Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It

306 Pages·2014·4.57 MB·English

by  Gabriel Wyner

MORE PRAISE FOR FLUENT FOREVER
“Never before have I seen a language-learning method—or method for learning
anything!—that synchs up so perfectly with our current scientific
understanding of how memory works. I now understand why my past attempts
to learn other languages (Spanish, German, Latin) have left me with little more
than a smattering of near-random vocabulary words, and I’m inspired to try again.
Fluent Forever promises a fun, personalized learning regimen that is sure to wire a
new tongue into your brain with speed and simplicity. And Wyner’s sharp wit will
keep you entertained along the way! I’ve never been so excited to challenge my
mind.”
—Karen Schrock Simring, contributing editor at Scientific American Mind
“Fluent Forever is the book I wish I had had during my numerous failed
attempts at learning different languages. It’s a refreshingly fun and engaging
guide that shows you how to language hack your brain. Wyner’s done all the hard
work so that the reader can actually enjoy the process of becoming fluent in a
language quickly!”
—Nelson Dellis, 2011 and 2012 USA Memory Champion
“Fluent Forever more than meets the daunting challenge of learning a new language
by giving the reader a solid game plan based on how people actually learn and
memorize information. From the first chapter, I couldn’t wait to get started
using Wyner’s techniques and tons of resources. His writing is engaging,
smart, and conversational, making learning a real joy. If you’ve ever wanted to
become fluent in another language, do yourself a favor and start reading Fluent
Forever now.”
—Melanie Pinola, contributor writer for Lifehacker.com and author of LinkedIn in
30 Minutes
“This is the book I’d use next time I want to learn a new language. It employs
an intelligent mix of the latest methods for learning a language on your own using
the Web, apps, and voice-training tips in an accelerated time frame.”
—Kevin Kelly, senior maverick at Wired and author of What Technology Wants
“I know what you’re thinking: But learning a new language is soooo hard! The
solution? Stop being a whiner and start reading Wyner. This book is a winner!
Guaranteed to rewire your brain in as many languages as you’d like.”
—Joel Saltzman, author of Shake That Brain!: How to Create Winning Solutions and
Have Fun While You’re at It
“An excellent book … Wyner writes in an engaging and accessible way, weaving in
his personal language journey. His method, proven by his own achievements, is
clear: focus on pronunciation, avoid translation, and use spaced repetition
extensively. And he offers lots of specific techniques to make sure you’ll never
forget what you’ve learned. I’d recommend this book to anyone who is serious—
not just aspiring but really serious—about becoming fluent in a foreign
language.”
—Kevin Chen, cofounder of italki.com
“Mash up the DNA of Steve Jobs and Aristotle and add training in engineering
and opera, and you get Gabriel Wyner, whose ingeniously elegant system helps
us knuckleheads learn not just foreign languages but, well, everything.
Autodidacts rejoice!”
—Jay Heinrichs, author of Thank You for Arguing and Word Hero
“Americans refuse to realize that all languages are foreign—yes, including English.
It’s time we learned how to speak like the rest of the world: in more ways than one.
This book is a hilarious toolbox that helps you get a head start. Pick a foreign
language (yes, including English) and voilà: el futuro es tuyo. High-five to Gabriel
Wyner!”
—Ilan Stavans, author of Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion

Copyright © 2014 by Gabriel Wyner All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of
Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Harmony Books is a registered trademark, and the Circle colophon is a trademark of Random House LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-385-34811-9
eBook ISBN 978-0-38534810-2
Cover design by Nupoor Gordon
Cover illustration: © Maydaymayday/Getty Images
v3.1
TO THE THRILL OF THE JOURNEY
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
1: Introduction: Stab, Stab, Stab
Beginnings
Cheaters Occasionally Prosper: The Three Keys to Language Learning
The Game Plan
How Long Does Fluency Take?
Do This Now: The Path Forward
2: Upload: Five Principles to End Forgetting
Principle 1: Make Memories More Memorable
Principle 2: Maximize Laziness
Principle 3: Don’t Review. Recall.
Principle 4: Wait, Wait! Don’t Tell Me!
Principle 5: Rewrite the Past
Timing Is Everything: The End of Forgetting
Do This Now: Learn to Use a Spaced Repetition System
3: Sound Play
Train Your Ears, Rewire Your Brain
Train Your Mouth, Get the Girl
Train Your Eyes, See the Patterns
Do This Now: Learn Your Language’s Sound System
4: Word Play and the Symphony of a Word
Where to Begin: We Don’t Talk Much About Apricots
Games with Words
The Gender of a Turnip
Do This Now: Learn Your First 625 Words, Music and All
5: Sentence Play
The Power of Input: Your Language Machine
Simplify, Simplify: Turning Mountains into Molehills
Story Time: Making Patterns Memorable
On Arnold Schwarzenegger and Exploding Dogs: Mnemonics for Grammar
The Power of Output: Your Custom Language Class
Do This Now: Learn Your First Sentences
6: The Language Game
Setting Goals: Your Custom Vocabulary
Words About Words
Reading for Pleasure and Profit
Listening Comprehension for Couch Potatoes
Speech and the Game of Taboo
Do This Now: Explore Your Language
7: Epilogue: The Benefits and Pleasures of Learning a Language
The Toolbox
The Gallery: A Guide to the Flash Cards That Will Teach You Your
Language
The Art of Flash Cards
The First Gallery: Do-It-Yourself Pronunciation Trainers
The Second Gallery: Your First Words
The Third Gallery: Using and Learning Your First Sentences
The Fourth Gallery: One Last Set of Vocabulary Cards
A Glossary of Terms and Tools
Appendices
Appendix 1: Specific Language Resources
Appendix 2: Language Difficulty Estimates
Appendix 3: Spaced Repetition System Resources
Appendix 4: The International Phonetic Alphabet Decoder
Appendix 5: Your First 625 Words
Appendix 6: How to Use This Book with Your Classroom Language Course
One Last Note (About Technology)
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index
CHAPTER 1
Introduction: Stab, Stab, Stab
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to
him in his language, that goes to his heart.
—Nelson Mandela Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often
shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last
30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.
—Dave Barry
L
anguage learning is a sport. I say this as someone who is in no way qualified to
speak about sports; I joined the fencing team in high school in order to get out of
gym class. Still, stabbing friends with pointy metal objects resembles language
learning more than you might think. Your goal in fencing is to stab people
automatically. You spend time learning the names of the weapons and the rules of
the game, and you drill the proper posture, every parry, riposte, and lunge. Finally,
you play the game, hoping to reach that magical moment when you forget about
the rules: Your arm moves of its own accord, you deftly parry your friend’s sword,
and you stab him squarely in the chest. Point!
We want to walk up to someone, open our mouths, forget the rules, and speak
automatically. This goal can seem out of reach because languages seem hard, but
they’re not. There is no such thing as a “hard” language; any idiot can speak
whatever language his parents spoke when he was a child. The real challenge lies in
finding a path that conforms to the demands of a busy life.
In the midst of my own busy life as an opera singer, I needed to learn German,
Italian, French, and Russian. Out of those experiences, I found the underpinnings
for this book. My methods are the results of an obsessive need to tinker, research,
and tinker again. My language-learning toolbox has, over time, turned into a well-
oiled machine that transforms fixed amounts of daily time into noticeable,
continuous improvement in my languages and in the languages of every person
I’ve taught. In sharing it, I hope to enable you to visit the peculiar world of