by Bruce Balmer | Feb 14, 2021 | Italian, Listening, Reading
Most people find reading a foreign language to be much easier than listening to a foreign language. Reading is easier for several reasons, the most important two of which are: Listening generally happens around 150+ words per minute, reading is at whatever speed you...
by Bruce Balmer | Feb 11, 2021 | French, German, Italian, Languages, Motivation, Spanish, Thai
At about the age of 27 I decided to learn to juggle. Nothing fancy, just three balls and a few tricks, for fun. Not trying to be a professional. I was absolutely convinced then as I am now and as I believe any honest observer of mankind is obliged to be, that the...
by Bruce Balmer | Jan 18, 2021 | Motivation, Thai
I wonder if you can spot the language learning professional in this story? A Thai woman was recently quizzing me on a selection of Thai words and phrases when a 4 year old Thai child (who speaks some English already) walked into the room and decided to see what the...
by Bruce Balmer | Dec 10, 2020 | Italian, Money, Motivation, Statistics, Time
If you wish to maintain your fluency once achieved and you are human then “the brow of the hill” is an extremely important concept. The brow of the hill is where maintaining the language you have learned is more fun than it is work. People say it is hard...
by Bruce Balmer | Dec 7, 2020 | Italian
About four years ago I met an American lady near Estepona on the southern coast of Spain. She previously lived and worked in America and knew no Spanish. This was unfortunate because she had a dream – to live and work in Spain. How to do? She solved her lack of...
by Bruce Balmer | Dec 1, 2020 | Italian, Time
Well, that was fun! I set out on March 17th to learn Italian and I finished my programme on schedule yesterday, November 30th. A very good use of lockdown time in my view. I don’t like it when people make vague statements like “I have learned...
