Monday 6 February 2017

Simon Sinek

I viewed several clips of Simon Sinek, the 'Why guy'. He has some advice about how to begin a presentation. Herewith, then, my personal anecdote as to why I do what I do.

Despite living in Japan for a number of years, I never properly learned the language. To tell the truth, I wasn't very interested. I thought about it, but never got down to it. I only ever had half a mind to study.

But then something happened. My daughter turned three. That's when I changed my mind--or half a mind, rather. Why? Her Japanese was now better than mine. She had overtaken me.

Suddenly I found that I no longer understood her. Imagine that. As a parent I could no longer communicate with my child who depended upon me.

Can you imagine how disconcerting that was? I felt clueless, powerless and impotent. What if she got sick? What if she needed my help for a serious problem? What if something urgent happened and I wasn't able to understand her and act? 

I hope that you never get such a situation. Maybe the worst you'll experience is being in a different country or culture and just feel dumb instead of dumbfounded. You really ought to have learned some more phrases, but they didn't stick. You just stumble over your mihi, or end up with something else from the menu. That sort of thing.

But how the heck is it than any child learns its language faster than you can? It doesn't seem right, does it? Kids don't know about study. They don't master any rules, or use flash cards to memorize vocabulary. They hardly read and write, so they certainly don't jot down notes. So why the hell can't we do better than them? 

For me, this was a true revelation. Which is to say that it gave me a boot up the bum.

If learning a language is child's play for children, why can't adults--not to mention language teachers--do at least as well?  

To keep this short, I realized that something had to be done. This would be my mission. I would go back to the drawing board and figure out everything from first principles. And then I'd somehow apply those principles to make language learning child's play for everyone. I would . . .
  • Catch up with my daughter in Japanese
  • Help her to catch up with me in English
  • Show the Japanese how to learn English 
  • Show anyone how to acquire any language 

Conventional language-learning is nowhere near that point. 

But in my future people will pick up languages easily, effortlessly and enjoyably. Half a mind will be enough. 

No more teachers, study, homework, word lists, irregular verbs, weird spelling rules and all that jazz. Imagine how liberating and empowering that would be to all sorts of individuals. 

Thursday 5 January 2017

23 more ideas for posts


  1. Remember to forget
  2. Repeat ‘The 100’
  3. Review what you’ve done
  4. Reward yourself
  5. Search for authentic, genuine material
  6. Seek inspiration
  7. Set up a revolving calendar of 30 days
  8. Speak to yourself
  9. Spend an hour in total daily
  10. Switch to long-term memory
  11. Systemise what you do (“Have a system”)
  12. Take charge
  13. Tally your hours
  14. Tinker with the language daily
  15. Train in English as a skill
  16. Try stuff out
  17. Tweak to improve (kaizen)
  18. Understand habits
  19. Use your technical knowledge (“[it] is often the key that unlocks the gate of language learning” Kato Lomb)
  20. Utilize your environment
  21. Visit yourself from the future
  22. Weigh up the advice of polyglots and others
  23. Work with phrases, not words

Wednesday 4 January 2017

Process language in quantity

A language is something that you need to get used to. You can't simply learn the rules and components once, and then expect to be able to use them. You need to put in a lot of practice to internalize everything.

Hours and hours. Volume. Volumes.

And so quantity is what you'll require. Figure out a way that suits that allows you to spend a lot of time enjoyably with the language(s) that you've set your heart on.

Do so heartily. With gusto.


Tuesday 3 January 2017

Polyglots perpetuate a dysfunctional outlook

I don't know . . .

All these polyglots doing their thing in public view . . .

Spreading their mirth and enthusiasm about the place (YouTube, Twitter and the general blogosphere) . . .

I feel that they may very well be achieving the opposite effect of what they intend. I mean, how is the ordinary man in the street likely to interpret it? That one is supposed to be a nerd or hyper-effusive in order to learn another language. That would seem to be a real risk that they a running.

No, you don't need to go to town about learning a language or two. It's the most natural and normal thing in the world. No need to dress it up in fancy colors. No need to shovel that language 'medicine' down with a spoonful of sugar.



You don't need to window-dress up the whole business as if it needs to be sold, as if it is inherently boring, hard work, or distasteful in some way.