Learn ANY Language: A Practical Guide to Learn Any Language to Any Level of Fluency

by Janina L. Klimas

Anyone can learn any language with the right tools and information. In this book, the reader will get the keys to learn ANY language. Learn how languages are learned and the specifics on different levels of fluency, as well as how long it takes to achieve fluency. Ways to measure progress at every point along the way are shared as well a series of actionable steps and exercises to get started. Learn to speak any language to any level of fluency you desire.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2016

Reviews

[Margitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

FROM THE BOOK

I’m going to explain to you why you don’t have to be rich to learn a language. You don’t have to be a genius to learn a language. You don’t have to be well-educated to learn languages. You don’t have to be bored when you’re studying to learn a language. You don’t have to be young to learn another language. You also don’t have to have some mysterious, innate language learning ability. You don’t have to go and move to a foreign country to learn another language. You don’t have to invest thousands and thousands of dollars, pounds or euros in programs that may or may not work.

My first question to self:
Why would someone want to read this particular book? What makes it different from the gazillion others in the same genre?

Because you have set yourself up for learning a language as an adult and need all the tips you can get?

All the information contained in it can be found abundantly on the internet?

There are other books in this genre written in a lot more entertaining way than this one?

Answer: The book contains a lot of information bundled together and saves a lot of time searching resources.

You're interested in languages because you want to travel, get to know your neighbors, emigrate, translate books, or become a translator at the UN. In other words, there are different reasons for different linguistic students to attempt a new language. Your motivation will determine the level you would want to reach in your newly acquired language skills and the time it will take.

What I appreciate about this book is the analytical approach to the study of languages. A more down-to-earth approach to how it works. HOW and WHY it is done. It is not a book promising you an instant fluency in any language, like the 'Instant French for Dummies' kind of books, but when you apply the tips and tricks, the 'instant' tends to vanish from the face of the pages in the DUMMY versions.

Language skills are not acquired easily. It takes a long time.

The thing that I can’t stress enough is that learning a language is not a linear process. We all go through the same stages. We start with nothing. Then we understand. We build more sounds. We next form words. The words build up into phrases. Next are sentences and paragraphs. From there, we just take off.

However, it can be lots of fun, for instance, a lot more fun to participate in a group with a good teacher, than it will be to battle it out all on your own with self-help tools on the internet. But that can also be fun and a great addition to any effort!

A concept, not mentioned in the book, is how you participate in language classes. For instance, it is a lot more fun to be part of a circular group, on a first name basis with the lecturer, than sitting in a lecture hall addressing the tutor formally as 'professor'. In a circular group the implication is equality of all participants, and anybody is allowed to make mistakes in the learning process and laugh about it. Laughing is part of remembering the mistakes better and feeling better about your own efforts. Your choice of participation in a language study will therefor be an important one, depending on which level of fluency you wish to reach and for which purpose. Of course, if you're serious about a new language, you can do all sorts of stuff to improve your skills, and it is explained very well in the book as well. For instance, cook from a recipe in the new language. You're not only learning a lot of new words in context, but also enjoy a new cultural experience.

TIME
Janina Klimas explains the concept of the time it will take very clearly in the book. It is the first time I have come across this valuable analysis of time in any of these kind of books. It prepares the reader for what's lying ahead and why you should understand your efforts with different linguistic adventures.

The first category of languages is said to take from six hundred up to about seven hundred and fifty hours to attain that level of fluency. Those are all languages that are closely related to English. Think of the Romance languages. Think French, Italian, Spanish and Romanian. Think of Scandinavian languages: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Think about Dutch, the language of a close neighbor to England. Afrikaans.

The second category of languages takes a bit longer to learn. German is similar with regard to time frames, but it takes slightly longer to reach that level. Indonesian, Malay and Swahili also belong to this category.

The next category of languages is going to be languages that take roughly a thousand hours to attain that level three we talked about. Think about moving a bit east. Eastern European languages, like Polish or Lithuanian, take longer than the first category we talked about. They’re more culturally and linguistically different.

Go even further away from England now. We’re in yet another category of languages that takes twice as long. This category takes more than two thousand hours to learn. These are languages that are exceptionally difficult for people who speak English. Japanese is a good example. Mandarin, Korean, Arabic, and Cantonese are also in this category.

Then think about those languages that are quite distant. Everything is different. The writing style is completely different. You wouldn’t recognize anything. The religion that most people practice is different. The foods are different. So many things are so different from what we know. We’re going to the other side of the world. China, Korea, and Japan are very distant. Their languages are as well.

Great tips are provided to listen, read and write the new language with practical sets of tasks in accomplishing fluency.

This book is a much more serious approach to learning a language than the average popular renditions found on the airport stands. For me it is aimed at the more serious student and also provide great tips for teachers to smooth the process out for learners. The reader will understand the difference between children and adults learning new language skills. For me personally, a benefit of child-oriented language classes is that they tend to allow more play. Songs and chants are commonplace in children’s lessons, along with physical activities like Simon Says. Adult classes tend to be more analytical and conceptual, which could actually be a missed opportunity.

The book also provides resources for testing your own level of fluency in a language. That's also a new one for this kind of books and highly appreciated. There are five levels of fluency. You will get to know exactly where you stand and where you want to be, but most importantly - how to get there!

The ultimate answer to my question in the beginning is that both tutor and tutored will find this book handy and informative. It provides all the tips and tricks in other books, but also a few most valuable new ones for the serious adventurer into a new language and presented by a serious scholar on linguistics for many years.

[Owlseyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forenote: I've been asked to read and review the book by its author.



Foreword

I reckon my taste for foreign languages stems, a lot, from my own childhood experiences; mainly by exposure to TV/cinema and radio; but especially through music. Yet, paramount was my father's introduction into the world of stamps, and the collection I organized and updated for years. History, Economy, Culture, in a general sense, were some of the "fed" areas, yet language and foreign languages were at the top. I always tried to decipher those symbols and strange languages I saw in stamps of foreign lands. Back then (maybe at 6 years of age?) I wanted to decode the foreign speech/script; then, the encoding/writing wish appeared too. It never stopped.



It's been great so far. I would pinpoint some positive aspects, as well as the less positive ones:

1-The tips/playlists (using menus, concert-tickets, traffic signs ....REALIA) are just fine; there are aplenty; especially for Korean and some European languages (French and Italian), it may work.



2-The Category/taxonomy of languages, according to time necessary for learning, needs some caution; it really depends on the native-language of the learner. Not only. This taxonomy may not apply for, say, a Russian learning English; or a Chinese* or Japanese learning French. I can give my own example: for me Spanish is so easy to learn; that was not the case for the author; it took a while. I would add emotional factors which can accelerate languages learning; take the case of a Tunisian man meeting the Englishwoman, referred in the recent, BBC article by Rebecca Laurence; also the latest book by Lauren Collins on bilingualism**.



3-As for myths/obstacles, Benny Lewis has approached them too***.



4-I would like to see more on the role of the unconscious learning; so far not found; I mean overtly mentioned; but I'll keep on reading.



5-Another issue I'll be attentive to is the role of technology in learning languages; I've been a bit stunned by the enormous possibilities some gadgets offer; like "translation earpieces" capable of live translations.****




CONCLUSIONS

This is a good, encouraging introduction for anyone wanting to be a polyglot; something which is not the case, for most of the people, you would agree. Usually, one wants to master one or two languages.

Tips abound, personal experiences too, and that's great.

Not much has been said on the unconscious learning. [Yet babies do it, while acquiring language]

As to the role of technology, though not that much developed, I would mention the abundant list of e-books, and blogs and podcasts for different languages. That may help.

The chapter on the role of culture and its specificity for each language is relevant.

Recommended, for polyglots and for those of a much humbler purpose, nonetheless.

--

*"Top 10 HARDEST Languages to Learn in the World" (UNESCO's); this is really good, it provides you with the sense of relativity.
in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2lH...

**http://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/story/20...

*** check here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Klimas obstacles/false ideas regarding languages learning are next:
--You've got to be a child to learn another language
--You 've got to have a degree or a formal education.
--You 've got to study abroad.
--You 've got to be rich
--You've got to be a native speaker.
--You 've got to master grammar
--You 've got to have years of painful study of a language.
--You 've got to be a genius.
--You 've got to be bored.

****
An earpiece with LIVE speech translations for foreign languages
in: https://www.facebook.com/inthenow/vid...

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was asked by the author to give an honest review of this book.

(To clarify my own experience in this domain, I am currently working on a Masters of Translation from French to English and have taken numerous linguistics related courses outside of my masters program. I have also dabbled in a couple of other languages, but am by no means a polyglot or a language professional.)

It seems to me like the intended audience for this book are people who have had absolutely zero contact with a foreign language, or maybe only a year or two of a foreign language in high school. I am under this impression because the majority of this book is spent explaining the concept of learning a foreign language with frequent repetition on each point rather than being any kind of practical guide, as its subtitle clearly states.

Granted, there are a handful of practical resources, but they are hard to come by. The first helpful tool I noted came about a third of the way through the book, being the "task notebook" idea. And the lists of resources at the end are helpful as well, although they are so poorly organized that they are almost impossible to reference and could probably be more easily found with a Google search.

I am most worried that this book was written as an advertisement prop for the author's language blog as so much of it seemed like filler and the fact that about half of the resources at the end come from her own blog. There are also literally dozens of pages dedicated to possible topics to write about or talk about for language practice, which is so tedious that it can't possibly be useful. In addition, the majority of her topic lists are most definitely geared towards beginners, thus excluding any usefulness to more advanced learners.

There are also some contradictory statements in this book. Towards the beginning, the author stresses that a beginner cannot possibly speak or write the language as one first has to understand. And yet the author also repeatedly stresses the benefits of speaking from the moment you start learning because of its use in quick learning methods. She also insists that most online tools are not useful because they are poorly organized or not suited to the right level of learner, etc., but then goes on to emphasize how useful podcasts are, in particular her own.

The author's own writing skills are average, at best, as she has numerous comma errors and a very informal style. And when discussing talking to a native speaker, says, "You’re going to learn things that, most likely, you didn’t know before- language they know, that you don’t." She also makes the assumption that any people she hears speaking a language other than English while in England is not taking advantage of their location to practice their English skills, instead of allowing for the fact that they could in fact be practicing a foreign language themselves, that they could be bilingual, etc., or simply that any English language learner is not required to be constantly speaking English while in an English-speaking country... She also dislikes traditional school methods for language learning to the point of asking the reader to contact the administrative body nearest them to argue against the current language learning curriculum.

If the intended audience is indeed language virgins, so to speak, and the purpose of the book is to introduce to said audience the concept of learning a foreign language in such bland and repetitive terms as to insure that literally any English reader could understand, then this book is perfection. However, given that the book's subtitle is "A Practical Guide to Learn Any Language to Any Level of Fluency," I think it has entirely missed its mark. Being the internet age, there are probably millions of resources for language learning available to anyone with an internet connection, and so it is highly improbable that anyone could be at such a beginner level as to need this hand-holding guide to the concept as a whole.

[Sistermagpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you're reading a book about doing or learning to do anything, the most valuable thing you can get is practical steps to take. This book has that in spades. The author is a teacher of languages and it shows in the prose, which is clear and straightforward--iow, practical. She describes what she sees as the flaws in the way language is taught in school, which is important when you're writing about language learning because so many people come to the subject having failed at learning it in school.

After making it clear that the reader *can* learn a language, she lays out things to think about and tasks for how to start. This isn't a course in any particular language, of course, but a way to help anyone studying any language. The tasks and "action steps" alone will be very helpful to a language learning stuck wondering what they should even attempt to say. I'm definitely going to use it a lot.

[Kimberlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five Informative Stars

I have been learning Italian for the last three years. And while I can read it fairly well, I struggle with verbalizing. I found this book as a resourceful and informative in a very personal way. I loved how the author shows pictures on keeping a notebook and notes that are better ways to practice. After reading this book I re-evaluated how I was practicing. I read the Kindle version and the pictures were great. It was also chocked full of resource links I checked out and found informative as well. I highly recommend.

****If you are a Kindle Unlimited Subscriber this is on the free read list****

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book, but I was in no other way urged or compensated to review.

I've read a number of books about language learning this year, and unfortunately this one fell a little short for me. Klimas' writing style is halting and reminded me of a blog post that was turned into a book. Also, as a long-time language learner, I disagreed with some of her recommendations; while I think context and vocabulary is important, Klimas refers to grammar as a "tool" that is secondary or tertiary.

A couple highlights for me:
- She focuses early in the book on active reading as a form of learning in context, which I also find to be useful
- "Realia" as reading material (e.g. plane tickets, subway signs, menus, etc.) because they're critical for surviving in a language and appropriate for all levels

I disagreed with Klimas on the past tense. Sure - many traditional language learners might be able to talk in the past tense about a subject but may not be able to easily communicate directions or how to get around. But first of all, in all of the foreign language classes I've taken, we've been taught how to order food, how to ask for directions, how to give directions, etc. So I'm not sure where she's encountering people in traditional learning settings who don't know those beginner-level items. Furthermore, she says the past tense is way too advanced and takes "years of study." I strongly disagree. The reason I've progressed so quickly in French - besides having Spanish under my belt - is that I can easily use le passé composé and l'imparfait. Perhaps understanding how and when to use one over the other is what she's getting at, but it wasn't entirely clear. Knowing how to use the French past tense has made things much easier and has expanded my ability to communicate.

Anyway, I'd suggest reading this if you're into language learning books and resources. There are certainly some gems in here and will be focusing more on reading in context and "realia," but some of these recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Dimitris Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

25/01/2018 EDIT: I'm adding in the summary of the book's action steps in the words of the author:

The first step, is to review all of the action steps. They are compiled here for easy reference:

1. Throw away everything you ever thought you knew about learning languages. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to spend half your life trying to study a language. You don’t have to be Doctor/Professor/ Genius insert-your-last-name. You don’t have to have a million dollars, pounds, euros, yuan, yen or whatever, to attain these skills.

2. You don’t have to speak perfectly. You can make lots of mistakes and still be understood. You do have to have a willingness to understand how to learn languages and how to apply it, in order to meet your goals in your language.

3. On the matter of language learning in schools, please contact school districts and write your political leaders. In many school language programs, the traditional paradigm sets up students and teachers for failure. Unless people have the correct knowledge and materials to set up a program that assesses students all the way through, from beginning to advanced, and provides a long enough time sequence to be able to do so, languages in school are going to continue to not be a great experience for most people.

4. Be informed as you approach materials for the independent study of languages. I know I called out a few language programs but the truth is, I think any exposure you get is great. I also think a lot of the programs - particularly audiobook-type programs - are fantastic to learn useful words and phrases. You can listen if you’re going for a walk, cleaning the house or in the car. While they can be a useful way to pick up words and phrases, you need to be realistic. You need to be informed about how much input you will actually get, in order for them to be effective.

5. Decide what your idea of fluency is. What’s going to work for you? What’s going to work in your life? How much time do you have to dedicate to this endeavor? Do you want to go on a trip to Italy? In that case, maybe you can stay toward the upper bubbles. Do you want to move to China and fit in with the locals? Then you need to be way more advanced.

6. You need to decide where you want to be. After you’ve made those decisions, you need to learn about the amount of time it’s going to take to get to your goal, in your specific language. You also need to figure out how you’re going to get there with the time you have.

I was sent this book in digital format in exchange for an honest review. It took me more than a year to actually get down to it and finishing it. Sorry about that, JK.

What I enjoyed about this book was that it got me really motivated to actually communicate in different languages. The criticism on the different kinds of school system sounded familiar, and the realisation that I'm not even communicating in my supposed mother tongues perfectly, let alone that I wasn't born a native speaker in them and that I had to go through the long process of becoming one, did strike home. I loved how far she went to get across that no-one expects us to be perfect when we're learning a foreign language, and that errors should be taken advantage of, not feared. "There is no failure, only feedback" truly is the golden rule here, as with anything.

I don't believe this book is just for absolute beginners or people who haven't ever learned foreign languages--I was able to get something out of it even with plenty of experience in languages. I see Learn ANY Language as more of a collection of resources and unique methods that can greatly expand your concept of what learning a language actually has to entail. I've been getting creative with learning or improving my working languages (mainly English, Spanish, German and to a lesser extent Bulgarian and Danish) for some time now by using podcasts, conversation exchange/tandem meetings, movies, video games, Memrise, Language Transfer incl. others, but Mrs. Klimas broadened my already airy horizons even more, and I'm thankful for it.

I also enjoyed learning about language skill assessment, the learning process and the practicalities of which parts of the traditional learning systems really work and which don't, which is always a topic that fascinates me---just imagine how different things could really be...

Admittedly, I didn't like some of the assumptions she made, e.g. that as a reader of the book I must be an L1 English speaker, for example, or that learners should spend some years working with specific structures before getting into more advanced ones, e.g. spending 1-2 years without being properly taught the past tenses or other ways to formulate the past in the given language. Judging by how much people tend to talk about the past, that sounds a bit counter-intuitive and an arbitrary limitation.

I also thought there were plenty of grammar errors and repetitions of advice and sentences throughout the book that cheapened the look and feel of the endeavour, especially on a topic such as language. But these are relatively small issues compared to the value that can be got out of this book, if one is only willing and motivated.

If you're motivated, this book will give you ideas and specific advice. If you're not, it might help you get there. Recommended for anyone interested in being a polyglot.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick disclaimer: I received a MOBI formatted copy of this book from the author for the purpose of a fair and unbiased review. I have neither read other reviews of this book nor read any information about the author prior to reading the book itself and writing this review.

The author, Janina Klimas, opens the book by asking the reader if they've felt their prior experience in learning a language was less productive than desired, or if they're a new learner curious about how to proceed and succeed in becoming fluent. She promises to take the reader "on my journey in learning one foreign language to the point of being bilingual". Framed thusly, I expected the contents of the book to follow a time-line or structured plan of sorts. She expounds upon her credentials and assures the reader that with the information and tools she provides, one can succeed.

In "My Story", the author recalls her personal experiences. Her passion for learning language was established at a young age and her experience with languages follows a familiar path through her school years. She tells us of her shifting interests, her observations, and her struggles. Ultimately, she chooses a career in languages, trying to push through the plateaus and find better ways of learning and teaching languages. Yet, this is far as the "journey" really goes.

The entire book would have benefited from the skill and brutal honesty of a quality editor. Janina has a lot of valuable insight to share, if you can power through the distractions of her writing style. For example, in "Anyone Can Learn Any Language", her ultimate goal is to direct the reader to, "...throw away everything you ever thought you knew about learning languages." It is such a powerful statement, one that was wasted at the end of the chapter.

She continues, "You don't have to be perfect, You don't have to spend half your life trying to study a language. You don't have to be Doctor/Professor/Genius insert-your-last-name. And you don't have to have a million dollars, pounds, euros, yuan, yen, or whatever to attain these skills." This paragraph was found at the end of the chapter in a sub-section she labeled "Action Steps". Compare that to the actual first paragraph of the chapter:

"As a person who has taught and learned languages all over the world for many years, people are always sharing with me their stories and experiences in language learning. To be honest with you, many of them are pretty sad. And these aren't unintelligent people. These are smart people. These are people who are hard-working. These people know how to make things happen."

Rather than setting the tone for the chapter, the opening paragraph informs the reader that the author has used the following space to share stories of other language learners who may have struggled. Except that wasn't the direction of the chapter at all. For seven paragraphs, the author illustrates how prolific bilingual speakers are in other countries. This information is intended to convince the reader that it is possible to learn a language. Finally, the author begins to list the common myths she wants to dispel, those preconceived notions you should "throw away", remember?

Although she makes an effort to summarize her thoughts at the end of each chapter, the action steps are less prescriptive and more descriptive. Had these been lifted to the beginning of each chapter, and the remaining content given a liberal application of red pen, the result may have been closer to what she had intended: a road map or journey to success in learning any language.

In its current form, the book reads like a blog put to a published document format. I would have honestly been disappointed spending any amount of money on this book, which I find terribly unfortunate. The author has valuable insight and provides a number of exercises one can employ to learn new languages, but her writing style and lack of editing make the information less accessible.

[DeAnna Knippling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This isn't a book on how to speak XYZ foreign language, but a book on how and why current language students get stuck. Because this is a book primarily on how to unstick yourself, it gets repetitive at times. The same general principle applies throughout, but there are so many ways to mess it up that the separate arguments for each point feel a bit like nagging when taken all together.

But in the end, it feels doable. Even pleasant. My previous foray into language study was Duolingo, where I had the same problems as described elsewhere in the book: progress was too fast. Too fast. Suddenly vocab words were nitpicky sentences, and I gave up.

This book covers the gap between easy and too hard, tells you what to look for, and shows you what non-fluent success looks like.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was written in a way that is easy to read and make sense of. The author talks about personal experience learning a language and shares insight on how you can achieve fluency by following the various steps outlined in the book.

My favorite part of this book was the information about first steps. There is a list that gives you some things you can do to start learning a language, from there you can progress into more intermediate and then advanced.

This book was informative. The biggest challenge I am going to have is finding the time to apply the concepts, but I am positive it will be worth it. Thanks for the opportunity to read.

Disclaimer: I was awarded this book from the author. Though I did not pay for the book, the opinions are strictly my own.

[Daisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a treasure trove of practical, hands-on tips and tricks for anyone wanting to learn a new language. Klimas presents her range of techniques, tips and experiences in a lively, personal voice which broaches perfectly what I think is the key message of this book: anyone can learn a language. Sure, people are always raving about foreign exchange programs and immersing yourself in the native country and all that, but this book explores the ways in which those extravagant techniques aren't quite perfect, and certainly aren't for everyone - really making the reader believe they can tackle the task of learning a new language from home and with minimal (or no) money spent. What I loved though was that not only does the author judiciously analyse these supposedly miracle techniques for language-learning, she also considers them as real options and explores how they can be helpful, as well as flawed.

You can really tell the author is competent and experienced in this field and her tell-it-like-it-is honestly really makes you feel like you're in safe hands with this as your guide when embarking on learning a second language. Even when she says she prefers one method to another, she won't discount the alternative and presents all the resources and know-how about that technique anyway, in case you think that's for you. As well as this, a range of statistics are gathered and clearly presented as concrete answers to questions I'm sure we've all asked when approaching learning a new language.

My one complaint was that I often felt like everything the author knew was being jammed in here and as a result the focus felt quite all-over-the-place at times, jumping across topics and unexpectedly returning to develop ideas mentioned earlier on. While I appreciate that as much content as possible was packed into this quick read, I do think it could have done with a slightly clearer direction as looking back I think it would be quite hard to find particular points and anecdotes.

Overall however, I really enjoyed this book and gathered a lot of useful information and advice from it. The chapters are short and there is always a brief summary of the key point made at the end of the section, so it reads very easily. There are also many pictures of real things the author has used and colourful spreads to drill down on essential points, making the book highly interactive and approachable, which I thought was great. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in learning new languages.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Alex Reborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am impressed by how refreshing this book felt when it comes to such a subject like language learning! The approach suggested here was to learn a new language in context. Starting with grammar and with things that can't be used in real life situations right from the start are not effective. I think this book works very well for people trying to learn how to speak in a new language, but serious, academic learning might not work exactly the same, because it is more difficult to unlearn something than to learn it correctly from the start (even if mistakes are to be expected and accepted during the entire process).

I liked the book and how everything was explained, but the resources offered at the end of the book are nicely collected. I especially like that there is a list with the things that can be learned for each level of fluency. It starts with simple things that you should know how to say in your target language such as saluting, counting, ordering food or asking for directions, then, of course, it gets more complex and you can choose what interests you. The basic idea of how to do this is to have the vocabulary you might need in a certain situation, some phrases that you should use and with these tools you're supposed to get yourself in the circumstances to use it. I think that is a very good starting point, to which I might add the possible responses from people, so you can actually understand what they are saying. Listening and comprehension should probably be just as high as a priority as speaking (and writing). Reading can be a highly efficient tool for learning, so basically there's no part that can be skipped for learning a language. Each has their own role and they have to be used together for the best results (my conclusion).

Finally, the author managed to explain very well the reasons why it is so difficult to learn a language in school. Relying only on school for that purpose is clearly a mistake even in my experience), because the strategy is flawed. It starts with very simple things, but it is expected for students to reach an unattainable level by the end of the year (I also remember never finishing the school textbooks). Then, everything is fixed within exercises with one good answer and many which are wrong, and it doesn't allow the students to really express themselves in the new language because conversational skills are not really used. To know a foreign language means that you can create it, through speech and writing.

I would like to thank the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review.

[Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am learning Russian on my own and I realize it is going to take years. However, everywhere I browse I see adds for "become fluent in any language in 3 months", "learn a language in 6 weeks", "become an webdeveloper in 3 weeks", "become an ethical hacker and earn a 6 figure income afer watching 30 hrs of videos", ... No, you won't. It is dispiriting. Why this lack of respect for learning?
Enter "Learn any language". In this book the author, a language teacher herself, writes about the difficulties she experienced whilst learning languages, about her experiences teaching languages, how learning languages at school could be improved, what to focus on when you start learning, what to focus on when you are ready for the next level, how to find free online resources, how to have fun during the journey, ... This was a much needed realitycheck and it provides a lot of tips and tricks that I intend to include in my own language learning.
The only thing that, IMO, was missing was an overview, as summary of the tips and tricks for the different stages of learning a new language. When starting to learn a new language, you must focus on this and that, and these are some resources that can help you. When ready for the next level, you must then focus on this and that, and here is a list of resources, ... The information is there, there are lots of tips and tricks, but they are in the text, not in an overview or summary. I could have taken notes, but I didn't wanted to interrupt the flow of reading. Maybe I am going to have to read it again.
(Thanks to the author for providing a review copy!)

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, full disclosure, I was given a free kindle copy of this book by the author, who requested I write a review. I was incredibly flattered by the request, though for all I know she just saw that I had read and reviewed language books on goodreads before. I have no idea how thoroughly I was vetted. I am only fluent in English with a smattering of words and phrases in other languages. I'm a language geek, not a language nerd, by which I mean that I have a great passion and interest for other languages, but I am not particularly successful at actually learning them.

If I were to boil my review down to two points it would be 1) I found it informative and helpful and 2) I did not care for reading it. The first point is more relevant. This book genuinely affected the way I think about language learning in a way that makes sense and may (too soon to tell—I only finished it today) help me learn new languages in the future. My issues were more a matter of writing style and textual errors than anything, and they do not affect the book's ability to instruct at all.

The actual helpfulness of the book is somewhat rear-loaded. The first fifth of the book contains virtually no instruction, while the last third or so is almost entirely practical exercises and resources (but you should really read the middle to understand and appreciate the practical parts).

[Anna del C. Dye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janina Klimas talks in her book “Learn ANY Language: A Practical Guide to Learn Any Language to Any Level of Fluency” about how the actual learning of languages takes place and on how we produced language. With comprehension, or understanding of what we read and what we hear we are able to talk any language.
I am a bilingual speaker and I understand what she means when she shows why even with years of schooling on a language we aren’t able to talk said language. She will gave you a clear hope and a better idea of how to learn any language but also how long it will take you to do so. This book is a great read for anyone who have many question before or after starting learning a new… and any language. I found “Learn ANY Language: A Practical Guide to Learn Any Language to Any Level of Fluency” refreshingly real and down to earth and also I believe that it will gave you hope and a positive attitude toward this rewarding goal.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I was asked by the author to review this book.
I'm only giving this 3 stars, because I've read several other books on languages and a bunch of websites and forums on the same topic. So almost all of this was old information to me. That said, for those of you interested but not very knowledgeable on the subject, this is probably a four star book for you. The main issue I had was the writing style, while not boring, wasn't very interesting, but I'll admit that even as someone interested in languages, it's hard to write interestingly about that topic.

[Magdalena Golden · Rating 5 out of 5]

[I was given a copy of the book by the author in exchange for a fair review]

Janina Klimas's book reminded me a lot of Benny Lewis's Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World. They are both books aimed at people wanting to learn a foreign language and since I read Benny's book not very long ago I couldn't help but compare the two.

The key difference between the two, in my opinion, is that Benny's book concentrates pretty much exclusively on self-learning and survival skills whereas Janina's can be used both as a self-learn guide as well as a great tool for language teachers at all stages of learning.

Both of them have a "pep-talk" section and I think that this kind of thing is important to read every now and then. Especially since everybody seems to have different types of insecurities when it comes to language learning. One of the things that Janina mentions a few times is that one shouldn't be discouraged by one's educational background or economic status. It came to me as a surprise that many people would think that only rich and educated are fit to learn a foreign language but upon reflection I realised that it is true that some people believe that the only way to learn a language is to spend a ton of money on study abroad programs etc. Whatever your excuse is, you're bound to find Janina's expert rebuttal.

For me, personally, the biggest block, which had been hammered to me since I was little, is that unless I had a bilingual family, there was no way for me to ever become fluent in another language because children have some language learning superpower that adults (or even older children) lack. Janina breaks down the language-learning process to several stages and points out how many mistakes children make when they learn a language and how we find them cute whereas when we learn a foreign language as adults we somehow expect to be doing things perfectly from day one. It's a very similar kind of thing I remember reading in Benny's book and in both cases it renewed my resolve to accept my mistakes, correct them and move on without being bogged down by them.

One other point of Janina's book which I found hugely insightful was her critique of available language learning programmes. Her knowledge as language educator shines here as she explains the focus of structure vs skill-guided learning. It made me remember how, when learning English at school and in after-school classes, between my friends we would brag about how many English tenses we knew and that seemed to be the measure of how successful we were in learning the language. It seems utterly ridiculous to me now but, as Janina points out, it's a very common way for courses to be constructed.

Not stopping at bashing structure-guided teaching, Janina offers a ton of advice on how to break out from this mould and how to make real-life skills the centre of teaching. Each chapter of Learn ANY Language ends with "Action Steps" section which offers concrete activities to help with learning.

In fact, I think the strongest point of the book is its value as a compendium of ideas for skill-based activities. The entire Tasks section provides ideas for *years* of study activities that will have immediate positive effects on communicative skills acquisition. There is also a section devoted to language-specific platforms but if I were to be picky I'd say this is the weakest part of the book - the sites listed are, for the most part, not particularly interesting, with way too many being just foreign language versions of Yahoo or MSN.

To come back to the comparison with Fluent in 3 Months - Janina's statements regarding reaching fluency are not quite as bold as Benny's but her take-home message is in the end very similar. I think it's best summarised in my favourite quote from her book:

Lastly, don't take yourself too seriously. You're not going to speak Spanish like a native in a week. But you know what? You can learn how to communicate, in a lot of contexts, within a week.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anybody learning or teaching a foreign language. As a person who frequents Language Exchange meetups it gave me a lot of ideas on both how to prepare for those sessions to maximise my learning and how to teach my exchange partners - what kind of questions to ask them that will let them build their communicative skills.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

***NOTE - I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review***

This book had a lot of pros and cons, and unfortunately for me, I found more cons than I did pros. However, I'd like to focus on the things I liked first, and then get into the cons.

-I very much appreciated her explanation of language comprehension through the stages of how one learns to speak their native tongue as very young children. It seems so simple that I'm surprised no one has ever brought this up before in the many books on language learning that I have read. Something just clicked in my brain and it suddenly doesn't seem as daunting taking on a new language.
-I really like the suggestion of making your own MP3 "survival playlist". I think this is a really clever idea and can be very beneficial while traveling.
-I also like the idea of color-coding flashcards. This is something I've heard before, but I personally find it a very helpful tool, especially as someone who focuses on Asiatic texts.
-I think the list of task phrases as well as the thorough list of resources is absolutely wonderful. I've had task phrases in other books before, but they have never been this thorough. The resources are equally as abundant. I appreciate that they are broken into general resources (by heading topic) and then language-specific resources.

And now, unfortunately, the cons...

-This felt so unorganized and scattered. As I was reading, I got the distinct feeling like someone had spoken the book into a speech-to-text app and then used whatever resulted as 90% of their material. It was really distracting and not at all suited for educational reading. I found myself constantly editing sentences in my head, or having to read certain things over again at times. For a book that emphasizes paying attention to detail and being thorough, the writing style and multiple errors do not make me very faithful in the author's ability to coach someone through learning a language. This sentence alone, taken from pages 111-112 of the ebook, was enough to drop my overall rating a full star: "Undocumented workers from Mexico make for some of the most reasonable prices in the world for food for the average American compared with wages".
-The author contradicted themselves at times. They went on at length about how reading and familiarizing oneself with the printed language is crucial to developing positive learning habits, but then directly contradict this on page 63 by stating they like stay away from printed media at the very beginning stages. It's never really clear what the author is really suggesting, at least I did not find it clear.
-The author uses a lot of statistics and makes general mentions of things here and there but there is not one reference for any of these claims. That really bothers me, especially because this is supposed to be an educational book. It doesn't necessarily endear me to trusting the author; if they're not at least attempting to cite basic things like statistics how am I supposed to feel about trusting their own anecdotes about foreign languages they've had experience with.
-This is a little nit picky, as the idea gets across just fine, but the author had several lists that were not "in order". An example is their list of "high school, middle school and college". While I realize there are much bigger things to worry about in a book, this sort of thing just added a layer to the already unorganized feeling the book has. To me it showed a lack of paying attention to detail.
-Another thing that could be deemed as nit picking, but I feel is actually quite important, is picture quality. In the instances where examples were taken from the author's own notebooks, the images were of poor quality. It made things harder to read, and again, took my focus away from the content. It would have been nice if the author had taken the time to convert their own resources into nice infographics like the remainder of the images in the book.

Overall it is just ok. I have read multiple books on learning languages and thoughts about fluency in languages, and this one just isn't up there for me. A lot of what is in the book are things I am already familiar with, which is in no way a fault of the book or author; however, it's presentation is what really hinders it. The organization, layout and general execution really hinder what could be a nice, compact read for beginners. As I said before, the generous task and resource list are its saving grace. I will personally be utilizing those resources in my own studies, and is something I would happily recommend to others. As for the rest of the book, I can't honestly say that it is something I would recommend if the author were ever to remove those resources.

[Shyhana♛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve learned a lot of great and creative tips from this book and I’ll try to use them in my learning foreign languages' journey🙏🏻❤️

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Thank you to the author for providing a review copy!)

I have always been one of those people who assumed that I am "just not good" at learning foreign languages. I've dabbled in a wide range since high school, trying to find something that would "click" for me: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, and even American Sign Language. I've tried text books, language tapes, online programs, flashcards--you name it. And every time, I've inevitably been frustrated by my inability to hang on to what I was learning. After a while I kind of put the attempts at language learning on the back burner, because it was too frustrating.

Recently, I decided that I wanted to get back into language study. I still have my instructional CDs in Spanish, German, French, and Italian. There are tons of resources available at the local library and online. And it's winter now--if I'm going to be stuck inside because of the cold weather, why not take up a learning hobby to pass the time?

Once again, though, there's that general feeling that I'm "bad" at learning a language. So my interest was definitely piqued when I got an email asking if I'd like to review a copy of Learn ANY Language: A Practical Guide to Learn Any Language to Any Level of Fluency. Any language? Any at all? Even if I'm "bad" at languages? I definitely wanted to see what tips and tricks I could glean from this book before tackling a language program again.

Klimas breaks down in detail the process of learning a new language and how to approach the learning process to best suit your own needs. She offers a lot of tidbits that I'd never really considered before, but that made a lot of sense. For example, she talks about some of the reasons a traditional high school language course won't necessarily leave you with a good conversational grasp of a language, and why studying abroad is not necessarily the magic bullet to becoming proficient. As someone who's never taken a formal language class or been immersed abroad, I always wondered if this left me a few steps behind other language learners, so getting that out of the way made me feel a lot better!

Another point she makes that I think is not made often enough to language learners is that "fluent" is a sliding scale. Instead of working toward a rigid end goal of one-size-fits-all fluency, she encourages learners to customize their learning program and goals to the level of fluency they need for their specific lives. One person's idea of "fluent" might be conversational phrases and ordering in a restaurant, so lots of emphasis on grammar would be unhelpful. For another person who wanted to learn to read a newspaper in another language, a different level of fluency would be required, and a different path of study would be required.

I do want to say that this book is definitely geared toward beginners, or those with little experience in language study, like myself. If you're already benefiting from a formal study course or have lots of language experience and are looking to master a higher comprehension of a specific language, then you probably won't learn anything new from this book. But for someone like myself who's tried and failed to get past Spanish 1, I think this book could be very helpful in reenergizing your self-study course.

I don't want to cover all of the points from the book in this review because, obviously, I don't want to spoil it for you--you should read it for yourselves! But it definitely changed how I thought about the learning process, and gave me lots of helpful tips and tasks for tackling my language learning in a different manner. After reading this, I'm actually excited to jump back into learning a language again! And I definitely feel like I have a better shot at it this time around, now that I have these little tweaks to smooth out the process.

[Leann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great resource! I have read several books on language learning and I think I learned more about the process from this one than any of the others I have read. I received the ebook version and it is LOADED with links and resource helps. If you are learning a language I highly recommend this book to guide you on your way to being as successful as you want to be. No more failed language learning for me!

I was asked to review this book and was pleasantly delighted with the opportunity to do so!

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure:I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is that review.
Guides to how to acquire languages seem to be quite in vogue at the moment, and I daresay if you've read one you'll probably not want to spend time reading another. I must admit to only having filleted this one for tips rather than read it cover to cover. It's short and dense with information so that wasn't hard. Like most books of its type it starts by reassuring you that learning a language - while it takes time and effort - is not out of the reach of the average mortal; that nobody is "bad" at languages (although we all have days where we bloody well feel like it!) and that acquiring one doesn't necessarily mean going back to reciting verb tables by rote. All standard stuff.
So why pick it over - say - Benny Lewis's book, or Gabriel Wyner's or... (insert polyglot guru of choice)? I think a large part of your reason for choosing a text is likely to be governed by the personality of the writer and whether you feel like you can spend a few hours in their company. Some are blokish, some self-absorbed, some cerebral. This one seems to be very practical in its focus and aimed at conveying tips rather than bigging up the author. Obviously she tells her own story at the start (a vital part of the formula of a polyglot book: I'm an ordinary person like you) but I didn't get the sense of this being a vanity project or anything - she just gets on with it.
OK, so to come back to those practical examples I mentioned: there are a lot of pictures in the book showing lists and diagrams. This is really useful if you want to be able to bootstrap your way into a language without having to make it all up yourself or jumping in at the deep end with a language exchange on day 1. Many polyglot guides will be careful to avoid references to specific languages as a way of showing how universally-applicable the ideas are, but I think most newbies will appreciate something more concrete. This book has that in spades. I guess the only drawback is that the examples, of necessity, are of a specific language. If you happen to be studying one of the languages chosen (Korean, Spanish and French all feature heavily) that'll be a blessing but I can imagine if not you might feel they weren't speaking to you in quite the same way. At the end, there are tons of links and books mentioned but again only for specific languages. One of those languages is "Brazilian Portuguese". Boo hiss.
So, getting right down to it, this is a good, practical guide for the new learner, more user-friendly than most, not flashy, and maybe not as "windswept and interesting" as some of the more fashionable ones either but well worth a look if you just want to get started quickly and with as little fuss as possible.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclosure: I was asked by the author to provide an honest review of this book.

Janina Klimas' explanation and information regarding language learning is very interesting - I appreciate her perspective on what is effective and was is less so, especially since she has an educational background. I also liked her numerous ideas and suggestions for ways to practice learning a language. My main critique is that this book could be edited down a bit - there were some repetitive parts and areas that were a bit over explained. I would definitely recommend this book for people interested in learning a foreign language who have little to no background or have only taken language classes in school and aren't sure where to begin.

[Georgi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book with the asking for a honest review. Hereby I will try to stay objective and provide my personal thoughts on the read.


I personally respect highly the notion that language learning and many aspects of the educational methodology per se are due for a major overhaul for quite some time now. Quite often teachers and pupil still rely on relic approaches, which even if working are far away from even marginally reaching the efficiency of various new ideologies and also help from technical side.

The author is an American and has dealt with a variety of languages (as well as the process mastering of those) and is actively teaching. Thus her expertise I'm the field deserves trust.
Throughout the book she questions the typical school approach for language learning and presents her own perspective - approaching any kind of language strategically, defining the ultimate goals (upfront) and breaking the task into smaller, logical bits and pieces. Furthermore the author provides with some valuable insights about various side aspects of language learning as for instance it's tight relationship with the local culture and common way of living.

The book would serve as a great starting point for first time language learners, who do not know what to expect or how to proceed with arising challenges. It also helps mitigate the self doubt and judgement, which are some times not so much due to the pupil, but rather the system.
One other target group may be teachers looking for a fresh perspective.


For me in the role of somebody planning to start with a 3. Foreign language, the book didn't offer too much breakthrough ideas. At some stages I found statements not covered by enough actionable advice. Some repetition is present.
However, I found the last 1/5 very useful - there the reader finds a well organized list for useful sentences to start with when approaching a new language. The book has practical approach. One other great thing about the book is the structured presentation of various groups of languages and the explanation of what do those have in common and how much time would one need to become fluent in one of them. Speaking of fluency, the author dissects the notion of fluency and helps people understand what level of command would best suit their needs and thus avoid disappointment or false aspirations for achieving more.

People, who found it interesting, may also be well advised to check out Tim Ferrisss' take on language learning.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was offered a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


"Learn ANY Language" bills itself as a practical handbook specifically aimed at adult language learners. I was not the target market, as I was not actively looking to learn a new language, but if I do get that desire this book seems like an okay addition to a general curriculum.

The author writes in a friendly tone, keeping things very matter-of-fact. Her stated goal is to "explain to you the methods and actionable steps that you can take to learn any language." (p 8) It's that "actionable steps" part that I most looked forward to. But as the book continues on, she spends more and more time critiquing formal foreign language instruction without developing her own process beyond allusions to some sort of unique program.

First off, her bio is a rather lengthy -- skim it and get right into the good stuff!

Section 2 reviews some of the shortcomings of common foreign language instruction. Skim this chapter, too; I'm sure you're already familiar with what doesn't work for you.

It's around page 25 that we start to get into the more helpful passages. Now she's asking us to define what fluency means for ourselves, to think realistically about what goals we have and what level of communication we desire. Which makes a lot of sense: somebody moving to China will want to learn a lot more than somebody visiting for a week-long vacation! I like how she works to build our own confidence and realistic goals. I don't like how she mentions other findings or other linguists with the exhortation, "if you want to learn more, I recommend looking it/them up."

Further along, we get some middlingly-helpful advice to look at "realia" to help us learn; that is, to use menus, advertisements, ticket stubs, and other common printed materials in our language of choice to have more practical exposure. Not a bad idea, like much of her advice, but not exactly the groundbreaking revelation I hoped for.

At the end is a comprehensive appendix (titled the "Independent Language Learner Resource Guide") that lists page after page of weblinks, blogs, podcasts, audiobooks, and further resources all helpfully arranged by language. This is the treasure trove of "next step" assistance that will really help students immerse themselves and practice further.

2 stars out of 5.

[Nina Norstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was gifted this book to give an honest review. This book is detailed in its own unique way. It breaks it down for the basic beginner. Readers will learn varied languages from the life of its author. And that in itself is a direct quote (from its author), “I'm going to share with you the work of my life so that you, or anybody that you care about, can get down to the important stuff and learn any language.”
Seemingly, it’s more of a “discussion guide” for self-help which introduces its reader on how to go about learning a particular language . . . any type one wants to know. And its language structured style for presentation slightly differs from the custom ones on this platform. At least, that’s my perception.
Anyhow, these are a few language categories (the author) tapped into: Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, German, Malay, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Of course, there are many others and all are broken down into their respective levels. Appears, the author has spent countless hours explaining the concept as opposed to presenting its readers with the practicalities of a users’ guide.
This “discussion” guide walks a reader through on “how to go about” ones’ learning aspect, of a foreign language. Although I’d rather embrace more of a development on an overall “breakdown” of its outlined syllables and/or pronunciation style-like format . . . filled with plenty of classroom exercises, that’s just a personal preference (and use of).
What else does it offer? There’s an array of reference sources, one may find to be helpful. And this was done throughout the book not just its back matter.
This book does have a certain style set-up from the norm . . . somewhat of a unique twist (if I may add). Truly, different can be a good thing. All-in-all, it doesn’t take away from getting the message out. Interested in knowing more than one language? Read it yourself . . . a book to elevate that skill.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn ANY Language: A Practical Guide to Learn Any Language to Any Level of Fluency is directed to novice language learners with no experience in learning languages; not to those who have mastered several already. As such, it begins with the basics of what language is, how it is learned, and the author's own experiences growing up in an English-speaking household with little to no contact with foreign languages.

Mastering Spanish in school still didn't result in any real fluency in the language, so Janina Kilmas embarked on a journey to gain these skills; the results of which are posted on her blog and here in her basic primer.

The first thing to note (besides its audience: the bare-bones, non-linguist) is its method. You don't have to be a child with uncommon abilities to absorb a language, nor do you have to be surrounded by a language's native speakers in order to gain fluency. What is required is an attention to detail and a method of quick comprehension.

Pages of introductory detail encourage newcomers to learn a new language, pairing an overview of common myths and misconceptions about the process with a light historical review and survey of what defines 'fluency' in any given language.

Later chapters hold more specifics about technique, from close, deep reading and workbook notes to understanding word patterns in other languages, listening to books on tape in foreign languages, and navigating different levels of language learning to build a progressive foundation of knowledge.

It should also be advised that this is no quick process: readers who look to gain fluency in a short period of time should know that fluency and quality language learning commonly do not translate into 30- or even 90-day time frames.

All this said, beginners new to the idea of learning a foreign tongue from scratch will find Learn ANY Language offers a delightful start to the process and provides much encouragement and basic methodology.

[Laura K · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are studying another language or thinking of doing so, this book is definitely worth reading!

Pages 1 through 40 (on my digital e-reader) are really just an introduction and explanation of philosophy and goals and a bit repetitive. For me, the real substance of the book started with the section labeled "Comprehension" (although you are going to want to understand the author's philosophy of learning versus the traditional ways, so can skim through the beginning or refer back to it as you go).

I enjoyed the photos of the author's own learning materials. She included notes and exercises from her learning of languages years earlier, complete with a few errors. What an excellent idea and no better way to show "real" examples of learning.

The two best things about this book:

1) it was a perfect mixture of "old school" and "new tech". There are tips and hints for using traditional dictionaries and notebook paper as well as using the latest apps and MP3 recordings. You can use all or a few.
2) The list of exercises and resources in the back of the book are excellent. I have been studying languages for years and thought that I was pretty well-versed in available resources but I was unaware of many that are presented here. Many are free. This is absolute BEST list of exercises and resources that I have ever seen.

The author stresses that you don't need to be perfect. She encourages the learner to stop stressing about having an accent, to stop focusing so much on grammar, and to just enjoy being understood. That alone was a refreshing and practical approach.

This book is truly a practical, do-able guide for those of us who want to learn a foreign language for fun or travel. And for students, it would be an excellent additional resources to use along with the traditional learning.

* I was asked by the author to review this book.

[Charles Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many myths about language learning, most of them designed to convince us that learning a foreign language is all but impossible for the average person. In Learn Any Language by Janina Klimas these myths are ripped to shreds and flushed away.
A language teacher and speaker of several languages, Klimas addresses the history of language and language teaching in the United States, and then offers detailed, step-by-step guidance that will enable anyone to learn any foreign language, with or without a teacher.
Klimas uses her own experiences and gives examples from several languages to help the novice language student navigate the tricky waters of learning a new language. With more than two decades of language learning and teaching, she has learned the most important element of conveying such instructions; communicating in a clear and unambiguous manner. Her detailed plans for structuring your personal language program don’t require you to be rich or possess a super-high IQ, nor do you need to travel abroad. All you need is the desire to learn and the will to apply these common sense techniques.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Amy Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the review I wrote for Amazon:

I received a free copy of this book, with a request to review, probably because I reviewed language books on Goodreads. I love to learn languages and can communicate pretty well in French, German and Spanish, and have studied challenging languages such as Russian, Arabic and Chinese.

Some reviewers see this mainly as a book mainly for beginners, and it does focus on debunking myths on language learning, and on encouraging people who feel like failures in this area. However, it also has a lot of information for more experienced learners, including a good summary of online resources. I like the focus on fun, and on how learning languages can be paired with pretty much any enjoyable activity. I also appreciate the variety of approaches, which contrasts with Wyner's Fluent Forever, largely an advertisement for Anki flashcards.

In spite of the emphasis on encouragement and on fun, the book does not gloss over the time and energy that go into learning languages. The author points out how this is accomplished over many years with our native language.