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The Open Secret of Polyglots - How to learn English or Other Languages with Kindle, Print or Audio Books

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The book will help you to stand your ground and go on with language learning, be it English or any other one you are learning. You learn how to understand a text globally without using a dictionary and why this is more effective in terms of memorising the new words and phrases than merely looking at them and mugging them up.

Even the use of e-book Readers (such as Kindle) or audio books with the exercises is described in the book.

The revolutionary view of starting from what you know, then using your inner created pictures, followed by exercises based on the rhythm and melody of a language will create a firm foundation for your language learning practice. You will become an autonomous language learner and improve your knowledge of foreign languages - or even decide to learn new ones as well!

Based on the techniques of famous and classical polyglots like Kató Lomb, Heinrich Schliemann and Giuseppe Mezzofanti, the author develops a widely practicable technique for those who like reading books (print or e-books) or listening to audio books. Beginners and advanced learners alike can build up a comprehensive vocabulary through reading in a foreign language. This way of collecting vocabulary is rather more entertaining than learning languages merely from course-books or at school.

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2013

33 people are currently reading
371 people want to read

About the author

Mihály Hevesi

11 books6 followers
Mihaly Hevesi is a teacher, writer, literary translator, scriptwriter, songwriter and beekeeping journalist. Growing up in a multicultural environment he experienced in his early childhood different languages. Understanding them was what motivated him to learn foreign languages. He is fluent in Hungarian, German, English, Spanish and Romanian. Inspired by Kató Lomb, her favorite Polyglot he has also started learning: Latin, Czech, Chinese, French, Italian, Esperanto, Serbian, Hebrew, Russian and Sanskrit.
As a bee enthusiast and beekeeper he's been writing articles for bee journals advocating bee-friendly methods and apitherapy for one decade now.

- BOOKS:
Hevesi, M, Bees Help Fight Viruses - How to Prevent and Heal Flu, Cold, Stomach Pain and Other Bacterial and Viral Infections: With Honey, Propolis and Bee Venom; 2020, Amazon, in progress)
Hevesi, M., The Open Secret of Polyglots - How to learn English or Other Languages with Kindle, Print or Audio Books, 2013, Amazon, Kindle e-book)
Hevesi, M., {The Art of Learning Languages} (Szeged, 2004, 2 Editions in Hungary)
Hevesi, M., {Authorhythmy - How To Learn Languages through your Favourite Movie, Novel and Lyrics}, 2009, 3 Editions in Hungary)


- SCRIPTS:
Teacher Steiner - (Feature drama script, 2019)
Fallen Fairies - (Feature drama script, 2017)
Without Meat - (Short film script, 2019)
In the Hive - (Short film script, 2019)

-REALIZED SHORT FILMS:
Without Meat - (Drama, 2019)
In the Hive- (Educational, 2019 - In production)


- TRANSLATIONS:
J. Lusseyran: (Ét la Lumiére fut) És lőn újra Világosság (As Translator, SzépNap könyvek, 2005)
J. Lusseyran: (Le monde commence ajourd hui) Az élet ma kezdődik (Als Übersetzer, SzépNap könyvek, 2003)
Henning Köhler: (Schwierige Kinder gibt es nicht) Rossz gyerekek pedig nincsenek (As Translator, SzépNap könyvek, 2003)
Mario Rinvolucri: (Humanising your Coursebook) A nyelvóra életre keltése- (As Translator, SzépNap könyvek, 2006)

- ARTICLES, SHORT STORIES:

In ÉS - Literary magazine:

Kotyec- a short story (In Hungarian)

In ERZIEHUNGSKUNST

Deutsch lernen in Amerika. Mihály Hevesi im Gespräch mit Margarete Orlik-Walsh von der School of Ann Arbor (2017/3 in German)

Ein alternativer und international anerkannter Hochschul-zugang (2017/4, in German)

In HUMANIZING LANGUAGE TEACHING MAGAZIN:
Review of Bernard Dufeu's Book, Wege zu einer Pädagogik des Seins (2008)
Teaching the little ones (2009)
Autorhythmy: The importance of inner pictures (2010)

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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Gary Dale.
Author 2 books22 followers
March 24, 2019
Interesting approach

This guy takes comprehensive input much further but he does use several methods I myself have used. It’s obviously self published but if you can get around the obvious lack of editing it would be a very interesting read for autodidacts interested in language learning.
2 reviews1 follower
July 4, 2019
My problem with English was that after many years of language learning (and yes even after successful exams) I couldn't understand the spoken language. Following the idea in this book how to stay in the moment of a spoken/sung text helped me a lot getting better in listening and understanding English. Thanks to this book I started to learn two other foreign languages as well (Spanish and Chinese). I heartily recommend this book as the author sticks to the point and tells about the core. Following his ideas lets you live the most practical experiences of language learning.
Profile Image for Keesa.
228 reviews17 followers
July 12, 2020
The first part is quite good...the second part seems unnecessary. I wasn't particularly interested in reading about other people's language methods; I wanted to read the author's.

The part I remember best was Kató Lomb's "three autos"; autolexia (read to yourself), autografia (write to yourself), and autologia (talk to yourself). I liked this part best, first of all because it reminded me of many things I did when I was learning Spanish, and that I know work; and in second place because as a teacher I can see how to put them into practice with my students so they can learn better.
Profile Image for Alex Linschoten.
Author 12 books147 followers
June 24, 2013
A useful reminder on the importance of comprehensible input (and of Kato Lomb's theories as well as those of Stephen Krashen), but overall only an average book. Particularly towards the end, there were parts where the author extensively pastes from Wikipedia. I wasn't too impressed with that.

If you're just starting out learning a language, this is a quick way to get some basic suggestions on how to get more source-language input into your routine.
Profile Image for Mudrika baghela .
22 reviews1 follower
September 28, 2020
This is for the first time I have read a book on polyglot. It was so interesting that I could not keep it down. The techniques are so simple that it develops interest not only in book but also also to learn a new language. The approach is practical. Real life examples of kato Lomb create a lasting impact on the mind of readers. Thanks to the author for sharing this knowledge.
3 reviews4 followers
February 13, 2019
This is a truly excellent book. As with most things, it's not necessarily what it's saying, but how it says it. I really admire the writing style of the author. He writes with an air of mystery, motivation, and yet at the same time simplicity such that everything is conveyed clearly.

The "secret" he discusses in this book is not ground breaking, but he makes such a compelling and terrific case for it that it's worth reading. It's one of the few books on language learning where I've felt very much "drawn in" to the material. This is not a book you can just skim and understand. There is a lot of great content here, and something about the way it's written makes it very readable and makes you want to slow down and enjoy it. And I did. I really enjoyed it.

So obviously I like the style of the book, but what does the book actually talk about? The book takes what appears to be a common theme of many polyglots and discusses it in length. The author describes the "open secret" and then gives lots of practical tips on how to make the most of it. And I wholeheartedly agree with the author regarding the tips he offers, and think this is a useful book. The book touches on "internal images" and how important they are to learning, the importance of guessing meanings, the subconscious, the downfall of modern technology, and exactly what not to do when reading in a foreign language.

At the same time, the author makes many good points on language learning. You're always learning. You've never mastered a language. Similarly, you need to make sure you are internally motivated. Why are you learning a language? If you view it as part of "who you are" or your value system, you'll always be motivated. Additionally, you don't need fancy gadgets to learn. Most polyglots didn't have access to the internet or sophisticated technology. Even in our modern world, where everything is right at our fingertips, many people fail to learn another language. Why is that? It's because learning takes work. Well, maybe not work, but it does take effort (if you view it as work, you'll give up). This is the kind of tone I like to see in language learning books. There is no magic bullet. Stop looking for one. The author makes this quite clear. However, there are ways to learn a good deal of vocabulary and grammar that are inexpensive and fun. This is the heart of the book.

I highly recommend it!

A reader on Amazon - X-Phantom
Profile Image for Tommy S..
141 reviews30 followers
February 7, 2022
An author gives a lot of advices for people who want to speak in another language. It's nothing what I could know earlier:)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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