Polyglots are people who have learned many languages. The most famous polyglots can speak over 10 languages. Some of the current famous polyglots are Richard Simcott, Steve Kaufmann, and Luca Lampariello. You can look them up on the internet to find out in detail how they study. They might study a little differently than your teachers have told you, but it is hard to argue with their success. This article will summarize what I found out from researching polyglot language learners.

The first thing to know is there isn’t one way to learn a language. Polyglots used a lot of different methods. Some of the methods they recommended were the opposite of what other polyglots recommended. The lesson here is to research what others recommend, try many different methods, and when you find one that works for you personally, use that method. Despite there being many opinions on the best way to learn languages, there were some main themes that emerged.

Maximize Comprehensible Input

Most polyglots were big fans of the American Linguistics Professor Stephen Krashen. Krashen recommends learners expose themselves to as much of the target language as possible. This input should ideally be just above your level and interesting to you. This includes reading easy books, watching videos, and listening to music. The key is to listen and read as much as you can in your target language. Some people call this the immersion approach. Use the time you have such as when you are traveling to school, doing housework, or winding down at the end of the day.

Review Words, Phrases, and Sentences from the Input

Most polyglots advised reviewing what was learned from the input using a Spaced Repetition System (SRS). This is similar to studying from flashcards, but the software tells you when to study the information again just before you forget it. There are many computer applications you can use but the most famous one is called “Anki”. When a word or phrase repeatedly catches your attention, make a study card, and review it until you can recall it easily.

Practice Speaking and Writing

Although most polyglots advise to focus on listening and reading at the beginning stages of learning a language, speaking and writing can help to reinforce and solidify language already learned. To practice writing, the most obvious example given is to write a diary. For speaking, the most obvious thing to do is to speak to others in the target language. If this is not possible, recording yourself can also be good practice.

Learning a language should be fun if you follow the polyglot language learners’ advice. Immerse yourself in as much interesting content in your target language as you can. Pick out bits you want to learn and review them with a spaced repetition system like Anki. When you have progressed beyond the beginner level, use speaking and writing to reinforce what you have learned through listening and reading.

But most of all, make sure to have fun!

Photo Credit: Skylar Kang@ Pexels.com

Blog Quiz

Q1. What is a "polyglot"?

Q2. What is the first piece of advice from polyglots?

Q3: According to the article, what is the name of the most famous SRS flashcard application?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

A1. A person who speaks many languages well.

A2. Maximize comprehensible input.

A3. Anki.

Would you like to be able to write faster and more freely in a language you are learning and perhaps in your native language too? Students have often told me that they find writing to be a slow and tedious process, mainly because they worry so much about spelling and grammar rather than just getting their message across on paper. Today, therefore, I would like to introduce the concept of freewriting, an easy writing activity that can be done at home and can make writing practice fun.

So … what exactly is freewriting? Basically, it involves grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, setting a time limit, choosing a topic of interest to you, and then writing as quickly as possible without stopping and without worrying about spelling or grammar. Let’s go through the steps one by one.

First, after securing some paper and a writing tool, you will need to set a time limit. Most people I know who practice freewriting set a limit of 10 minutes, although some people write for 15 or 20 minutes. Next, you will need to choose a topic. Many people just choose to write about whatever is in their head at that moment: recent experiences in their lives or specific interests such as sports, books, movies, or music. However, my favorite way to practice freewriting is to link it with video material. This means watching an enjoyable YouTube, movie, or TV program and then writing about it. Whatever topic you choose, freewriting is a good way to get facts, memories, and personal feelings down on paper. Last, take a minute of silence to think about what points you would like to write about and then start the timer and write, write, write very fast, without stopping. Just enjoy the process of getting words down on paper rather than on style or grammar. If you always write in the same notebook, it will act as a kind of a personal journal, and you will be able to see your progress.

Freewriting on a regular basis can help to promote writing speed, fluency, creativity, organizational skills, confidence, and overall enjoyment of writing. Although freewriters are not meant to worry about grammar, most of my students find that it naturally improves after several weeks. You can hasten this improvement by, for example, consciously practicing verb tense by writing about a past event one day and a future event another day. You can also focus on new vocabulary by making a short list of perhaps five words that you would like to use that day while writing.    

If you can spare 10 or 15 minutes each day, I highly recommend picking up a pen and trying some freewriting fun!

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Blog Quiz

Q1. According to the article, which of the following should students do when they practice freewriting?

a.    Stop writing and check how to spell a word

b.    Write quickly about a topic

c.    Spend at least one hour per day writing

Q2. What are the author’s preferred topics for freewriting?

a.    Television programs and films

b.    Books and comics

c.    News articles and podcasts

Q3. According to the article, what is one benefit of freewriting?

a.    Planning future tasks

b.    Improving test scores

c.    Gaining confidence

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

Q1. B

Q2. A

Q3. C

What would you say is the most popular word in the world? Many people say things like “love”, “happy”, “yes”, or “no”. Some people might think the most popular word might be a company name, like “Google”, “Apple, or “Coke”. Popular trends change every year, but the true champion for the most popular word is “OK”.

Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Korean, French, Punjabi, Hindi, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Malay, and more. It is almost impossible to find a country or language that doesn’t use “OK”. The spelling and pronunciation can sometime change (O.K., OK, o.k., ok, okay, окей, Ô kê, ô-kei, okej, oukei), but the meaning never really changes.

The first printed “OK” comes from 1839, in the March 23rd edition of the Boston Morning Post newspaper. After that, “OK” appears in other newspapers and printed material more frequently. There are some hand-written examples of “OK” pre-1839 (e.g. two diaries from 1815 and 1816), but many researchers debate if these are real examples of “OK”.

So, where did “OK” come from? There are many different theories and ideas, but one seems stronger than others. The most popular is the “Boston abbreviation & Old Kinderhook” theory. Around the summer of 1838 in Boston, USA a trend began of people using incorrect spelling and abbreviations (words shortened to letters, e.g. “空気読めない” = “K.Y.”) for comedy. This maybe doesn’t sound very funny, but this kind of comedy is used in Japan today, especially by Daigo Naitō (内藤大湖). These spelling mistakes and abbreviations became popular across the US and were printed everywhere. This boom in bad-spelling comedy changed “all correct” to “oll korrect", which was shortened to “O.K.”.

This funny, short spelling was recycled by Martin Van Buren in 1840. Van Buren’s nickname was “Old Kinderhook” (he was 58, and his hometown was Kinderhook, New York) and he had a campaign to become the next US president. His “Vote for OK” campaign was very popular, but Van Buren lost. However, the campaign pushed the word “OK” into newspapers and printed material across the USA and had also started the trend of the popular “OK” hand gesture.

Is this the true beginning of OK? Possibly, but researchers still debate other origins. Here are a few:

- “okeh”, from the Native American Choctaw language, meaning “it is so” (1825)

- “kay”/”waw-kay”/”o-ke” from the African Wolof/Bantu and Mande languages, meaning “yes indeed” (1784)

- “och aye”, from Scottish/Ulster Scots, meaning “oh yes”

- “óla kalá”, from Greek, meaning “all good”

Maybe “OK” comes from Africa, or Greece, or from people trying to be funny. Maybe each theory is a little bit correct and they mixed to become the “OK” we use across the world today. Maybe we will never really know. It’s ok though, no matter what country you travel to, or what language you try to speak, it’s always ok to use “OK”.

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Blog Quiz

1. What do the Vietnamese, Punjabi, Tagalog, and French languages have in common?

A.   They don’t use the word OK.

B.    They pronounce OK the same way.

C.    The meaning of OK is the same.

2. What did OK represent in Martin Van Buren’s “Vote for OK” campaign.?

A.  It was a hand gesture.

B.   It was an abbreviation of his nickname.

C.   It was the name of his hometown.

3. Where does the word OK come from?

A.  Boston.

B.  We aren’t sure.

C.  Africa or Greece.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. C

2. B

3. B

Is the Color “Blue” or “Green” on a Traffic Light?

Before the invention of the blue light emitting diode, which made the “blue” on a traffic light look much more blue, the color on the traffic light was “green”. In most western countries today, such as the U.S.A., the traffic light meaning “go” is called “a green light”. Today, I’m going to talk about “colors”. There are some interesting differences in the way colors are thought of by Japanese and Westerners.

Let’s start with filling in the blanks with the name of a color:

1. I am healthy = I am in the ____.

2. He isn’t mature enough = He is _____.

3. She is good at gardening= She has a _____ thumb.

4. They are cowards= They are ______.

5. He has bruise around his eye= He has a _____ eye.

Check your answers at the bottom of this page. How many did you get right? I thought number 2’s answer was blue because of “Aonisai（青二才）” in Japanese and that number 5’s answer was blue or purple because of “Aoaza（青あざ） in Japanese. It is a well known fact that the Japanese sense of color differs from that of people overseas. Some say the differences can be attributed to cultural issues, genetic factors such as the performance of photoreceptors inside the eyes or even the climate. Acquiring a certain country's ideology regarding colors can be difficult unless you are a native to that specific country.

There are also cultural differences in the way countries think of numbers. The numbers 4 and 9 are considered bad luck by the Japanese. In the western mind, the numbers 13 and 666 are bad luck or carry a negative image. I hope you have a chance to discover and experience these interesting differences in culture and ways of thinking.

1. pink   2. green   3. green   4. yellow   5. black

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Blog Quiz

1. In the United States, what color do they call the traffic light that means “go”?

A.   blue

B.   green

C.    yellow

2. What color represents a person who is not brave?

A.   yellow

B.    pink

C.    green

3. What numbers have bad images in many western countries?

A.    4 & 9

B.    666 & 13

C.    2 & 5

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. B

2. A

3. B

Who does not like a good movie?

“How do you watch movies?” That would have been a silly question 40 years ago. Of course, you go to the movie theater, buy popcorn, and sit down with other moviegoers to enjoy a film as a crowd. With the advent of the Laserdisc and the VHS (and Beta) videotape, people could enjoy a movie of their choice in the comfort of their home. From there, starting in the 1990s, more digital media appeared and the DVD dominated the market for years.

Then came Netflix. Netflix started as being an online rental provider, where customers went to Netflix’s online site and ordered DVDs that were mailed to the customers. As customers received DVDs in the mail, they returned the movies they finished watching and Netflix would send the next disc on their queue. From about five years ago, the business model has changed to the online streaming of movies. Now customers can watch movies anywhere, on a number of devices.

Many people prefer the convenience of watching any movie on demand. I prefer going to a rental shop and bringing home a physical disc and watching it instead of some streaming service. I feel the benefits of the ‘brick and mortar store’ (meaning physically there as opposed to all online) outweigh the inconveniences of the trip there and possible late fees if you do not return the disc in time.

I enjoy browsing the many videos of the store. There are many movies that I do not know about and I would never meet if those gems did not catch my eye while I was strolling down the aisles. I can talk to the staff and hear what they recommend or what is the latest movie news. Most importantly for me is the picture quality is better than what is sent over the internet. For people who consider themselves cinephiles (devoted movie watchers or knowledgeable about the cinema), they may enjoy the bonus content that is on the disc or the better sound played from the disc media.

Unfortunately, most consumers do not share my love for the rental experience.

According to the Digital Entertainment group, starting from three years ago, 2017 saw a significant drop in all forms of consumer spending on physical media. Income from subscription streaming services like Netflix or Hulu has almost doubled DVD/Blu-ray sales.

However, if you are thinking about improving your English, using a streaming service will help you to improve your listening skills at an attainable price. I do not want to change sides in my argument, but this is a blog, not an academic paper.

The more you practice something, the better you will be at it. The more you practice listening to English with the programs you enjoy, the more you will be able to recognize the nuances of English speakers. You will hear how speakers use ‘connected speech’ or speak quickly and smash words together. (for example, ‘wanna’ instead of saying ‘want to’) The more you meet speakers (characters in the show/movie) speaking that way, along with different accents and speaking with different emotions and situations, you will become a better listener. Not only that, as you become a better listener, please try to watch the show again with English subtitles. That could help reinforce your listening comprehension and may increase your reading speed.

I hope you will be able to enjoy English with your next movie or TV show streamed to your home or after you go to your local video rental shop. After that, come to the BBP and share with the staff your movie experience and which movies you recommend.

Photo Credit: JESHOOTS.com@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

1. What was NETFLIX's first way of business?

A.   Selling movies from stores

B.    Sending movies in the mail

C.    Online streaming of movies

2. What is one benefit of going to a store to rent a movie?

A.  There are late fees.

B.   We can see movies that we did not know about before.

C.    You need a DVD player to watch movies.

3. What are some benefits of watching English movies/shows?

A.  You can practice listening to different types of speakers/accents.

B.    You can practice speed reading using English sub-titles.

C.    You can practice speaking with the BBP staff about the movie/show.

D.  All of the above.

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

Quiz Answers

1. B

2. B

3. D