Review: A tri-lingual teacher shares his language-learning secrets....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 28, 2012
I've always found learning a new language was difficult - (I have enough trouble with English)! In fact, I had given up my dream of learning Italian because I'm an adult and the experts say the best time to learn another language is when you're a kid.According to Joshua Smith author of "Breaking Through to Fluency," you're never too old and he's proof of that.He learned Spanish and Portuguese in his late 20s and is currently an English language teacher in Brazil.Smith's book chronicles his personal lingual challenges, and the critical moments when he realized the keys to learning a new language. He says the single most important factor to achieve true fluency is conversing with a native speaker regularly and for extended periods of time.Smith says that in one week, he spoke Spanish with a woman for 2 hours a day for a total of 10 hours. During that single week, he catapulted from a beginner to intermediate fluency. That stunned me.Additionally, Smith's immersion experience is filled with stories that transcend learning a language.I found his book to be engaging, informative and insightful. I'm actually inspired to find a local, native Italian speaker on Craigslist!