach Yourself, Linguaphone etc..)I would use the following websites:
http://www.lingq.com (input)
http://www.sharedtalk.com (output)
To answer your final question..yes indeed Ms. Lidia -) I am going to learn Polish soon..and I think I will spend 1-2 weeks in Poland this summer :-)
Luca
Antonella says:
May 10, 2012
Ciao Luca!Mi aggiungo anche io a questo thread lunghissimo ehehe!
I miei migliori complimenti per il blog ed il canale youtube, utilissimi!Ma come non ti ho scoperto prima insieme a tanti altri poliglotti ? Grazie al sito Interpreting for Europe che ha condiviso il tuo video! :)
Volevo chiederti per favore, dove è che rispondi ai messaggi in privato perchè vorrei chiederti un parere, se possibile, su una questione personale…ovviamente sempre inerente alle lingue!Ti scrivo in FB sul tuo profilo personale o pagina ufficiale del blog, o sarebbe possibile scambiarci indirizzi email?
Grazie mille per la tua gentilissima risposta e per la tua passione che condividi e rendi viva attraverso ciò che fai!!
A presto
Antonella
Valeria says:
May 14, 2012
Ciao Luca,
sarei interessata a prendere qualche lezione di inglese (livello upper intermediate) e tra un po’ anche di francese (beginner) via Skype. Potresti mandarmi, per favore, tutte le informazioni via mail? Grazie!
Valeria
Diogo P. Almanacy says:
May 16, 2012
Hey Luca,
I’m going to paris next month and i’m wondering if you know any bookstore to buy some language learning resources,since we don’t have many in my city here in Brazil.
Thanks,
Diogo Almanacy
Luca says:
May 27, 2012
I suggest you go to FNAC. There are plenty of FNACs in Paris, I suggest you go to one in front of Gare St.Lazare. I found great stuff there. Luca
Coco says:
May 27, 2012
Hello Luca,
I find you absolutely amazing! I have always wanted to be multilingual! I have been studying German, French, Italian , Spanish, Latin and Japanese for about 2 years now and I am still not fluent. It is embarrassing to attempt. I do not know what I am doing wrong. However, I have not given up! One day I hope to be just like you :).
Rosanna says:
Jun 2, 2012
Ciao Luca,
stamattina qlcuno ha postato su fb una tua intervista poliglotta, e condividendo la tua stessa passione e, per di più, il modo di assorbire le lingue cominciando quasi sempre da Assimil è stata una piacevole scoperta – condivido in pieno tutto ciò che hai scritto, ed in primis il driver fondamentale: la curiosità e la voglia di acchiappare, sniffare “l’anima” dentro ogni lingua. E se posso aggiungere, lo “sfrizzo” quando arrivi a scoprire le cadenze, gli accenti strascicati, i modi di dire dentro una stessa lingua, tra gruppi che ne so, di catalani, madrilegni, argentini, messicani.. è proprio come entrare in un mondo parallelo con una musica diversa !
Buone lingue a tutti,
Ros
Diego Granobles says:
Jun 11, 2012
Hi Luca, how are you? Thanks for all of your videos they’re very inspiring and amazing. Now you’ve talked about some courses to teach ourselves, which ones are they? And which one would be great for pronunciation? Thanks for all your help! Oh, and also about your book! when is it coming out?
Luca says:
Jun 19, 2012
Hi Diego. I would go for ASSIMIL, an excellent language series. You can find it on Amazon or in numerous libraries (if you are in Europe). As for the book..hopefully it will come out within a year. Luca
4 Creative Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations with Polyglottery | Ripe Ideas says:
Jun 20, 2012
[...] Alexander Arguelles, Language Specialist at SEAMEO RELC in Singapore Luca Lampariello, studying to be a conference interpreter at ISTI in Paris Richard Simcott, Language Consultant at [...]
Angela says:
Jul 12, 2012
Hi Luca, I’m interested in taking lessons with you, and advice on my language learning. If you could contact me, I would really appreciate it. Take care.
joshuakaasik says:
Jul 18, 2012
Hi Luca,
You talk a lot about Assimil courses as a good gateway into any particular language. I’m currently using Assimil, but am trying to figure out what to use after that. I’ve heard a lot of Spanish learners talk about the FSI/Platiquemos series. Do you have much experience with that particular program? If so, would you suggest it as something to do after Assimil?
All the best,
Josh
joshuakaasik says:
Jul 18, 2012
Hi Luca,
You talk about Assimil a lot as a gateway course into new languages. I’m currently using it for Spanish but am trying to decide what to use after I’m done with Assimil. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about Platiquemos/FSI as a good step after Assimil. I’m wondering if you have any experience with that course? If so, would you recommend it?
All the best,
Josh
Katie Donahue says:
Jul 18, 2012
Hi Luca, my name is Katie. I’ve been browsing your site and i think it’s really great! I completely agree that one “who learns another language, acquires another soul”. I recently finished my Spanish major and was in search of a daily tool to use to keep me engaged with the language. I was immediately inspired by the Nulu mission and its unique twist on language learning. It uses fresh news as content for language learning (no boring canned content!). I now am part of team Nulu and would love it if you checked out our site at http://www.nululanguages.com. I think you’d really like our approach. Right now Nulu is for English speakers learning Spanish, but more languages are on the way! It’s completely free to sign up. Would you mind sending me a quick email? I’d be happy to share more info with you.
Cheers!
Katie
Erika says:
Jul 19, 2012
Ciao Luca,
studio da anni, in maniera incostante, l’inglese e il tedesco. E seppur riesco a conversare, addirittura lavorare con persone native, mi rendo conto di avere moltissime lacune e di commettere un’infinita di errori. Mi piacerebbe avere alcune info sulle tue lezioni o consulenze via skype.
Aspetto una tua mail!!!
Ps. sono italiana e invidiosissima delle tue capacitá :D
Alex says:
Jul 26, 2012
Dear Luca
Apart from the compliments to your capabilities and talent, a really big thank you for providing motivation and sharing your enthusiasm for languages with people, what a great thing to do.
I have one question. I am native Russian speaker and after living in London and Berlin I have a pretty good command of English and German. I have been trying to learn French in an on and off way and have (I think) a level close to B2. However, I never had any real practice and my French is still not there where I would like it to be as I really lack fluency. Recently, I started learning Italian which I love and seem to be making progress. But somehow, I am being torn between wanting to keep my French alive and really concentrating at the Italian. My problem though is that when I try to practice French and speak to the native speakers, I mix up two languages and it seems that one language always gets in the way. I find really difficult after speaking and practicing Italian for a couple of days, switch and speak French. Would you have any tips for me? Thanks a lot in advance.
Anka says:
Jul 28, 2012
Hi Luca,
thank you for one MOST important sentence above that it is about LEARNING not teaching. I think it’s the key to aquisition of any sort of knowledge.
I’m Polish living in Warsaw and I’m a teacher of English. For the last 20 years of teaching I’ve met mostly people who were looking for ‘good’, ‘effective’ teachers. They expected that it all depends on the teacher and the price (the higher the more they should learn) but in most cases they didn’t put ANY effort into learning, studying, repeating, doing anything to remember and practice what they learned during a lesson. And obviously they were disappointed with no progress.
As people are different the methods of effective learning may be different. The effect counts. With almost unlimited access to knowledge nowadays through the internet it’s easy to find materials to work with, people to talk to, audio exercises, films, music and many more that can help learn any language.
Keeping that in mind, I’m going now to ‘my learning spot’ to learn Italian.
All the best,
Anka
Luca says:
Aug 3, 2012
Yes Anka, learning is the key word. Teaching means showing, encouraging, stimulating, but it is always up to the learner to LEARN, absorb, acquire the languae. I will be in Warsaw in a couple of weeks, it would be nice to meet other language enthusiasts :-) Luca
Rob says:
Jul 29, 2012
Hi Luca,
I was just wondering if you could briefly explain your exact method for learning Mandarin?? You sound amazing and to my ear your tones and confidence sound like you have been speaking it forever! Did you start with ASSIMIL? if so how long did it take you to start being able to have conversations with people?
Did you then move on to FSI or any other method? Would love to hear your method.. Thank you and keep up the inspiring work!! :-)
Rob
Luca says:
Aug 3, 2012
Hi Rob
thank you for the message. While I am pleased that you find my method interesting, it is a bit complicated to explain it in detail now. I have touched upon tones and Chinese characters here on my blog and it should be enough to give you the core ideas. I know this is not the answer you are looking for but I am documenting the rest of the information for my book. A little bit of patience :-) Luca
Pavel says:
Aug 11, 2012
Hallo Luca,
ich habe gerade ein paar Videos auf youtube von dir angeschaut und bin echt begeistert. Deine Deutsch und Russisch sind echt klasse!
Ich bin selber zwar kein Polyglot, aber die Sparchen interessieren mich sehr. Ich bin Weißrusse und kann ensprechend Weißrussisch, Russisch, Deutsch und Englisch. Mein großer Wünsch wäre mein English zu verbessern und eventuell noch Spanisch zu lernen. Daher würde mich interessieren, ob du dafür irgendwelche Hilfe in Form vom Unterricht, Skype-Unterhaltung etc. anbietest/anbieten könntest? Wäre es möglich mal kurz mit dir in Skype live zu sprechen?
Es würde mich freuen ein kurzes Feedback von dir zu bekommen.
Grüße
Pavel
kerotan116 says:
Aug 18, 2012
Hello,Im a boy from Japan and into langiages like you XD I started studying languages especially russian and chinese by myself about a couple of monthes ago.I didnt find learning languages are that fun until have started it.Anyways, i watched your movies on youtube and was so empressed at it and got a question.well how did you study to speak like native speakers?I mean , a big problem for me now is that i dont know how to choose words which make sentences or what i say more comfotable and more acceptable for native speakers.For example,there are many words which mean almost the same in english like,”car and vihecle,house and home,can and be able to”.Did you ask native speakers something like that every time you got a question?I hope this sentence made sense to you ><
Erin says:
Aug 22, 2012
Hello,
I’m following up with you regarding the list of the Best 100 Sites for Speech Pathologists being published at OnlineSpeechPathologyPrograms.net.
I contacted you last week to let you know that The Poly Glot Dream had been nominated for inclusion, and I’m happy to tell you that your site made it onto the final list! You can see the whole list at http://www.onlinespeechpathologyprograms.net/speech-sites/
Should you wish to promote your inclusion on your website, you can use the embed code below. If you’d prefer I send you the badge in an email, don’t hesitate to ask.
We hope that this collection of websites and blogs about speech therapy, speech pathology, and general linguistics will be a useful resource for you, as well as anyone else looking for information about the subject, or even considering a career in speech-language pathology.
Congratulations! If you have any questions about how to incorporate the badge into your site, please let me know, and I’ll be glad to help out.
Best,
Erin
Hugues says:
Aug 23, 2012
Ciao come posso contattarti ? Dovrei parlarti di una cosa. Trovi i miei contatti in Facebook, ti ho mandato un messaggio privato. Fammi sapere.
Grazie,
Hugues Pluvinage
Michael says:
Sep 21, 2012
I’m a former ESL teacher. I’ve finished my ESL teaching activity and I no longer teach English. But I want to provide learners of English with my valuable resources. My articles are suitable for learning many languages.
You may be interested in particular in my comprehensive plan for mastering a language on one’s own.
I have created a number of articles on mastering various aspects of English and a special list of the most important English learning aids. I consider them more practical and more helpful than many articles for quicker and more effective mastering of English by foreign learners. My articles have been published on a number of websites but they may be of interest to users of your site (learners and teachers of English). Would you like to read them? No need to publish my articles on your site. Or perhaps you could remake my articles with your own wording and publish on your site?
I believe that some of my suggestions can contribute to improving your own tips. I learn from tips of other authors as well. Exchange of information (thoughts, views, etc) is beneficial. I’ve explored many language learning and teaching websites, including those with unconventional advice like yours.
Luca says:
Sep 21, 2012
Dear Michael, the best way to contribute to my own tips is to write a piece yourself. You can send it to me privately. If it has good quality and promotes language learning, I will be more the happy to put it on my blog as a guest post (there are quite a few guest posts as you can see). Let me know if you are interested and I will send you my email adress. L
Michael says:
Nov 11, 2012
Hi Luca,
It would be a more appropriate way to send you a lot of helpful information for learning and teaching English and other languages at your private e-mail address.
In addition to my language learning articles I can share with you the following kinds of resources for learning English, German and with tips suitable for learning many other languages on one’s own:
1. I’ve prepared a list of the most helpful websites and publications (textbooks, etc) that include:
a) tips/advice for successful learning of English and many languages;
b) aids (audio, video, study books, etc) for learning all language aspects and skills: phonetics, grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing, including a list of good language courses.
2. My own English language learning guide prepared from Internet resources with complete information package. The links for the guide contain highly useful tips/advice and materials for learners of English (as well as other languages) and can serve as a free and valuable guide for them.
3. I’ve also gleaned some very helpful articles for both learners and teachers of ESL/EFL from extensive exploration on the Internet that you and many users of your site may be interested in. In particular I discovered and I am especially interested in articles on learning and teaching English grammar, on second language acquisition, on the role and impact of one’s native language when learning and using ESL/EFL, on the issue of translation in learning and practising ESL/EFL, on learning and practising various aspects of English, on development of four language skills (listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing), on valuable ESL/EFL resources, tips and advice.
alberto avanzini says:
Sep 24, 2012
Hi luca ! I have a question for you . it seems to me that for someone who know 8 /10 langauges or intend to learn them , the main problem rather than learning is tomaintane them , keep them practised and fluent to a similar degree and find the right balance between learning a new langauge a maintaing the others. in your opionon and experience how much time daily would an average learner need to keep 8 /10 langauges at approximately C1 level ? it would be cool , if you could find some time to make a video response on this issue , since it seems to me a really important matter in laguage learning .
Ciao Alberto
Luca says:
Sep 24, 2012
Hi Alberto,
it is a very interesting question. Dealing with/maintaining a large number of languages at a high level is indeed a fascinating topic to discuss. In the book I am writing, I dedicated a whole chapter to it . I will come out next year so…a bit of patience :-)
Luca
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Oct 2, 2012
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INTERNATIONAL ESL says:
Oct 10, 2012
Hey Luca,
I got “Assimil: Italian with Ease” and I was going to start using it but now I’m not sure. Should I also get Teach Yourself Italian and then use Teach Yourself for the elementary phase and Assimil for the intermediate phase? Thank you very much for your help!
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David Talbot says:
Oct 22, 2012
Hi Luca.
I’ve been following your Assimil method of learning to get my French back up to speed – so far so good! I’m really looking forward to the book to see what other tips you have.
Do you mind if I point out two small typos in your English description above?
“Then I started “cogitating”, thinking, and I ended up looking for information on the “language learning” issue from *A* scientific point of *VIEW*.”
I love what you’re doing with this site – you’re a real inspiration.
David
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Serena says:
Oct 27, 2012
Ciao Luca,
complimenti, imparare una nuova lingua è sempre una sfida e sono d’accordo con te sul fattore motivazione. Il tuo blog è una grande fonte di ispirazione e uno stimolo ad apprendere e migliorarsi sempre.
Grazie!
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Nov 6, 2012
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Nov 6, 2012
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Михаил Гаврючков says:
Nov 6, 2012
Здравствуйте Лука. Мы в какой-то степени коллеги – я создатель сайта http://www.internetpolyglot.com – сайт для изучения более чем 30 языков. Было бы интересно узнать мнение настоящего полиглота – Вас – о том методе который используется на сайте, насколько он полезен для пополнения словарного запаса. И вообще – получить от Вас советы.
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Anna says:
Nov 10, 2012
Hello,
I’m a 14 years old girl from the Czech Republic. Maybe you’re wondering why are you given this message. I love languages and I can honestly consider them as a big passion (if not the biggest) in my life. It’s been three years since I’ve started with German and French at a same time. Except of it I speak Czech, Serbian, English and Chinese (or at least a bit) and there’s a little problem. How to go through it, master the language and maintain its knowledge before I will let down to one another ? I felt out that after approximately 2 hours of learning per day in a longer period of time, I’m able to speak quite fluently. Sometimes it happens to me when I’m speaking in the target language I confuse some words (not similar) from one lingo to another. Even though I’m trying to oust it I’m unable to make head or tail of it.
What was your biggest struggle in your way ? (I know I’m not the first one who is asking and certainly even not the last one)
admin says:
Nov 12, 2012
Dear Anna,
it is a rather thorny issue and it is not easy to adress it here but you will find all the information in my book, which will come out soon :-)
Luca
maría Luisa says:
Nov 11, 2012
Hola Luca:
Me llamo María Luisa, estudio japones y tengo un nivel inicial lo estudio en romaji y uso el libro japanese language patterns(Anthony Alfonso)El escritor de este libro es Español y catedrático de japones como lengua extranjera por la universidad Sofía de Tokyo. El libro esta escrito en Ingles y yo tengo un nivel medio de Ingles. Estuve 9 meses en Inglaterra con 17 años y ahora tengo 36. Me gustaría hablar contigo por skype para aprender idiomas.Mi dirección de Skype es maria.luisa.alvarez543 Un abrazo desde Madrid.
maría luisa says:
Nov 11, 2012
Hola Luca:
Soy María Luisa, en el comentario que he dejado,comento que estudio japones(llevo 2 años) y voy despacito, pero el idioma que hablo bastante bien es el Ingles y me gustaría que me ayudaras a mejorarlo con clases on-line.Me gustaría empezar este próximo Enero, osea después de navidad.Mi dirección de Skype es maria.luisa.alvarez543.Por favor, me gustaría hablar para que me digas como serían las clases. Es decir el método, enfoque…. Yo hablo Ingles británico y se nota en el acento.Chao
Caitlin says:
Nov 15, 2012
It’s difficult to find well-informed people in this particular topic, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
Anja says:
Nov 24, 2012
Ciao Luca! Complimenti e tutto, ma mi chiedevo, perche’ cambiare accento da romano passare ad un accento del nord?? Senza offesa, ma mi sembra un po’ ridicolo, nel senso, io sono del Nord Italia, mi tengo il mio accento, quelli che abitano a Napoli si tengono il loro eccetera. Se poi si trasferiscono quando sono giovani e’ un conto, l’accento si puo’ modificare, ma cambiare tanto per, mi sembra senza senso. Oltretutto, sembra una banale imitazione di un accento del Veneto. Bah. Ostentare di saper parlare una lingua e avere un accento uguale a quello dei native speakers e’ un po’ triste. Io so solo quattro lingue, e tengo l’accento, perche’ e’ la cosa piu’ affascinante: esempio, vado negli States, con il mio accento strano,in questo modo la gente si diverte ad indovinare da dove vengo. Vado in Francia, spesso indovinano quasi subito, cosi in Spagna, etc. Almeno pero’ penso che si rafforzi la personalita’ dell’individuo, che non diventa un essere camaleontico, ma rimane pienamente se stesso, qualunque lingua stia parlando, sempre con una sfumatura della sua lingua madre. Mi scuso per l’italiano sgrammaticato, ma e’ molto che non scrivo nella mia lingua. Un saluto,
Anja
admin says:
Nov 25, 2012
Ciao Anja
Faccio sinceramente fatica a capire il tuo commento. L’intenzione del video era quella di mischiare accenti (io veneto, Richard americano) per 1) rendere il video più interessante e “scherzoso” 2) mostrare che la capacità di parlare come un madrelingua o quasi in una lingua straniera dipende anche e soprattutto da un fattore psicologico, da una voglia di immedesimarsi in “altro da sè” pur rimanendo sé stessi. 3) Parlare più lingue e saperne imitare la prosodia/pronuncia arricchisce enormemente un individuo senza renderlo necessariamente un clown o un camaleonte.
La tua esperienza è diversa dalla mia. Saper parlare come un madrelingua (o quasi) ha portato un’enormità di vantaggi nella mia vita, che vanno dai rapporti sentimentali fino all’attività lavorativa, e non ho mai dovuto snaturare me stesso o diventare un “camaleonte”. Rimango italiano e sono orgoglioso di dirlo ogni volta che se ne presenta l’occasione ;-)
L
Anja says:
Nov 26, 2012
Ci ero rimasta solo un po’ cosi perche’ con tutta onesta’ sembrava una caricatura che di solito fanno attori comici. Io ad ogni modo non ti avevo dato del clown. Semplicemente non capivo il perche’ del cambiare accento. Adesso l’ho capito.Comunque sia il lavoro che fai tu si vede che ti piace e che ne sei appassionato. Non e’ da tutti.In ogni caso,io conosco gente che sa l’inglese perfettamente come un madrelingua ma l’accento e’ rimasto e questo non ha limitato l’acquisizione della lingua affatto. Saro’ lenta a capire e ho capito che non capiro’mai il bisogno di avere l’accento come un madrelingua. Anyway,sei il classico esempio dell’italiano capace di arrabatarsi e sapersi reinventare a quanto ho capito, si fa per dire pero’.
Davide says:
Nov 27, 2012
Ciao Luca , sto imparando la lingua russa con il Pimsleur .
Che ne pensi , ritieni che sia efficace per lo stadio iniziale del core language ?
Che libri hai studiato per la fonetica e la grammatica ? com’è il kak dela ?
admin says:
Dec 2, 2012
Caro Davide non ho mai usato Pimsleur né Michael Thomas né altri metodi “audio-only” come li chiamano.
Personalmente preferisco metodi che offrono un supporto scritto ed il corrispondente audio, perchè leggere ed ascoltare allo stesso tempo è un metodo estremamente potente di far fondere la parola scritta con quella orale nel cervello. In pratica, la parola scritta fa da “guida” a quella orale. Ecco perchè vedo letteralmente “i sottotitoli” in testa ogniqualvolta parlo una lingua straniera, e questo succede in tutte le lingue tranne che in italiano (lingua che ho imparato a parlare ben prima di leggere).
Per quanto riguarda il russo, ho usato principalmente ASSIMIL e un vecchio libro che ho trovato sul polveroso scaffale della biblioteca di mia nonna
Luca
Stefano says:
Dec 4, 2012
Hi Luca!
My name is Stefano and i’m 20 years old.
I’m italian, but I prefer writing in english.. just to practice!
I’ve been studying russian for 3 months at uni and I do like it. I use the method of translating from italian to russian and the other way round: it’s really handy and useful, it works!
I’ve recently discovered my passion for languages, I’m really excited when I realize I can undersand and be understood from strangers. I don’t know how to explain it.. it’s simply electrifying! (for example.. sometimes i feel the strong need to speak english and I start talking to myself in front of a mirror..)
I think learning new languages allow you to UNDERSTAND how and what people genuinely think, feel and see. Languages give you the awesome possibility to enter and live the core a total different world.
I have a couple of quesions.
I’d like to learn Spanish and German too.
My english is quite good (it’s more or less B2 level) and I keep on practicing it every day(watching tv series, listening to songs, reading, ecc..).
I don’t know which languages (between those two ones) start before and HOW.
My uni offers students free languages courses and I don’t know wheter to go there or to buy Assimil.
I think that for Spanish, Assimil could be enough.. being very similar to italian I believe this method (that i’ve never tried) can work.
For German the speech changes.. I think I’d better to attend some grammar lesson at least before buying Assimil. What do you think?
Thank you very much, you make people ready and willing to discover new languages!
All the Best,
Stefano
roberto says:
Dec 9, 2012
ciao luca,una domanda….volevo prendere il corso di cinese dell’assimil in volume unico che è uscito da poco….leggendo i tuoi commenti passati ho notato che con il cinese l’assimil non ha fatto un grandissimo lavoro perchè il corso,come dici tu,non copre in maniera soddisfante un livello base.eppure,nella confezione è riportato che dopo il corso si raggiungera il livello B2 del quadro di riferimento europeo….è possibile che dopo 6 mesi di studio da autodidatta si possa arrivare a tale livello?per me,l’assimil in questo caso vuole fare un pò la furbetta per vendere il corso….ciao e complimenti per tutto.
admin says:
Dec 20, 2012
Caro Roberto, il corso di ASSIMIL di cinese copre a mala pena un livello A1, altro che B2. Il cinese è una lingua diversa dalle lingue europee, ma con un lavoro quotidiano (e parlo di 4-5 ore al giorno) penso che si possa arrivare ad un B1 alla fine di 6 mesi. B2 no. Detto ciò, se ti “munisci” di altro materiale puoi fare grandi passi in avanti, a patto – non smetterò mai di ripeterlo – di lavorarci tutti i giorni. Ti consiglio di utilizzare questo sito: http://www.lingq.com. Copia i testi che trovi e mettili dentro il seguente programma: http://www.mandarinspot.com/annotate Seleziona il tasto “print”: il programma di restituisce il testo in cinese con il pinyin e addirittuta il vocabolario. Ti consiglio anche di mettere il testo in google translate: la semplicità della struttura cinese permette all’algoritmo di traduzione di fornire un testo in inglese/italiano sufficiente per capire il contenuto del testo. In pratica, con questi strumenti sei in grado non solo di scegliere test adatti al tuo livello (che trovi su LingQ), ma di crearti dei testi bilingue con tanto di pinyin e vocabolario. Insomma, una pacchia. Lo studio del cinese è diventato molto più agevole adesso di prima. L
Joel Haas says:
Dec 14, 2012
Luca,
I am an English-only speaker from Canada who is interested in learning Spanish and French (and then a few more after that). I *love* languages and have very lightly dabbled in french and spanish, but I would love to eventually be able to speak both of these fluently. I don’t want to do this via school courses, for all of the reasons you yourself would give, but rather through self-study and natural human interaction. Although I would not be able to do it at this specific time, I would be interested in your teaching services.
Could you give me information about price, time schedule, training etc?
Thank you!!
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Binh Thah says:
Dec 17, 2012
hello, Luca I’am Thanh,from Vietnam I have read some your articals, it’s very very useful for me. Could you give some advice for each kill of learning, eg how to listen,speak effectively..! thanh you again
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FBSO says:
Dec 22, 2012
Ciao Luca!
Il mio metodo Assimil è il seguente:
1)Ascolto 6-7 volte il brano.
2)Ascolto e ripeto ogni frase leggendo il testo.
3)Ripeto ogni frase senza leggere il testo.
4)Memorizzo il testo.
5)Lo ripeto tutto ad alta voce (6-7 volte) senza guardare il testo.
6)Sempre senza guardare il testo, scrivo quanto ho memorizzato su un quaderno.
7)Correggo gli errori.
8)Ripeto il punto 6).
9)Faccio gli esercizi di grammatica.
10)Ascolto gli esercizi di comprensione orale, e senza vedere il testo, scrivo sul quaderno quanto ho capito. Correggo e ripeto il procedimento.
Questo procedimento dura circa 1 ora e 30 minuti.
Ho provato a svolgere uno dei test su internet per verificare il livello di francese e ho ottenuto un A2-B1. Sicuramente non so il francese a questo livello (sarò meno che A1) ma riesco a comprendere le strutture grammaticali francesi data la somiglianza grammaticale francese-italiano.
Ho anche provato a sentire France24 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBk6-K226Xg) per vedere quanto riesco a capire della lingua senza mai averla studiata. Riesco a capire il senso generale del discorso (direi un 10-15%).
Mi piacerebbe raggiungere un livello B2. Ho la possibilità di frequentare un corso intensivo di lingua a Parigi per due mesi (sono circa 26 ore a settimana di lezione quindi, per due mesi, sarebbero 208 ore di sole lezioni) e ho amici francesi con i quali mi incontro sempre a Parigi 1 volta ogni 2 mesi (per circa una settimana) e sento questi amici su Skype almeno 1 volta alla settimana.
Ora la domanda, secondo te, Luca, quanto ci vorrà per superare il DELF B2 (anche con 51/100?)?
Grazie mille!
Francesco.
admin says:
Dec 22, 2012
Caro Francesco,
parlare una lingua significa acquisire un’abilità, non studiare una materia. Partendo da questa prospettiva, imparare a memoria un testo non è una strategia molto efficace perchè è statica, non dinamica. In altre parole, impari strutture fisse, non il tuo cervello no sta costruendo una rete, ma sta accumulando dei singoli elementi che poi avrà difficoltà ad associare per costruire nuove frasi quando si tratta di usare la lingua in un contesto reale.
Il mio metodo di apprendimento non fa uso di quello che viene definito “rote-memorization”, non imparo niente, assolutamente niente a memoria, ma faccio in modo che le informazioni rimangano nel cervello appunto come una “rete”, una “tela” utilizzando una tecnica di traduzione bidirezionale. Utilizzo la mia lingua madre (L1) come “stampella” per acquisire le strutture di una lingua straniera L2 in modo dinamico. In pratica, acquisisco l’abilità di usare le informazioni di ASSIMIL senza ricordare nulla di specifico a memoria. Si tratta di un vero e proprio “training”. Una volta acquisita questa base, ampliare vocabolario, espressioni e migliorare la pronuncia diventa molto più facile e piacevole di prima (E’ la prima cosa che insegno a tutti gli studenti che mi chiedono lezioni private, secondo la filosofia del “se vedi un uomo affamato, non dargli il pesce, ma insegnagli a pescare”).
Direi che i passi 1) e 2) sono sempre validi e un buon punto di partenza, ma eviterei di imparare i dialoghi a memoria. Semmai, dopo aver letto e ascoltato un testo varie volte, leggi il testo in italiano e cerca di tradurlo nella L2 oralmente a distanza di 2 giorni, ma ti sconsiglio vivamente questo approccio a memoria. Se tuttavia ti trovi bene così, nulla ti impedisce di proseguire come stai facendo.
Il problema, poi, non solo è ciò che fai, ma quando o fai. Purtroppo non è facile spiegare nei dettagli come funziona il metodo e la corrispondente “time schedule” perchè richiede un po’ di tempo e spiegazioni dettagliate, e in questo periodo della mia vita sono affogato dagli impegni. La buona notizia è che ci sto scrivendo un intero libro sopra, una sorta di manuale che cerca di coprire in maniera esaustiva non solo ciò che faccio, ma cerca di spiegare come questa filosofia di apprendimento possa essere adottata e perfezionata da altre persone a seconda dei loro gusti.
Per quanto riguarda l’esame DELF B2, dipende da quanto studi, dalla frequenza e da come studi. Se hai 6 mesi a disposizione e lavori tutti i giorni, almeno 2 ore al giorno e lavorando a tutti i livelli (scrittura, lettura, ascolto e conversazione), e ti prepari bene e specificatamente per l’esame (comprando il relativo testo “DELF B2) nell’ultimo mese, penso tu ce la possa fare tranquillamente. Il lasso di tempo necessario per riuscire ad un esame è inversamente proporzionale alla quantità e alla qualità del lavoro quotidiano. Se per esempio studiassi 6 ore al giorno (cosa che sconsiglio perchè poi ci si stufa presto) ci vorrebbe meno tempo.
Spero che la mia risposta ti sia stata utile
L
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Jan 1, 2013
Luca,
I’m a big fan of yours, especially your dedication to speaking your acquired languages without accent. I am a native (American) English speaker, and I speak Spanish fluently without an American accent. My goal now is pursue my love of languages further by learning more of them, and the cultures and people that come with them. I’ve been learning Italian for about a year now, enough to understand most of what I hear and to converse. My goal is fluency by August 2013, when I’d like to begin learning Portuguese. I’d be very interested in learning about your services helping people like me “padroneggiare” Italian and improve my accent. Will you let me know how to find more information about what you offer, your rates, etc.?
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Jan 8, 2013
Helllo,luca,I admire you a lot for your excellent apptitude for languages learning and the fluent utilization.
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Jan 22, 2013
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Eriselda Malo says:
Jan 27, 2013
Luca I ‘d suggest you to learn Albanian too. It is a very beautiful language. Till now I speak English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese and of course my native , Albanian but I love learning as many languages as possible.
ciao che ti vada tutto bene.
admin says:
Feb 5, 2013
Thanks for the suggestion :-) I’d love to learn Albanian but I currently lack the time. One day maybe :-) L
Aurelie says:
Feb 4, 2013
Cher Lucas ,
Je m’appelle Aurélie , je suis une jeune Française plus que très perdus dans son orientation . Je suis totalement impressionné par ton talent et je suis fasciné par la passion que tu voue à découvrir et à acquérir de nouvelle langue . Je suis comme toi passionné par les Langues mais au delà du langage je suis passionné par la découverte de nouvelles cultures , de nouveaux pays , de nouvelles mentalités . J’ai d’ailleurs déjà un peut voyagé je suis partie en Espagne , en Allemagne plusieurs fois , en Autriche et dans votre beau pays L’Italie ( à Florence ) . Je suis également passionné par les Cultures asiatiques notamment la culture Chinoise et Coréenne mais faute de budget je n’est jamais pu réaliser le rêve de partir en Chine ou en Corée .
Je prône réellement l’ouverture d’esprit . Et je suis d’ailleurs tout à fait d’accords avec l’opinion que vous exposez sur l’âme dont vous nous fait part en clôture de paragraphe soit je site « who learns another language, acquires another soul”
Je suis actuellement titulaire d’un Baccalauréat Littéraire depuis juillet 2012 . En septembre 2012 j’ai débuté une première année de Droit à l’Université . Seulement j’ai très vite compris que se fut une erreur d’orientation et que le Droit n’était pas réellement ce que je voulait faire de ma vie . C’est vraiment les Langues sur lesquels je veut baser mon avenirs . Seulement pour moi le milieux scolaire et universitaire en matière d’apprentissage d’une langue étrangère ne sont pas complet . Et pour ma part je pense que pour apprendre une Langue il faut aller dans le pays , être imprégné de la culture pour pouvoir la maîtriser . Il ne suffit pas d’apprendre les conjugaisons ou autre il faut aussi apprendre à comprendre la culture et les mentalités . Je pense que apprendre une Langue se n’est pas juste être assis à une table en cours et apprendre les conjugaisons ou autre . Apprendre une Langue sa passe par l’apprentissage de la culture . Est c’est concrètement pour cela que je fait appel à vous . Vôtre expérience ma convainque et je pense que vous pourrait peut être m’apporter des réponses ou un avis . Comme vous l’avez compris je suis actuellement « dans le brouillard » je vient de partir de l’université et je ne sait plus trop où me diriger . Mon but serait d’apprendre 3 Langue au minimum soit L’anglais , L’allemand ( qui et la lange que je préfère ) et le Chinois . Pour réaliser ce projet j’ai pensé me laisser trois années durant lesquels je partirai dans chacun de ces trois pays ( un pays par année) . Et chaque année que je passerais dans l’un de ces pays je travaillerais sans relâche pour maîtriser la lange à l’oral et à l’écrit . Mon but Final est de pouvoir revenir en France en sachant parler trois Langue et de pouvoir travailler dans le domaine de l’interprétation . Mais j’ai peur de ne pas pouvoir m’intégrai sur le marché du travail si je n’est pas de diplôme qui justifierait le fait que je parle trois langues .
Alors quand pensez vous ?
Pour vous cela est t-il une bonne idée ? Ou au contraire est- ce que cela vous paraît totalement ridicule ?
Mais surtout pensez vous que à la suite de ces trois années le marcher du travail dans le milieu de l’interprétation pourra m’ouvrir ses portes en sachant que je n’aurait aucun diplôme du type LEA ou encore LLCE ? Parce que c’est réellement la chose qui me fait peur de partir durant trois années donc de ne pas faire d’études dans le domaine des Langue et donc de ne pas trouver de Travail .
Merci de pouvoir me donner votre avis si cela vous est permis
Cordialement
Aurélie
Anna Raisa says:
Feb 9, 2013
Ciao Luca, buongiorno. Innanzitutto grazie mille dei preziosi suggerimenti che metti a disposizione di tutti. Volevo chiederti una cosa: qualche mese fa sul tuo blog trovai delle indicazioni riguardo ad un sito dove si può fare pratica nella lingua che si è scelta di imparare semplicemente facendo conversazione con altra gente da tutto il mondo. Puoi ricordarmi come si chiama? Non ne presi nota all’epoca e non riesco e trovarlo. Ti ringrazio!
admin says:
Feb 9, 2013
Ciao. Il sito si chiama Sharedtalk :-) L
george says:
Feb 15, 2013
Hi Lucas,
Awesome website!
I have being living and studying in Russia for more that a year. Almost all in Russian, but your accent is better that mine. What can I do? What do recommend?
Also, I have a really tough time to remember words. Need to repeat some of the more difficult ones at least 30 times? It that normal?
I dont have the sharpest memory. What can I do, What is being done wrong?
Thanks
Again
admin says:
Feb 16, 2013
Hi George,
I just released a video discussing the issue of memorizing words.
L
Martina says:
Feb 17, 2013
Luca,
I am a German Native speaker and also a student of German Literature. I used to learn English, French and Spanish in school. I finished my MA degree in the US, and about to start my PhD there in August. My Program requires a 3rd language (German and English are required anyways). Due to my research interest, it’ll be Turkish. I already started to learn Turkish at my home University.
The very “hard” thing is simply to adapt the passive Vocab into active speach. I can memorize whatever I want, but actually being able to use it actively is the very part that makes the language alive, useful and stick in ones head. What would you suggest to practise speaking, since I am not learnign the language in the actual speaking area?
Martina
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Panja says:
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One Big Important Question: I am norwegian, but lived in Germany for 10 years and learn spanish in german. Have the assimilbook in ENGLISH. Question: Do I need the german assimil book or is the english version ok?
AwesomeStinson1995 says:
Mar 3, 2013
Hello Luca,
First, let me congratulate you on your passion for learning languages!That’s awesome!
I am very interested in learning language ,too. Let me suggest you one more language: Persian. You’ll love it. It’s very rich in literature and many learners go for it just because they’ve either heard a piece of poetry of Hafiz or Mowlana,etc before. Turkish is another recommendation.
Wish you luck in Japanese!
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admin says:
Mar 11, 2013
Thanks for pointing that out ;-) L
Elèna says:
Mar 11, 2013
Ciao Luca! Grazie per aver aperto questo sito, sei una fonte d’ispirazione! Sin da bambina mi è sempre risultato facile imparare le lingue, ed ogni volta a scuola non vedevo l’ora arrivasse la maestra/professoressa di inglese per continuare a fare pratica. Sono al quarto anno del liceo artistico. Credevo che la mia passione fosse stata il disegno, ma man mano che andavo avanti da hobby preferito è diventata quasi un’imposizione della scuola, e se prima non riuscivo a smettere di disegnare neanche per un’attimo ora aspetto sempre con ansia che finiscano le ore di disegno. Perché ho detto tutto questo? Mi sono resa conto che la cosa che più mi diverte e che non smetterei mai di fare è imparare lingue. Più si complicano le cose e più mi diverto. Credevo di essere l’unica a voler imparare molte lingue “inutili” e grazie ai tuoi post ho ancora più voglia di andare avanti! Ho deciso che tra due anni andrò all’orientale, ma mi piacciono così tante lingue che è difficile scegliere! Leggendo che sai parlare quasi 11 lingue mi fa pensare che alla fine non ho alcun problema di “limitazioni” e che se voglio posso impararne tantissime nel tempo! Per ora so dire qualcosa in coreano, giapponese, russo e svedese, parlo bene l’inglese, e vorrei provare a studiare sul serio il cinese. (e molte altre lingue, anche se preferisco impararne bene una sola per ora, perché finora studiando a caso due o tre alla volta, senza contare l’inglese, non sono arrivata a nulla, so solo leggere.) Secondo te studiare il cinese da autodidatta è un problema? Dovrei aspettare fino all’uni? Non trovo dei siti abbastanza buoni ed ho paura di imparare con un metodo sbagliato che mi porterei dietro.. Grazie mille per le tue spiegazioni!
admin says:
Mar 11, 2013
Cara Elena,
grazie per l’accorato messaggio :)
Imparare il cinese da autodidatti è molto più rapido che impararlo all’università, dove insegnano spesso con tecniche sorpassate e, soprattutto nel caso del cinese, addirittura dannose. Non sto parlando di tutte le università, ma il quadro generale è abbastanza avvilente. Questo non significa che tu non debba frequentare i corsi universitari, è una cosa comunque utile e stimolante, ma devi essere cosciente fin da subito che il 95% dell’apprendimento avviene al di fuori dalle aule universitarie. “Non scholae sed vitae discimus” si dice in latino, e gli antichi Romani ne sapevano una più del diavolo :-)
Come dicevo, imparare da autodidatti è più rapido ed efficace a patto di sapere come farlo. Quello è un punto su cui purtroppo non posso darti delucidazioni dettagliate sul blog. Insegno queste cose privatamente via Skype a tutte le persone che me lo richiedono (e si stanno moltiplicando in maniera vertiginosa, il che mi fa piacere). Troverai comunque molte di queste informazioni nel mio libro, che dovrebbe uscire, se Dio vuole, alla fine di giugno di quest’anno.
Ti consiglio di comprare 2 corsi per principianti: ASSIMIL cinese e “Il Cinese per Italiani” (http://www.hoepli.it/libro/il-cinese-per-gli-italiani—-1/9788820345273.html). Ricordati, ancora una volta, che quello che fa la differenza non è il materiale che usi (che deve comunque essere ben fatto e piacevole) ma come lo usi. E’ un punto talmente importante che tutto il sistema di apprendimento (e non parlo solo di lingue) ruota attorno a questo “pilastro cognitivo”, e spendo sempre almeno 2 o 3 ore iniziali a spiegare ai miei studenti cosa significhi in termini pratici, secondo il detto “se vedi un uomo affamato, non dargli il pesce, ma insegnagli a pescare”.
Data la tua tenera età, puoi tranquillamente imparare 10 lingue ad un ottimo livello se, appunto, sai come farlo e hai voglia e motivazione :-)
Un abbraccio,
L
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Giovanni says:
Mar 29, 2013
Ciao Luca… Prima di tutto volevo farti i miei complimenti per il tuo blog è una costante fonte di ispirazione… Volevo chiederti un consiglio su come comportarmi visto la tua grande esperienza, io sto frequentando un istituto tecnico ad indirizzo linguistico e più precisamente sto studiando inglese,spagnolo e tedescho… Però nn vado affatto bene nelle lingue perché ho perso tutte le basi dei primi anni e adesso ho lacune enormi e mi trovi a dover studiare tre lingue contemporaneamente e nn c’è la faccio più perché mi trovo a dover studiare le basi e un più il programma che si svolge a lezione e nn riesco a combinare le due cose… Volevo chiederti un parere e come gestiresti te la situazione… Ti ringrazio tanto…. Ciaoo:) e complimenti ancora…
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Apr 9, 2013
Hi, I have just watched your video on Youtube about how to learn new words. If I had not read on your website that you are Italian, I would have thought you are American. :-)
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PS: Schön übrigens, dass Du auch Deutsch sprichst. (Meine Muttersprache)
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Daniel says:
Apr 12, 2013
I am so fascinated with what you have been doing…I’d love to be able to do the same! I have two questions.
1. Can you actually translate between whichever language you choose? i.e. German and Spanish? I could simply leave that job to a translator, but I have to since I am the only among my friends/teachers to speak more than two languages(Japanese-my mother tongue, English and German)
2. Do you think it’s possible to build a language core within the language you are studying? or simply “disconnect” translation-correlation(or connection) between your mother tongue and your target language? The reason is, I find Japanese and English phonetically, in range of expression so remote to one another. I know it is a repetitive work to have two “right/native” cores in your head, but just asking.
(or am I talking nonsense here?)
Celia says:
Apr 12, 2013
It is SO great to find other people that share the same passion as myself, i realised that i loved languages when i was only 9 years old but certain people in my life were always discouraging and negative about me learning another language besides English but, better late than never. Two years ago i took the decision to learn Russian and I’m getting there. All in all i consider you a language genius, i hope only good things come your way and may you learn Japanese and Romanian as well. Thank you for being an inspiration, all of this gives me strength to continue wanting to learn Russian and hopefully more languages in the future. Be well. Language Hero!
Adalberto da Silva says:
Apr 13, 2013
Hi, Luca. It’s Adalberto, brasileiro.ora Imparo l’italiano. Penso essere allo livelo A2.2, forze, B1. Mon français marche bien. Reading your comments about German i decided 2 give Deutsch another try. But now, Primo: got me Mastering German Vocabulary, A Thematic Approach, with translated phrases. Real phrases!
Secondo: a small (4 now) book of exercises Practice Makes Perfect German Conversation. Nicht Schlecht!k
Terzo: i googled: the most used word/phrases. Believe it is very important 2 learn words.
Tetro? Youtube Learning german with subtitlles. Aprende Aleman, etc.
Tchüss!
Beto
Thanh says:
Apr 15, 2013
Hello Luca. I found out this blog by chance when I search on google with the key word ” blog to learn English”. I’m living in France now. French and English are both my foreign languages. But I’m not really fluent on them. So I always have to make the effort. Thanks for your blog, it inspire me a lot. Good continuation in your passion !
Merci de ton blog. Je suis bien encouragé de m’efforcer à aprrendre les langues étranger. Bonne continuation.
Victor Oliveira says:
Apr 21, 2013
Olá Luca!Sou Victor oliveira, Brasileiro! Vou iniciar o estudo de inglês na minha casa, quais dicas você me daria para eu começar? Um grande abraço daqui do Brasil!
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Guilherme says:
May 5, 2013
Olá Luca, em quanto tempo você consegue aprender um idioma? Quanto tempo e qual foi o primeiro a aprender, após o italiano(é claro)?
Zara Chiron says:
May 9, 2013
“And to all those who will tell you that “nah, the only useful language to learn is English, the rest is a waste of time”, well, tell them that “who learns another language, acquires another soul””
I think that is absolutely beautiful and so true! I feel that with the more languages that I speak, the more my entire spirit is enriched.
I am a native English speaker, so I never needed to “learn” but I would have loads of people look at me quizzically and ask me, “Why do you want to learn to speak ____, you already speak English!?” I find this attitude to be such a shame.
I have learned French and I am currently learning Spanish and I cannot tell you how much discouragement I got, and still get, from people – like I was being frivolous and wasting my life. But my life has been so much richer and fuller ever since I embarked upon these language learning adventures and I know that once I have learned Spanish to my satisfaction that I will be even more fulfilled as a person.
Thank you for your blog!
admin says:
May 12, 2013
Dear Zara,
Thank you so much for the lovely comments :)
Luca
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Rocío says:
May 27, 2013
¡Que buen blog!
Estoy en el proceso de aprender un tercer idioma: alemán.
Mi lengua materna es el español y tengo como segundo idioma el inglés (aún con algunas cosas por perfeccionar).
Entré a tu blog por casualidad al googlear si “era recomendable aprender dos idiomas al mismo tiempo” y vualá encontré tu blog.
Muy bueno como ya dije y con consejos muy útiles, creo que desde hoy lo seguiré de cerca.
Te felicito por tu entusiamo de aprender muchos idiomas, algo que no se valora en esté mucho que demanda mucho y da poco jajaja. Y me encantó tu frase de arriba “who learns another language, acquires another soul”, solo le agregaría que también tiene muchas más oportunidades de comunicarte con muchas más personas y culturas difirentes, aparte de que ejercitas tu cerebro de una gran manera.
PD. Muy buena pronunciación en inglés (de américa aclaro), algo difícil de encontrar en un europeo, quién normalmete aprende inglés de Inglaterra y con acento de Inglaterra claro.
¡Saludos desde Honduras!
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May 27, 2013
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Jun 9, 2013
你好 Luca,
你真的太棒了?
我刚才听了一下你的中文,非常棒。我也把你的网站和视频推荐给了我的正在学中文的学生。
你可以说一下你是怎么学英语的吗?因为,你的英语听起来就像是你的母语?你是怎么做到的呢?
谢谢