I love languages, and I'm discovering a passion for word origin and history in particular. When I come across something peculiar in a language, it usually sends me down a rabbit hole of false friends, etymology, and comparisons with other languages.
That's why I couldn't help but love this fascinating and informative story by Sarah FitzGerald: an amazing testimony to how languages interact and influence each other and how the very sounds we use to communicate in our daily lives are shaped by centuries of history.
I know it's not practical to study the history of every language we want to learn, but believe me, I think it would help a lot. Even just being curious about what happened in the past of our native language can help us progress with other languages, if they're close enough, as happens with European languages — and more importantly, it can nurture our curiosity.
If you're passionate about languages or even just a curious soul, I recommend following her to read more cool stories about words!
There are endless accounts on how to learn a language faster, better, or in the most effective way. The truth is, no universal method exists because we learners are all different.
Immersion or 10 minutes a day? Heavy grammar drills or conversation? Prioritizing reading or language production?
The bad news is, none of this is the ultimate or "best" way.
The good news is, all of them work — especially when you combine them.
In this story, I think that Krystyna Trushyna lays down some important truths about language learning with clarity and precision. And I'd trust a polyglot like her on this!
What about AI, you might ask?
Can it be an effective tool to help us progress in our target language?
There is no short answer. It depends on your goals, your level of proficiency, and how familiar you are with the technology itself.
Personally, I've tried to use ChatGPT when learning German on my own, and I found it useful, but with a catch: you always have to second-guess and double-check everything it says. Exactly this sharpened focus on questioning and finding errors helped me progress, but such a process requires a lot of time and a good awareness of grammar and language structures to begin with.
In this well-documented story, Tom Scullin explains to us how ChatGPT works and why its own functioning makes it a bad companion in a language learning journey.
His story is complete and full of examples, so it can definitely be helpful if you're wondering whether to use AI to learn a language and how:
As both a language learner and a language teacher, I've seen and made my fair share of mistakes in learning, and no doubt I'm going to make more. When learning something new and complex like a language, we not only acquire external knowledge, but also get to know ourselves better: what works for us, what doesn't, and how to make progress easier.
Here are some of the ways my learners sometimes sabotage their own progress:
What about you? What languages have you learned or would you like to learn, and what seems to work best for you?
Thanks for reading!