Learn How to Learn From a Master

“I like to say that we should study languages, because languages are the only thing worth knowing even poorly.”— Kató Lomb

If you’re really serious about foreign language acquisition, you owe it to yourself to read Polyglot: How I learn languages, by Kató Lomb. Lomb (February 8, 1909 – June 9, 2003) a native of Hungary, had a command of 16 languages. She was one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world and challenged many of the current conventions of language learning, namely, the over-reliance on grammar coupled with dry textbook learning.

“The traditional way of learning a language (cramming 20 to 30 words a day and digesting the grammar supplied by a teacher or a course book) may satisfy at most one’s sense of duty, but it can hardly serve as a source of joy. Nor will it likely be successful). I don’t believe there is an innate ability for learning languages. I want to demystify language learning, and to remove the heroic status associated with learning another language.”

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