Fluent Forever (Revised Edition): How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It

by Gabriel Wyner

At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered.

Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day.

This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.

PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language, Self Help, Linguistics, Education, Personal Development, Psychology

Audible Audio

First published August 5, 2014

About the author

from author's website:
Author and founder of Fluent Forever.

Over 1.5 million people have read my material to learn how to speak a foreign language and remember it forever. You may be searching for a way to successfully learn your first foreign language, or you may be looking for more efficient ways to learn your third or fourth language. I'm hoping to give you a set of tools to help accomplish either of these goals.

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am amazed that so much first-hand insight into language acquisition got packed into this tiny book!
There is a lot on the author's tools he developed. And while I get the why's, I simply don't like other people's tools. Besides, I am not a fan of flashcards, they don't work for me and they bore me and, as a result, I hate them passionately! Still, there are lots of other things to internalise and take out. Overall this is a pretty amazing book for polyglots and language buffs alike.
Q:
Language learning is a sport. I say this as someone who is in no way qualified to speak about sports; I joined the fencing team in high school in order to get out of gym class. Still, stabbing friends with pointy metal objects resembles language learning more than you might think. Your goal in fencing is to stab people automatically. You spend time learning the names of the weapons and the rules of the game, and you drill the proper posture, every parry, riposte, and lunge. Finally, you play the game, hoping to reach that magical moment when you forget about the rules: Your arm moves of its own accord, you deftly parry your friend’s sword, and you stab him squarely in the chest. Point!
We want to walk up to someone, open our mouths, forget the rules, and speak automatically.(c)
Q:
I encountered three basic keys to language learning:
1. Learn pronunciation first.
2. Don’t translate.
3. Use spaced repetition systems.
The first key, learn pronunciation first, came out of my music conservatory training (and is widely used by the military and the missionaries of the Mormon
church). Singers learn the pronunciation of languages first because we need to sing in these languages long before we have the time to learn them. In the course of
mastering the sounds of a language, our ears become attuned to those sounds, making vocabulary acquisition, listening comprehension, and speaking come much more
quickly. While we’re at it, we pick up a snazzy, accurate accent.
The second key, don’t translate, was hidden within my experiences at the Middlebury Language Schools in Vermont. Not only can a beginning student skip
translating, but it was an essential step in learning how to think in a foreign language. It made language learning possible. This was the fatal flaw in my earlier attempts to
learn Hebrew and Russian: I was practicing translation instead of speaking. By throwing away English, I could spend my time building fluency instead of decoding
sentences word by word.
The third key, use spaced repetition systems (SRSs), came from language blogs and software developers. SRSs are flash cards on steroids. Based upon your
input, they create a custom study plan that drives information deep into your long-term memory. They supercharge memorization, and they have yet to reach
mainstream use...
Meanwhile, nobody but the classical singers and the Mormons seemed to care much about pronunciation.(c)
Q:
What is fluency? Each of us will find a different answer to this question. The term is imprecise,... You’ll have to determine for yourself whether your image of fluency includes political discussions with friends, attending poetry readings, working as a secret agent, or lecturing on quantum physics at the Sorbonne. (c)
Q:
Immersion is a wonderful experience, but if you have steady work, a dog, a family, or a bank account in need of refilling, you can’t readily drop everything and devote that much of your life to learning a language. We need a more practical way to get the right information into our heads and prevent it from leaking out of our ears. (c)
Q:
want you to understand how to use the tools I’ve found along the way, but I also want you to understand why they work. Language learning is one of the most intensely personal journeys you can undertake. You are going into your own mind and altering the way you think. If you’re going to spend months or years working at that goal, you’ll need to believe in these methods and make them your own. c)
Q:
This book is my time machine. If I squint my eyes just right, then you are monolingual me from nine years ago, and I’m creating a time paradox by helping you avoid all of the pitfalls and potholes that led me to make my time machine in the first place. You know how it is. (c)
Q:
We
enjoy learning; it’s what addicts us to reading newspapers, books, and magazines and browsing websites like Lifehacker, Facebook, Reddit, and the Huffington Post.
Every time we see a new factoid (e.g., “In AD 536, a dust cloud blotted out the sun over Europe and Asia for an entire year, causing famines that wiped out populations from Scandinavia to China. No one knows what caused it”), the pleasure centers of our brains burst into activity, and we click on the next link. In this book, we’re going to addict ourselves to language learning. The discovery process for new words and grammar will be our new Facebook, the assembly process for new flash cards will be a series of quick arts-and-crafts projects, and the memorization process will be a fast-paced video game that’s just challenging enough to keep us interested.
There’s no coincidence here; we learn better when we’re having fun... (c)
Q:
We owe our present understanding of forgetting to Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist who spent years of his life memorizing lists of nonsense syllables (Guf Ril Zhik Nish Mip Poff). He recorded the speed of forgetting by comparing the time it took him to learn and then later relearn one of his lists. His “forgetting curve” is a triumph of experimental psychology, tenacity, and masochism...
One Metronome, Four Years, Six Million Repetitions
Hermann Ebbinghaus’s 1885 study has been referred to as “the most brilliant single investigation in the history of experimental psychology.” He sat alone in a room with a ticking metronome, repeating lists of nonsense syllables more than six million times, pushing himself to the point of “exhaustion, headache and other symptoms” in order to measure the speed of memorization and the speed of forgetting. It was the first data-driven study of the human mind, and I suspect it made him a blast at social events.(c)
Q:
When you study by reading through a list multiple times, you’re practicing reading, not recall. If you want to get better at recalling something, you should practice recalling it. Our blank sheet of paper, which could be replaced by a stack of flash cards, a multiple choice test, or simply trying to remember to yourself, is precisely the type of practice we need. It improves our ability to recall by tapping into one of the most fascinating facets of our minds—the interplay of memory and
emotion.
Deep within our brains, a seahorse and a nut are engaged in an intricate chemical dance that allows us to decide what is important and what is forgettable. The seahorse-shaped structure is known as the hippocampus, and it acts as a mental switchboard, connecting distant regions of the brain and creating a map of those connections. You access this map in order to recall any recent memory. 7 The connected neurons reactivate, and you relive your past experience. Over the course of months and years, these networked neurons lose their dependency on the hippocampus’s map and take on an independent, Bohemian lifestyle in the outermost layers of the brain. (c)
Q:
We’ve spent two chapters pontificating about learning and memory, and admittedly, we haven’t gotten much done. You haven’t learned any useful words, and I’m about to tell you not to open your grammar book. Instead, we’re going to venture off into the land of sound. We’ll discuss many reasons why, but the most important is this: when you’re not sure about the way your language sounds, you’re stuck learning two languages instead of just one.
In an ideal world, the written language and the spoken language walk together, hand in hand. They share words freely among themselves, help each other through tough spots, and generally have a good time together. You come along, hang out, and soon enough, the three of you are good buddies. Written language gives you some good book recommendations, you have dinner over at spoken language’s house, and the three of you have a blast. What’s not to love? The two languages have a new companion, and you’re getting to know them at breakneck speed, because you can chat about what you’ve read, and you can read about what you’ve heard.
All of this goes to crap if we don’t start with pronunciation, because we get stuck with a bunch of broken words. (c)
Q:
French Tip of the Day
If you encounter an errant French word in your travels, you can assume that every final consonant is silent except for the consonants found in the English word careful (c, r, f, and l are frequently
pronounced). (c)
Q:
Babies get a lot of credit in the language-learning world. They have a seemingly superhuman ability to hear the differences between every sound in every language, and there are quite a lot of sounds to hear. The world’s languages contain roughly 800 phonemes (six hundred consonants and two hundred vowels). Most languages choose around 40 of these to form their words, although the range is quite broad—there’s a neat language called Rotokas in Papua New Guinea with only 11
phonemes, and Taa, spoken in Botswana, uses up to 112 (plus four tones!).
Some of these phonemes are totally foreign to an English speaker’s ear—the click languages of Africa can sound bizarre—but most phonemes are subtle variations on familiar sounds. There are at least ten t’s that occur in the world’s languages, and English speakers rarely hear the differences among any of them. Two different t’s allow you to hear the difference between “my cat Stan” and “my cat’s tan.” Unless you frequent cat tanning salons, this distinction isn’t particularly important in English.
If, on the other hand, you were learning Korean, you would find that t as in tan and t as in Stan are two entirely different letters, which form entirely different words. (c)
Q:
I was recently asked the following: “If I had four hours to prepare for a date with a Cambodian supermodel, what would be the best use of my time?” Here’s my answer: learn to say one phrase—any phrase—really well. Sit on YouTube or Wikipedia for a few hours, look at pictures of mouth positions, and mimic recordings until you can sound like a native speaker for three seconds. It will Blow. Her. Mind.
An accurate accent is powerful because it is the ultimate gesture of empathy. It connects you to another person’s culture in a way that words never can, because you have bent your body as well as your mind to match that person’s culture. (c)
Q:
Every language has its patterns, and we make our job much easier if we can get those patterns into our heads.
This task can be a piece of cake if we know what we’re doing. We’re very good at internalizing patterns—even a five-year-old knows that dogs are dogz and cats are cats. There is only one prerequisite to learning a new pattern: we need to notice it when it passes by...
Our eyes are a powerful source of input. If we aren’t careful, they can trick our ears into a state of inattention, and inattention can prevent us from learning the patterns we need. (с)
Q:
the more you can learn about something, the easier time you’ll have mastering it, and the less time you’ll need over the long term. If you’re trying to make the “foreign” sounds of your new language familiar, then your easiest, shortest path is to learn as much as you possibly can about
those sounds.
This phenomenon shows up in every subject. As a kid, I loved math. It had this neat quality, because everything was connected. You memorize that 3 × 4 is 12, and then you learn that 4 × 3 is also 12, and eventually you start realizing that you can switch the order of any two numbers you’re multiplying. You see that 3 × 4 and 4 × 3 are examples of something much larger—some abstract, floating pattern known as multiplication—and every new example helps you hold more of that giant floating pattern in your head. That pattern changes and becomes more subtle and nuanced with every little fact you learn. Soon you begin to see the connections between multiplication and division, and multiplication and exponents, and multiplication and fractions. Eventually, your giant floating pattern of multiplication becomes part of a bigger floating pattern—a universe of math.
As long as I could connect every new thing I learned to this universe, I had an easy time with math. And I noticed that classmates who had problems with math weren’t struggling with math; they were struggling with connections. They were trying to memorize equations, but no one had successfully shown them how those equations connect with everything they had already learned. They were doomed.
At some point along their path, their interconnected math universe had shattered into fragments, and they were trying to learn each piece in isolation—an extremely difficult proposition. Who could possibly remember the formula for the volume of a hexagonal prism? How could you make yourself care enough to actually remember?
It was so much easier if you could see how all the pieces interrelated—how multiplication connected with the area of rectangles, how the area of rectangles connected with triangles and trapezoids, and how the volume of prisms connected back with multiplication. I didn’t have to memorize formulae; they were just examples of something much, much larger.
Math can be hard for the same reason that languages can be hard. At some point, you miss a connection, and if no one goes back, takes you by the hand, and shows you that connection, then you’re suddenly doomed to memorize crappy formulae.
We know why this is so; we’ve already discussed the nature of memory. Every time we can connect two memories, we strengthen both of them—neurons that fire together wire together.
Q:
...learn how to skip translating and think in a new language from the very beginning. (c)
Q:
We have two goals in this chapter: we need to hear the music in our words, and we need to remember it when we do. In Chapter 2, we talked about our mental filters, and how they save us from information overload. To learn vocabulary efficiently, we’ll need to overcome those filters, by creating memorable, interesting experiences with our words. (c)
Q:
My advice for you is roughly the same as my advice for anyone else; if you want to get more comfortable listening, then listen, and if you want to get more comfortable speaking, then speak. But I can recommend some strategies that might help you do this more efficiently.
If you’re looking for a way to refresh and maintain a language with the least amount of effort, then watch a lot of TV. I did this recently with my French—I had forgotten a lot over the course of learning Russian and Hungarian, and I wanted to bring it back—and so I started watching ridiculous amounts of television and film.
Within a month, I got through three seasons of 24 and five films. By the end of that month, I was once again dreaming in French. It’s a tremendously fun way to maintain a language (c)
Q:
I gesture in Italian. I have to gesture in Italian. When I speak Italian, I yearn to travel and see beautiful things, relax in the sun, and eat delicious food. All on its own, the Italian language fills my mind with happy memories, because all of my words are connected to the moments in which I learned and used them. ... In learning that language, I created a new mind and a new personality for myself. That is the dearest gift of language learning—you get to meet a new you.
And this isn’t just my own insanity speaking; I’ve seen this in all the multilingual people I’ve met. One of my French teachers was an American woman who had married a Frenchman and moved to Paris. When she spoke French, she was one of the most elegant, intelligent women I have ever met. On the last day of our French program, we finally switched to English. In an instant, that same elegant woman suddenly transformed into a quick-witted, sailor-mouthed party girl from Texas. That’s not to say that her French persona was somehow fake; it was just a different side of her personality, and it came to the surface in her French.
At times, a foreign language can feel like a mask. It’s a game of make-believe. You’re playing the role of Some French Guy, and you’re acting out a conversation with some friends. In these moments, you occasionally catch yourself saying things you never would have said in English. You’re more open. You speak more freely.
After all, it’s not really you; it’s just a game.
But that’s not quite true.
It is you.
And you can only meet that side of yourself in a foreign language. (c)

[shanghao · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never given much thought to language learning even though I took up some foreign languages as a hobby.

Gabriel breaks down the technicalities of effective language learning and shares some tips on what's needed to achieve long-lasting fluency:

(A) Learn pronunciation first
I wholeheartedly agree with this. Proper pronunciation and accent is the difference in being ripped off and getting a nice bargain at the local markets; this also applies to relationships with the locals.

(B) Study less, review more
Also true! Especially for Mandarin learners. There is no shortcut other than writing the new characters ad nauseam till they get soldered into your brain, then cementing them with the ol' dictation test or the dreaded Mo Xie (silent dictation) test, whatever Mr Lee Kuan Yew might say on the subject.


Speaking from experience, the biggest improvement I've felt when I was learning Japanese came during this phase when I was playing FFX-2 (Japanese dub) and FFX-2 International (only available in Japanese then). Learning became effortless since I was engrossed in the game and the extra participation (as opposed to watching TV shows or listening to podcasts) culminated in an immersion programme of sorts, short of actually going to Japan. I did a short stay in Japan too in a Japanese household, and I felt it's beneficial in terms of improving speaking skills; but in terms of aiding comprehension and learning new vocab, gaming did wonders. It's like minimal studying + daily reviews (I played almost everyday during the school hols then) and it's fun!


It's basically Sailormoon in Okinawa! Why go language schools when you can just play games?

(C) Don't use translations
I've yet to shake off my bad habit of using subtitles when watching foreign language shows. I think this might be part the reason why, despite my mum being fluent in Cantonese and the gazillion of times I've visited Hong Kong and watched Cantonese movies, the longest Cantonese phrase I can muster is "Cheng mat kao gan che mun" (Please stand back from the doors" i.e. the MTR trains PA). Heck, they can all speak Mandarin anyway, right? Wrong.


One of the biggest takeaways I took from this book is the SRS (spaced repetition system). It involves using personally customised flashcards and reviewing them via a progressively phased schedule (e.g. using a Leitner's Box ) Can't wait to apply this on my Korean studies and see how it's like!

I'm sure I don't have to say that above all you've gotta have love for the language and/or culture/people/products to be able to reach fluency for the foreign language you're studying.

Even something as simple as, say, learning to pronounce must first be spurred from love; I dabbled for a bit in Portuguese just so I could sing one of my favourite lullabies which happened to be in Portuguese (plus, I like the jerseys of the Portuguese football team. And I love Lisbon. And Portuguese egg tarts).

I need me lots of love for Korean then.

Yes, yes, so I know simply watching k-dramas and Running Man ain't enough

[Steven Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Quieres aprender idiomas? Este libro te interesará.

En realidad 4,5

Me siento obsesionado por aprender un idioma, pero mi inconveniente es que no tengo la disciplina necesaria para llevarlo a cabo. He querido aprender inglés y japonés, pero en múltiples intentos he fracasado. Como resultado, siempre he decidido culpar a los métodos de estudio elegidos, e incluso a las clases y maestros que tuve cuando estudiaba inglés en mi colegio. Algunos pensamientos que mi mente genera automáticamente son «¡Que difícil!» «¿Por qué no puedo?» «¿Por qué no logro entender nada cuando escucho el inglés?» «¿Por qué no me dieron mejor inglés cuando estaba en el colegio?» «¡Ahh, que rabia!» «¿Por qué se me olvida todo?». El aprendizaje de idiomas se convirtió en mi obsesión desde que tuve mal puntaje en inglés cuando realicé las pruebas de estado antes de graduarme en mi colegio —supongo que en cada país esas pruebas que evalúan nuestros conocimientos de todas las asignaturas tendrán otro nombre—, y como tengo la tendencia de intentar muchas veces lo que se me dificulta realizar, entonces me prometí que algún día tendría que aprender un idioma extranjero y entenderlo bien cuando lo escuchara en una película, serie, entrevista, o demás. Y desde entonces he buscado decenas de métodos diferentes que me permitan lograr mi meta; pero a veces soy tan impaciente, tan perfeccionista, tan criticón cuando encuentro un error o una falla, a veces soy tan poco tolerante al fracaso o la derrota, que cuando noto que no estoy progresando en el idioma, que no estoy entendiendo, que se me está olvidando lo aprendido... cuando noto algo así decido rendirme, abandonarlo todo y regresar después de un tiempo para comenzar de cero. No existe un método que me satisfaga, y me presiono tanto por ello, que hay mil razones por las que sigo lejos de lograr este objetivo.

Pero a pesar de tanto tropiezo y decepciones debo reconocer que he progresado por lo menos un poco en el inglés, y la prueba de ello es que he logrado finalizar la lectura de esta obra que está completamente en inglés. No obstante, mis capacidades en este idioma siguen teniendo limitaciones: solo soy capaz de leer, pero no puedo construir frases, hablarlo, y mucho menos entenderlo al escucharlo. En el idioma japonés también lo intenté durante un tiempo y mi progreso fue similar: aprender hiragana, katakana (silabarios equivalentes a nuestro alfabeto), y aproximadamente 400 kanjis (sinogramas que representan conceptos o palabras) de los 2136 más usados en el idioma. Sin embargo, con el idioma japonés lo que me sucedió fue que, a medida que avanzaba, empecé a olvidar el significado de los kanjis que ya había estudiado. Para aprenderlos usé el método del libro «Kana para Recordar» junto con un mazo de flashcards que usaba en Anki, un software creado especialmente para recordar información mediante la técnica de la repetición espaciada. Es una técnica que te genera repasos diarios para que no olvides lo que quieres recordar, pero el problema es que entre más información estudies mayores son los repasos que debes realizar diariamente. En mi caso, yo comencé con repasos de quince minutos, pero luego ese tiempo aumentó considerablemente llegando a repasar cuarenta y cinco minutos diarios, y el tiempo seguía aumentando. No soporté ese ritmo intenso y renuncié con un tremendo K.O. Y esa fue la razón por la que me interesó leer este libro, ya que el autor recomienda el uso de Anki para aprender idiomas, y teniendo en cuenta mi experiencia fallida con el software, intuí que quizás algún error había realizado en mi anterior intento que me llevó a aquellos resultados, y que quizás podría descubrir la forma correcta de usar este programa. Sin embargo, el contenido que encontré fue una gran sorpresa.

«Fluent Forever» es una obra escrita por el poliglota y cantante de ópera Gabriel Wyner, quien teniendo en cuenta sus propias experiencias, decidió crear este libro para ayudar a los interesados en aprender idiomas. El autor utiliza una metodología diferente de las tradicionales en la que lo primordial no es recordar diálogos o frases enteras de un libro gramatical, ni tampoco aprender grupos de vocabulario que tengan relación (colores, animales, partes del cuerpo, etc.), sino que recomienda aprender primero la pronunciación y los fonemas del idioma objetivo, para luego utilizar el sistema de repetición espaciada (SRS) y así no olvidar lo aprendido. Es una metodología que nos invita a jugar con el idioma sin presionarnos, estresarnos, o frustrarnos, sino explorándolo como niños y tomándolo como un deporte. Aunque el libro está dividido en ocho secciones, para mí está dividido realmente en solo dos: Teoría y práctica. La parte que más me ha gustado es la primera (Teoría) porque allí el autor nos explica sobre la forma en que podemos memorizar un concepto sin complicarnos —y sin traducirlo—, evocando en nuestra mente una sensación, imagen, sonido o historia, que sea importante para nosotros. Aquellos capítulos están muy bien explicados, se realizan citas de personas importantes, y se presentan ejemplos prácticos que podemos comprender fácilmente. Lo bueno de esta metodología es que es apta tanto para aprender inglés, chino, japonés; pero también podría usarse para estudiar, o para recordar conceptos y vocabulario de nuestra lengua natal que estamos olvidando. La segunda parte —también valiosa, pero no tan atractiva para mi gusto personal— nos presenta un tutorial muy detallado de cómo crear tarjetas de estudio o flashcards en Anki, qué deben llevar, cómo podríamos usar un sistema similar sin el programa, etc. Quizás para usar esta sección sea más adecuado tener el libro abierto mientras vamos practicando y explorando en el software. No obstante, también podríamos buscar en youtube tutoriales, consejos y guías para explotar al máximo el desempeño de este software, que puede llegar a convertirse en nuestro aliado para el aprendizaje de idiomas. Finalmente, el libro termina con un apéndice extenso de aclaraciones, recursos en línea, consejos adicionales, etc.

Pienso que es un libro que vale la pena leer por la experiencia del autor en el tema, independientemente de que sigamos sus consejos o no. Considero que cada persona tiene un estilo de aprendizaje diferente, y esta metodología no necesariamente va a serle de ayuda a todas las personas. Sin embargo, es posible que algún truco pueda sernos de ayuda como complemento a nuestro estudio. Adicionalmente, debo confesar, que el sistema presentado por Gabriel podría llegar a ser tedioso y difícil de llevar a cabo, por la cantidad de tiempo que deberíamos gastar para crear las flashcards y repasarlas posteriormente. Este libro no resolvió mi problema inicial del excesivo aumento de repasos que sufrí cuando usé Anki para estudiar japonés, pero sí comprendí la razón por la que empecé a olvidar lo aprendido tiempo después. Mi problema fue que las tarjetas de estudio estaban mal diseñadas, yo no realicé su creación, y no estaba repasándolas como debería realizarse. A pesar de que el sistema de repetición espaciada me parece un poco tedioso para implementarlo en mi vida, no puedo negar que siento un poco de curiosidad por intentarlo nuevamente, esta vez siguiendo varias recomendaciones del autor y enfocándome en disfrutarlo, y no en padecerlo.

A pesar de sus pros y sus contras, considero que este libro es el mejor que he leído referente al tema porque es muy completo. Abarca diferentes temáticas desde la explicación del Sistema Fonético Internacional (IPA), la recomendación de diccionarios monolingües, la mención de los diferentes sitios web que pueden convertirse en una herramienta para mejorar nuestro nivel, etc. A mí me ha gustado mucho, principalmente la primera mitad, y posiblemente lo releeré en una versión impresa para extraer más información, enseñanzas y trucos que puedan servirme en este difícil camino que es el aprendizaje de idiomas. Es un libro que recomiendo bastante, no perderán el tiempo si lo leen, se los aseguro.

Mi calificación inicial era de cinco estrellas, pero después de reflexionar y meditar sobre los pros y contras del libro, pienso que no puedo puntuarlo con esta calificación porque mi interés fue cayendo poco a poco después de iniciar la segunda parte. La explicación de cómo crear las flashcards me pareció excesiva y repetitiva en algunos momentos; por tanto, 4,5 es una calificación justa y concordante con respecto a lo que he escrito, lo que pienso, y lo que he sentido en esta lectura. Libro muy recomendado.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just like Gabriel Wyner, I'm a self-directed language learner and sometimes lacking in modesty: I didn't learn much reading this book.

About half the content is about SRS, so if you already know & use it, this might serve as a ...review, at best. Now I'll admit most people don't know Anki, so it's definitely a good thing to write about it. There wasn't really a need to duplicate Wikipedia's article about SRS though. Same goes for the IPA. We get his condescendence:

The IPA is usually full of nasty technical jargon and it uses weird-looking symbols.

Thank you Mr. Brain. The rest is even more obvious, at least for the most part. Did you know that you could watch TV in your target language to help listening comprehension? Genius! Oh and btw, do not expect this to be actually useful to learn ANY language as the title says. Good luck finding TV shows, movies, audiobooks and frequency dictionaries in say, Mongolian (and it's not the most obscure language either).

The whole thing is made worst by the fact that he's a kid lol. And he writes stuff on the Internet like "I Learned to Speak Four Languages in a Few Years: Here's How". It always come back to your definition of fluent, but he's selling his reheated stuff a lot. The book is filled with his experiences, like the time he said to his Russian friend: Hey, btw I speak Russian now. She was reportedly flabbergasted.

There's a section that I found completely wrong: at one point he suggests that if you had one hour to learn a language, you should learn to say one sentence perfectly. The alternative (being good, but with a bad accent) is described as more trouble. Why? Because in Paris, waiters are known to be rude if you say Bonjour wrong... omg not the Paris waiter thing again lol. It's basically the only example. Elsewhere it's better to understand more than speak without accent if you want to actually communicate and not just impress. He says:

An accurate accent is powerful because it is the ultimate gesture of empathy. It connects you to another person’s culture in a way that words never can, because you have bent your body as well as your mind to match that person’s culture.

Seriously? The ultimate gesture of empathy? From my experience with German, the better you are, the less compliments you receive. People eventually consider you as an immigrant.

Despite all the bad I have to say, I would probably have written something similar. So it's good information, but if you know what SRS and IPA are, I'd say don't bother. One thing I would have added is a chapter about motivation. It's always taken for granted that people stop learning because their methods are inefficient (grammar drilling, bad memorization, etc) and this book also focuses on the technical aspects, but on the long run, I think staying motivated should be #1 priority. Identify what really makes you want to learn (one example for me: the idea of me in the bus reading a German or a Japanese novel, completely vain I know!) and feed this dream (buying tons of books, renewing public transportation pass lol) despite the costs.

[Grace (BURTSBOOKS) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fluent forever? More like the Holy Bible of language learning.

@Anyone who has been struggling to learn a new language: READ THIS BOOK. IT IS SO INFORMATIVE AND EASILY COMPREHENSIBLE AND HELPFUL.

Everything you need to know is packed into this short little book. Backed with Wyner's real-life experiences and scientific experiments; this book provides you with all the tools and strategies you need to begin learning a new language. IT HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH.

UPDATE: IT'S EVEN BETTER THE SECOND TIME AROUND

[David Rubenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about learning a foreign language as efficiently as possible. The author, Gabriel Wyner, has learned six languages to help himself in his career as an opera singer. The book is geared toward learning how to think in the target language. It is jam-packed with practical advice, on all aspects of learning a language, starting with pronunciation, then learning grammar, memorizing words, listening skills, and writing.

Wyner has excellent advice about making flash cards, and about using the so-called "Spaced Repetition System." He recognizes the numerous apps available for using flash cards, and he recommends the Anki app. However, it is just as good to use old-fashioned index cards. But he strongly discourages people from using pre-made card decks. The reason is that half of the learning occurs when you make the cards yourself. He recommends using a word frequency list in your target language, to get the vocabulary you need as soon as possible.

The book contains lots of detailed recommendations about increasing one's listening skills. For example, Wyner recommends watching TV series in your target language, more than movies, because it is easier to figure out what is going on. But not comedy, since so much of the humor relies on the understanding of subtle puns and word-play.

Wyner gives lots of recommendations for learning speaking skills, such as the game of taboo. And, if you do not have a native speaker close at hand with whom to practice, he gives suggestions for a number of online web sites that can connect you with native speakers who are trying to learn your own language.

The detailed appendices at the back of the book contain a massive amount of information. Throughout, Wyner gives the reader all sorts of online references that can be very helpful for pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, ... the list goes on and on.

If you are interested in learning a foreign language--regardless of whether you are a complete beginner or an intermediate or advanced learner--this book can help you.

[Leftbanker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve got good news and bad news about learning languages. The good news is that anyone can do it—everyone already does learn at least one language. The bad news is that it takes a long time and there are no shortcuts, no easy methods, and there are no “Learn French in 7 Days” miracles. Most of the people I know speak several languages and among my friends there are no geniuses or whiz kids; they all learned the long, hard way. Be consistent, do something every day even if it’s just a little, and don’t get discouraged. The rewards are infinite.

If you’re really interested in learning another language I’d suggest skipping this book and just dive right in and start learning new vocabulary. A little bit of grammar is helpful but don’t go overboard at first. Remember: the three most important things about learning another language are vocabulary, vocabulary, and vocabulary. I’ve lived in Spain for nine years and I still live inside the dictionary (or www.wordreference.com to be more precise). The other stuff takes a back seat.

I have found that the best method is simply reading as much as you possibly can, so it helps if you like to read. Read out loud as much as you can to practice pronunciation; you need to work those odd sounds that may not exist in your native language (or in any other language you may speak).

This same advice probably works for learning a musical instrument. I play piano, sort of. Once again, if I sit down and practice consistently, I get results, however slow and excruciating as that is. I only hope that I'm better at languages than classical piano. At least my neighbors don't complain when I m studying Greek at home, like they do about my piano lessons.

P.S. I’m not saying that I’m a language expert, but I’ve spent a lot of my adult life learning languages: Spanish, French, Arabic, and Greek. I have let my Arabic and Greek pretty much go to shit, but I live in Spain. I try to read something in French every day. If I work hard I get results. It’s that easy and that difficult. Maybe I should write a book but what I've said here just about covers it. ¡Buena suerte!

[shal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on effective language learning methods and resources that I would suggest every independent learner, regardless of their level of proficiency, to read at least once. It’s a comprehensive guide detailed about all the aspects of language learning - pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, listening and writing.

Few days ago, I was discussing this established “fact” with a colleague that how children are able to learn languages faster and better than adults. This is a popular myth that children have twice as many synapses as adults that makes it easier for them to grasp new words and sentence structures. Wyner debunks it by stating that children are successfully proficient in their native language simply because they receive more exposition than adult learners.

Some of the most important learning techniques that Wyner stresses upon are :

1) Learn pronunciation first - This is an issue I’ve had with some of the audiobooks for beginners that I’ve listened. They should stress upon pronunciation more than vocabulary and grammar.

2) Don’t translate - This is quite important. However, one should start doing it only after attaining some proficiency otherwise it could be quite a strenuous task. At this stage one should make flashcards in their target language only.

3) Use spaced repetition systems - I guess you already know about the importance of SRSs in driving information into long term memory and you probably even use one - Duolingo, Memrise or Anki. Quite recently I’ve moved to Anki after using Memrise for a long time since it offers a lot of freedom for creating highly personalized flashcards.

4) Make your own flashcards for everything be it, pronounciation rules, verb conjugation, word order, genders for languages like German, in fact whenever you encounter any new word or pattern in any sentence, create a corresponding flashcard. Use as many pictures as possible.

5) Avoid books systematically detailing every single solitary rule and detail and exceptions, all at once. I agree, that’s the reason why I preferred doing Heiner’s grammar book over Hammer’s even though the latter is a great comprehensive book I highly recommend to use as a reference if you’re learning German.

6) Be wary of books without answer key That’s why I used Studio D and Netzwerk only until I had a partner to learn with. Even in that case, I’m not sure it was a good idea.

7) Do a frequency dictionary - This is something every beginner should start with, of course, along with other resources.

8) Add personal connections to every new word you encounter. Use images, bind them to your past experiences or recurring events in your life. Make short stories using your limited vocabulary. Submit your writing to online exchange community, you can also do it on Duolingo. Turn every correction into flashcards. This is one of my favourite techniques.

9) Recall more than review

10) Make use of IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for learning pronounciation. Well, currently, I am past that stage with my current target language, but I’ll read this book again if in future I plan to learn another language. I’ll get to it then.

11)If your target language has completely senseless genders such as German, use Mnemonic Imagery game to memorize them. Imagine all masculine nouns exploding, feminine catching fire and neuter shattering like glass. Make your images as vivid and multisensory as possible. This was the most useful technique for me.

Most interesting facts mentioned in the book :
1) Whether it’s a kid learning a language from his parents or an adult learning it independently, both of them follow the same predictable stages of learning. They start with simple present tense sentences then irregular past, to regular past tense verbs, followed by present tense verbs in the 3rd person. Well, I don’t have strong opinions on it but that’s some food for thought.
2) All 7,000 documented languages seem to possess subjects, verbs and objects. If a language puts its objects after its verbs, then that language will use prepositions. If, on the other hand, verbs come after their objects, then that language will use postpositions. There are few languages which don’t follow this rule but they are rare. This is quite fascinating and true in case of the very few languages that I know. I'll read more on it.

Interesting statistics :
1) 90% comprehension takes approximately 5,500 words and 95% comprehension takes 12,500 words
2) English vocabulary is 28% French and 28% Latin

Resources :
1) The Foreign Service Institute has recordings for practising listening in 41 languages
2) Forvo.com for free recordings - Use them in Anki flashcards
3) Lonely Planet phrasebooks
4) Lang8.com
5) Thematic vocabulary books by Barron are the best ones.
6) Test your vocabulary on TestYourVocab.om
7) His own website where you can find lots of free resources and tips.

[JDK1962 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating this is a bit like rating a cookbook: how do you know it's a five star book until you've tried at least a statistically significant portion of the recipes? But even though I haven't tried learning a language using his approach (though I intend to), I've had enough experience with language learning to say that he seems to have the right attitude toward learning language, and has marshaled the right approach and the right tools.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book of its kind. Where was it when I was in school, or preparing for al those trips when I wanted to be able to ask for the bathroom without embarrassing myself?

This is not just a technique that works--I would call it a breakthrough, and I just contributed to the kickstarter for the app he is building to make it waiter for all of us who have been doing things the longer, harder way he describes in the book. But it's a really good book. Highly readable, smart, convincing without fluff and ego, and fascinating in the way it opens your eyes to some principles of linguistics, and the human psyche in the culture that holds the language you are studying.

Most highly recommended.

[إيمان · Rating 5 out of 5]

حرفيا the ultimate book for language learning

لطالما كانت عندي قناعة راسخة بأن اللغات لا تدرَس بل يتم تعلمها ذاتيا لذلك بدأت بتجربة فاشلة تتمثل في تعلم الإسبانية ذاتيا .... و رغم أن إسبانيتي حاليا تسمح لي مثلا بمشاهدة مباراة كرة قدم بتعليق إسباني أو متابعة مسلسل و فهم الأفكار العامة للحلقة، إلا أنني مازلت أعدها تجربة فاشلة كما ذكرت ... و مرد ذلك إلى أمرين ... النسيان و عدم المداومة ... كنت أتعلم الكلمات الجديدة فقط خلال عطلة الصيف لأنساها في ما تبقى من العام ثم أعود من النقطة الصفر أو أعلى قليلا العام المقبل و هكذا دواليك ... و في حال ترسبت بعض الكلمات من مشاهدة كرة القدم فحدث و لا حرج عن قواعد اللغة و التصريف فهي تتبخر خلال أيام لا غير ...و بالتالي فإني لا أجيد الكتابة أو تكوين الجمل المكتوبة (أجيد تكوين بضع جمل مشافهة) ... و بما أن الهدف الذي وضعته كعلامة لإتقان الإسبانية يتمثل في قراءة رائعة مئة عام من العزلة بلغتها الأصلية أجد نفسي كل عام أبتعد و لا أقترب ... في هذا الكتاب تحديدا وقفت على كل أسباب فشل التجربة و رأيت حلولا للتدارك ...إذا كنت تريد تعلم أي لغة عليك بقراءة هذا الكتاب لوضع خطة التعلم أولا

تمت
الثالث و العشرون من أوت 2022

[Mustakim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a book lover. My main reason of learning new languages is to read books of different languages.
This book is about some tools to make language learning more efficient. The tools are useful but I already knew most of them. And almost half (or more) of the book is about just one tool ‘SRS’. Sometimes the same thing repeated over and over.

But as a whole the book is quite good. If you are a very beginner of language learning I'll recommended this to you.

Rating - 4/5

[Anna Petruk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book to anyone who is searching for effective tools, approaches and resources for learning languages.

I'm no stranger to learning languages, being native in Russian and Ukrainian (as most people in my country are), fluent in English and intermediate in Spanish and French. I even studied Japanese for a few years as kid, though most of it is now forgotten. So, as you might imagine, having started learning my third language (English) at the age of 5, over the years I have developed my own approach. Looking for ways to up my game in Spanish & French, I randomly stumbled upon "Fluent Forever".

The Author

I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the author. He's a really awesome narrator and did a great job.

I've never heard of Gabriel Wyner before reading this book. He is an opera singer, who decided to become fluent in languages he used for work (French, Italian, German and Russian). Later he decided to learn Hungarian and Japanese just for kicks.

The Contents

This book sites a lot of scientific research related to the subject matter: memorizing, recalling, methods of learning, how brain processes information, etc. Wyner's methods are grounded in the findings of these studies. I really appreciated that he provided the context and scientific basis for his approach.

He also provided tales of his own personal experience studying various languages, addressed common problems that his students had and how to tackle them, etc.

But most of the book focuses on specific language learning tools and resources, the intricacies of using them, etc.

I think it will be most helpful to people who are just starting to learn a certain language, especially if it belongs to a different language group than one's native language (i.e. if you're just starting to learn Korean being native in English). Wyner did mention ways to adjust his techniques for intermediate learners. But if you're already intermediate, you already have some background and experience, tools set up and opinions formed etc. So I think the book will work best if you're a newbie.

The Flaws

I think it was a little drawn out, because the author was being very specific in certain appendixes. Though this isn't strictly a flaw... These specifics might be helpful to some.

Personally I intend to try some of this stuff, though not every tool described here, that's for sure.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for the motivated, self-directed learner. Also needs some time or one's own computer to be efficient. Overall, a good mix of theory and practice. Lighter than similar books on motivation. Now, onward to implement this!

[Jun Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I intended to bought this book for my sister's graduation, but after reading its blurb, online review and some pages, I decided to keep it for myself. Sorry sis, but I felt no repentance :))))

Yet while reading this book, somehow the charm I felt back then just dissipated. Without any trace left. The author had a very good sense of humor indeed, yet it's still not enough to bring me back to the temptation of that day. Why? I don't know. It's not the first time such event has happened for me. Maybe I'm the one for blame, maybe it's due to my lack of consistence.

Back to the main topic; this book will not show you any brand new methods. What it shows is how to execute these old methods in a more effective way. Spaced Repetition System is a well-known learning still, but not many learners truly put their time in trying and following it. The same answer goes with flash cards. The author even wrote "when you get down to brass tacks, it's about learning languages with flash cards". The secret for mastering a language (or any skills in fact) is simple: one effective methods that's most suitable for you (depend on how much time can you spend, what level you would like to achieve...) and patience. Without one, your successes are merely pipe-dreams.

If you coincidentally see it, scavenge and devour. Albeit learning is not what you're aiming for, you'll be entertained by his fabulous style. A lot.

[My Tran]

"At times, a foreign language can feel like a mask. It's a game of make-believe... In these moments, you occasionally catch yourself saying things you never would have said in *your native language*. You're more open. You speak more freely. After all, it's not really you, it's just a game.

But that's not quite true. It is you.
And you can only meet that side of yourself in a foreign language."
----
"Đôi khi, một ngoại ngữ có thể cảm thấy như là một chiếc mặt nạ. Đó là một trò chơi giả vờ... Trong những khoảnh khắc đó, đôi lần bạn bắt gặp bản thân mình nói ra những thứ mà bạn không bao giờ nói bằng ngôn ngữ mẹ đẻ. Bạn cởi mở hơn. Bạn nói chuyện một cách thoải mái hơn. Và sau tất cả, đó không thật sự là bạn, đó chỉ là một trò chơi.

Nhưng điều đó không thật đúng lắm. Đó chính là bạn.
Và bạn chỉ có thể gặp phần đó của con người bạn trong một ngôn ngữ khác."

P/s: Mình bắt đầu thích đọc sách về ngôn ngữ hơn.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب خوبی بود.
نکات خوبی رو برای زبان آموزی می‌گه. مثلا نقش حافظه در یادگیری و یا یادآوری کلمات و اصلاحات غیرقابل انکاره. منتها خیلی جاها به نحوه به خاطر سپردن توجهی نمی‌شه. من یک کتاب در مورد تقویت حافظه خوندم که تکنیک‌های خوبی داشت. چندین تا از اون تکنیک‌ها اینجا برای حفظ کردن کلمات اومده. تا حد زیادی به ایجاد فلش کارت و استفاده از جعبه لاینتر تاکید داره. منتها می‌گه بهتره این فلش‌کارت‌ها به جای معنی کلمه از تصویر مرتبط استفاده کنین و بهتره که خودتون اونها رو درست کنین تا بهتر یاد بگیرین. که خوب یکم وقت گیره.

علاوه بر اینها تاکید به یادگیری کلمات پرتکرار در ابتدای راه، نقش هدایت کننده گرامر در سطح پایین و توصیه اکید به شنیدن و تلفظ واژه‌ها در ابتدای یادگیری هر زبان، چیزهایی بود که توی کمتر دوره و کتابی اینقدر بهش توجه می‌شه.

علاوه بر همه اینها، منابع خوبی هم برای یادگیری زبان معرفی کرده که می‌تونین ازشون استفاده کنین.

متن هم روونه و طنز کمی هم داره. منتها یکم طولانیه که می‌شد بدون کاهش کیفیت خلاصه‌تر باشه.

[Netta · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this is your first (and only) book on language learning, it might be very useful. It’ll definitely help you to put in order diffrenet technics that you can use to learn language without pain and desperation. If you have your own successful experience in learning any foreign language, you may pass this book with no regrets. Though as a foreign language teacher by training I still prefer the method I was taught at university. Wyner wittily calls it "an uncontrollable torrent of grammatical despair".

There's also a website fluent-forever.com, where Wyner lists resources for learning correct pronunciation, grammar etc.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm having a bit of information overload. Now I'm going to go back and work through it one chapter at a time. It's an excellent system to learn as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible. There's a heavy emphasis on having fun, too.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to learn a language I would seriously recommend reading or listening to this book. I have been learning various langauges on and off for years but have not become fluent in any. This is partly because it is a casual and fun thing to do in free time. I have occasionally surprised a friend I haven't seen in years, and a few strangers, with Spanish, Hebrew, Amharic, Mandarin, but have never mastered a language.

This book gives you all of the tools you need and has lots of amazing advice. I have been doing this for years so I thought surely there is nothing new to learn about this but there is in fact a huge amount of useful and interesting information that I found super helpful.

It completely changed the way I learn langauges. Among the most useful recommendations are spaced repetition flashcards, reading books, listening to music, and watching movies. I focus much more on pronunciation and accumulating vocabulary and less on apps like Duolingo. I developed my own method of learning how to speak by memorizing 3-4 key phrases to help me rapidly acquire new vocabulary prior to starting. The real challenge has always been finding people to speak with consistently in my target language. You can't rely on 1 person because if they get busy, sick, cancel or are flaky you are completely demoralized. Also finding and vetting these types of people one at a time is extremely time intensive. Because the book is a bit dated it relies too heavily on apps that are designed solely for langauge exchange which people only occassionally go on and are not super popular. I've found the best place to look for langauge partners by far and away is not tandem or italki but discord. There is an abundance of terminally online linguists who are willing to give you free lessons and help whenever you want in just about every language. Also you will never have to rely on a single person to speak to because of the way a server/forum is set up. If you show up in a voice chat made specifically for your langauge for a couple hours a week, assuming you've prepared, you will start learning immediately and quickly improve.

A lot of the advice is self evident. But if someone doesn't tell you not to do something and you are a curious person you will eventually try learning two langauges at a time, for example. I think it would be worth reorganizing the book so that the benefits of learning another language are reiterated throughout. I find the benefits overwhelmingly positive and motivational, and I think any ambitious person would probably feel the same way. Overall I can't recommend the book enough if you are really interested in the subject.

[Radiantflux · Rating 5 out of 5]

63rd book for 2017.

About five years ago I made the decision that I finally had to learn German after several failed attempts at German courses over the previous seven years. Perhaps because I had a psychology background I delved into the scientific literature, and looked at different learning techniques online, to come up with my own set of techniques for self learning. And it worked! In a fairly effortless way I systematically picked up the language, and now five years later I watch movies with close to 100% understanding, read books and newspapers, have conversations with people on the street on any topic I want. I would hesitate to say I am fluent. I still have a long way to go, but I am sure my German will continue to improve in a fairly effortless way.

The language learning community seems to be full of a lot of snake oil salesmen, often offering fluent language abilities within three months (e.g., Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World). A ridiculous claim when any reasonable claim of fluency would require someone to know *at least* 10000 words in their target language (something I challenge anyone to master in less than two-or-three years - and that's of course forgetting all grammar that must be learnt too).

Wyner doesn't do this. He offers a systematic approach to learning any language, and points to lots of useful online resources along the way.

In my opinion, learning a language involves two main stages: the first is learning enough grammar and vocabulary to watch TV and read books; the second stage is mainly about devouring lots of TV and books. Output, speaking and writing, mostly occurs in the latter stages.

Wyner's book is mostly about how to get to this second stage using smart flash cards. I did something similar, though not as deeply, and it worked really well, and so am very sympathetic to this approach.

I like his emphasis on learning pronunciation early on, which is something I didn't do, and which would have made some things easier. I like his use of visual images, sounds, and the IPA in his cards. That seems great. Where I would differ is the idea that you need to learn a lot of (any?) grammar via cards. Most of this will come naturally just by reading and listening.

My sense is that the techniques presented are mostly useful for learning the first 2000-3000 words in a language, after which use of native materials will take you the rest of the way to full fluency. So for an easier language for English speakers (like German or Spanish) this might take up first twelve months of study. After which you need to close your study deck and systematically start devouring the language.

Overall a very good book.

For another take on language learning, but someone who self-learnt 16 (?) languages I can strongly recommend Polyglot: How I Learn Languages by Kató Lomb.

[Walt Bristow · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever struggled to learn another language, Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner should be the next book on your reading list. Wyner, an opera singer, learned the techniques of successfully learning another language by learning a number of languages. He now shares the secrets he learned along the way.

There are three keys Wyner eventually picked up that will help you learn another language. Learn pronunciation first. Don’t translate. Use spaced repetition systems. Those keys probably don’t represent how you were taught to learn another language. And that’s probably why you were frustrated and didn’t learn that other language very well or very easily.

Wyner mentions those keys are the secret to Mormon missionaries being able to learn other languages. Most of those missionaries spend between 4 weeks and 12 weeks learning a new language. They are then thrown into another country where they have to communicate to survive. And they do. Having spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Germany and then having taught German to other Mormon missionaries after my mission, I can tell you that Wyner is right.

Consider each of those keys. The problem with not learning the correct pronunciation from the beginning is that it’s very hard to unlearn bad pronunciation. Think about someone you know who is trying to unlearn a thick regional American accent. It’s not easy.

Don’t translate. This means you’re not thinking, “What’s the German word for bird?” Instead, you see the image of a bird in your mind and you just know it is a “Vogel.” Wyner suggests, for example, that if you use flashcards, you use cards that have a picture on one side and the word for that picture in your new language on the other — no English. In other words, your mind learns to associate the image of a bird with the word “Vogel” instead of your brain translating “bird” to “Vogel.” It works. It really does.

Use spaced repetition systems. Science long ago showed that you’ll remember something better if you learn it today and then recall it at certain intervals thereafter. Learn it today. Check it tomorrow. Then a week later, then four weeks later, etc. I remember trying to do this with flashcards when I was in high school (years ago when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth). It was hard to keep track of which words and phrases I should be practicing today and how many days forward those cards should then be moved. It’s lots easier today – there’s an app for that. Those apps for your smartphone, tablet and desktop computer do all the heavy lifting for you. (By the way, this principle applies to learning anything – not just languages.)

The book itself is invaluable. However, Wyner has integrated much of what the book teaches into a website, fluent-forever.com, that provides resources to help you learn another language. You will find a list of the 625 most common words, pictures you can use for days of the week, for prepositions and for pronouns. You’ll discover ideas on how to use Google to come up with images (so you don’t have to translate). The website also offers a list of resources for learning a variety of languages – Thai or Arabic anyone? There are instructions on how to use those spaced repetition apps for your smartphone or tablet. And there is a shop where you can buy word lists, pronunciation helps and a variety of other tools to help you in your language-learning journey.

Is the book worth its price? Let’s just say I would have jumped at the chance to have this book when I was trying (unsuccessfully it turns out) to learn French in high school or when I learned German as a Mormon missionary (which was successful). I’ve started using Fluent Forever to improve my German. Maybe I’ll even try another language. Yes, it’s worth the price.

This review was based on a free copy of the book provided by bloggingforbooks.org.

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of useful information and tips interspersed throughout way too much information about the author and his semi-related experiences. This book really didn't need to exist IMO because what he writes in here is basically available on his website (and now via the accompanying app as well). Unfortunately, I had no idea there was a website or app until I'd already purchased this book.

Probably the main takeaway here is to start using an SRS - spaced repetition system. If you're not familiar, it's basically fancy flash cards in a program (such as Anki) that, as you review, you see how difficult it is for you to recall information. Based on that, it will show you certain flash cards a set amount of time later when you're about to forget that info. By recalling it at that point, it supposedly gives a big boost to your long term memory and therefore fluency.

About half of the physical book is the actual book. The other half is a "toolbox" with very helpful tips for setting up your flash cards and vocab suggestions, and several appendices with general language learning tips and resources. I almost bumped the rating up to a 4 instead of 3 for this back half alone, but so much of this is available for free if you know where to look (I'm new to language learning outside of a school setting so I didn't).

This isn't a *bad* book and I appreciate the work the author has done here. Given the praise it receives, I guess I was just expecting more unique language learning insights from him and less of a recap of how SRS works.

[Tam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting and makes me feel super motivated. Wyner offers a lot of useful resources for learners to take advantage of for many languages. He made so detailed guide on making flashcards, and compiled his own list of 625 words to start in any language, also found a bunch of books for some most popular languages. I'm very impressed. A little warning, again nothing magical and no shortcut here. You really have to work, and work hard, persistenly.

I totally agree with his approach, which is roughly my way of learning too, though mine is much much less efficient and I am way lazier: (i) tackle pronunciation system really thoroughly (ii) learn high frequency words and phrases (bilingual dictionary + phrasebook good in this stage) (iii) learn structure, grammar and (iv) more advanced vocabulary + structure (monolingual dictionary best). Most useful tool is flashcards and the related SRS. Extremely important is the multidimensional learning: words and how they are connected to sound, in what context, related to what images (for easier memorization), or better, to your own experience. One should actually produce some output: writing and speaking, should watch TV/shows, read books/listen to audio books in target languages.

I love languages but Wyner's writings make me realize oh well, there are people who really love languages. He finds all tasks related to languages enjoyable and talks passionately about them. That's very inspiring.

[Ian D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αισθάνομαι περίεργα που γράφω κριτική για ένα εγχειρίδιο ξένων γλωσσών όμως ο Gabriel Wyner καταφέρνει μέσα σε λίγες σελίδες να ξεκλειδώσει άγραφους κανόνες που μπορούν να κάνουν την εκμάθηση μιας ξένης γλώσσας ευκολότερη και διασκεδαστική. Στο τελευταίο μέρος μας δίνονται πολύ συγκεκριμένες οδηγίες, εφαρμογές και τα αντίστοιχα link για να ξεκινήσουμε με τη γλώσσα της αρεσκείας μας ή να βελτιώσουμε μία που ήδη γνωρίζουμε.

4/5 όχι μόνο για την άψογη δουλειά που έχει γίνει αλλά και γιατί καταφέρνει να μεταδώσει αμετάβλητο το πάθος του συγγραφέα για τη γλωσσομάθεια. Και τώρα συγγνώμη αλλά πάω να φρεσκάρω τα γερμανικά μου.

[Ida Sani · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing resource full of tips and tricks for people who are interested in learning languages. I learned a lot from it!

[Théo M. (bookswiththeo) · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bit repetitive

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Fluent Forever Gabriel Wyner presents a methodology that he has used and refined to learn multiple languages. Gabriel is a ployglot, so his methods come from first-hand experience, but that doesn’t mean his approach will work for everyone. I began this book from the perspective of failure: I tried to learn another language a few years ago and failed. I used the mobile app Duolingo as my primary method in that attempt and despite some persistence and trying to complement Duolingo with some other approaches, I eventually gave up. I concluded the problem was me.

I think I am ready to try again. Not because Gabriel convinced me with some Rah-Rah approach that buoyed my spirits and motivation. Rather, he provided me with a methodology that didn’t candy-coat the effort but instilled enough confidence that I felt my failing might not be entirely of my doing and that I should give it another go.

That doesn’t mean everything about Gabriel’s approach is easy or simple. I probably wouldn’t buy into it if it was. Gabriel has developed a Fluent Forever mobile app to implement the approach outlined in the book whereas the book describes more of a DIY approach using a variety of tools and resources. I liked that he regularly considered cost as factor throughout the process of assembling this methodology as cost can be important. The book occasionally references the app and what the app can provide but never provides a thorough comparison of what parts of the methodology are implemented in the app. I thought this was curious, so as I neared the end of the book i began exploring the app in more detail, including reading third-party reviews. What I discovered is that most reviews conclude that while the app incorporates parts of the methodology, it has not reached a maturity where it includes all the important parts of the methodology. As a result, I found myself returning to the idea of assembling my DIY approach with Gabriel’s guidance. Don’t put too much weight on my use of the DIY term; Gabriel addresses the use of formal language training programs, immersion programs (of which he is a firm believer), tutors, coaches, conversation with fluent speakers of your target language over the internet, etc. He believes all of these, depending on your options and your wallet, can fit into the methodology.

There are four tenets to the methodology that Gabriel outlines:

Pronunciation first - for your confidence and to convince others to speak with you in your target language, you need to address proper pronunciation at the beginning. If you don’t you can slow your progress significantly and develop bad pronunciation habits.
No translations – You need to associate the word in your target language with an image of the object or your memories or understanding or a concept or activity; knowing the comparable word in English accomplishes little, unless your goal is to be a translator, and only adds unnecessary steps that your brain has to go through.
Spaced repetition to help you remember and more importantly to recall, using the Forever Fluent app, an open-source tool, Anki, or a paper card-based method. While this approach is not new, Gabriel puts a lot of emphasis on incorporating personal information and memories into the system and provides numerous ideas on how to use mnemonics.
Real conversation with coaches, tutors, fluent speakers for rent on the internet – whatever methods are easily available to you and work financially.

If you find yourself dismissing any of the points above, I understand, but I would encourage you to read Gabriel’s explanations in the book before doing so.

While the book is enjoyable and for the most part clearly written, he does go into several topics repeatedly and in tremendous detail. At times it feels like his explanations could be more concise. However, I will be giving the learning of another language a second try using the methods and techniques that Gabriel describes. For good or bad, I will come back at some future point and update this review on how the process went.

[Books_the_Magical_Fruit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really has unique and clever ideas to boost your foreign language retention skills. I enjoyed reading about Wyner’s journey in learning and trying out all the different methods and techniques. Because he’s done all the legwork, he has the knowledge to educate the rest of us. I highly recommend trying his techniques out, most especially if you’ve tried learning a foreign language and have been largely unsuccessful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harmony for an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me with my Spanish and I think he has some terrific ideas. I still think a good teacher is the best way to learn a new language but this book has some good insights and knowledge.