How to Learn a Foreign Language

 

This book is for those of you who have never studied a foreign language before. And it is for those of you who have already had one painful experience with a foreign language and who hope to do better at it this time.

 

I'd like to pass along to you all the tips that it took me years of study in many different languages to learn. These tips all by themselves won't teach you a language—but they will help you to learn one.

 

And I want to teach you something about what foreign languages are all about—how languages work and how to approach this very special learning challenge. As you'll see, learning a foreign language—any foreign language—will be different from any other kind of study you have ever done.

 

I have had to study a great many languages over the past years. Fortunately, I've always liked languages. And since I've lived overseas in many different countries, I've had to learn quite a number of them just to do my job properly. Between job requirements and curiosity about languages — and a good bit of language work in college as well — I've studied to one extent or another more than a dozen of them, including Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and numerous European languages. In other words, I've been through it all, lots of times. My aim is to make the process as easy as possible for you, whatever your own language goal may be. If you really like foreign languages, that's great. It will only make your task easier.

 

But this book isn't just for people who like languages. It's for those of you who have to learn a language for one reason or another. You might come to enjoy the process, but your goal is a practical one. And just because your goal is a practical one doesn't mean that the effort required to reach it can't be interesting—and even fun as well.

 

The main reason I've written this book is that I remember a lot of needless suffering the first time that I went through the process back in high school French. I had a friendly teacher who loved French—and he even knew how to teach. But there were hundreds of things about how to understand the process of learning a language that neither he nor anybody else ever told me. As a result I had to learn it the hard way, by trial and error, puzzling it out. It's that kind of inefficient, counter-productive work that I'd like to spare you.

​

Acclaim for How to Learn a Foreign Language, the handbook used by schools, universities, and independent language-learners throughout the world:

“Useful and Entertaining”

 

The New York Times

 

​

 

"It’s astonishing that no one has ever thought of a book like this before – designed to prepare students for beginning the study of any language.  This book is indispensable to anyone learning a first foreign language."

 

Dr. L. Michael Bell

Professor of English and Foreign Languages

University of Colorado

 

​

 

"Don't miss this little book! It is unusual in that it treats languages as respectable and serious study but also fun. It addresses common fears, and deals with the attitudes that have made Americans increasingly monolingual. It is packed with advice on how to learn a foreign language...Excellent, simple, with summaries at the end of each chapter...I enjoyed it very much."

 

Rene Perez-Lopez

Voice of Youth Advocates

 

​

 

"This book could save a beginning student hours of confusion, and might provide some confidence that learning a language is normal and possible, even for someone like him or her!...Fuller has codified what many successful language learners have found out for themselves about learning languages...The knowledge that Fuller is writing from such vast experience can only inspire confidence on the part of the reluctant language learner."

 

Carol L. McKay

Modern Language Journal

 

​

 

"This is a terrific book.  It really should be required reading before starting to learn a foreign language.  In a very readable way it explains what a student should look out for and what to focus on.  I wish I had been able to read this book before I started my first foreign language.  I would have been much better prepared."

 

Michael A. Kelleher

Student, Indiana University

 

​

 

"As a businesswoman who travels abroad several times a year, I wish I’d had this book sooner.  It’s so sensible, so easy to use, and it’s amazing how obvious the advice seems once you’ve read it.  I’ve been thinking of learning another foreign language – and how I’m going to do it!"

 

Sharon Cooper

Treasurer, Hotel Systems Plus

Washington DC

 

​

 

Graham Fuller

An acknowledge expert in languages, Graham E. Fuller has studied sixteen of them including French, German, Persian, Japanese, Turkish, Chinese, Arabic, Greek, Russian, and even Esperanto. As both a language student and teacher, he's well aware of the problems that beginners face.

 

During his career with the Foreign Service, Graham and his family spent more than seventeen years overseas — in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. So he's especially sensitive to the practical aspects of using a foreign language in everyday life.

 

Now a senior policy analyst with one of this courntry's leading think-tanks, Graham divides his time between California and Washington D.C. In his spare time he likes to cook, build furniture-- and learn languages.

Mailing Address:

  Storm King Press

  PO Box 2089

  Friday Harbor, WA 98250

 

Telephone: 360-378-3910

Fax:              360-378-3912

Publishers of Books that Work

How to Learn a Foreign Language

 

This book is for those of you who have never studied a foreign language before. And it is for those of you who have already had one painful experience with a foreign language and who hope to do better at it this time.

 

I'd like to pass along to you all the tips that it took me years of study in many different languages to learn. These tips all by themselves won't teach you a language—but they will help you to learn one.

 

And I want to teach you something about what foreign languages are all about—how languages work and how to approach this very special learning challenge. As you'll see, learning a foreign language—any foreign language—will be different from any other kind of study you have ever done.

 

I have had to study a great many languages over the past years. Fortunately, I've always liked languages. And since I've lived overseas in many different countries, I've had to learn quite a number of them just to do my job properly. Between job requirements and curiosity about languages — and a good bit of language work in college as well — I've studied to one extent or another more than a dozen of them, including Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and numerous European languages. In other words, I've been through it all, lots of times. My aim is to make the process as easy as possible for you, whatever your own language goal may be. If you really like foreign languages, that's great. It will only make your task easier.

 

But this book isn't just for people who like languages. It's for those of you who have to learn a language for one reason or another. You might come to enjoy the process, but your goal is a practical one. And just because your goal is a practical one doesn't mean that the effort required to reach it can't be interesting—and even fun as well.

 

The main reason I've written this book is that I remember a lot of needless suffering the first time that I went through the process back in high school French. I had a friendly teacher who loved French—and he even knew how to teach. But there were hundreds of things about how to understand the process of learning a language that neither he nor anybody else ever told me. As a result I had to learn it the hard way, by trial and error, puzzling it out. It's that kind of inefficient, counter-productive work that I'd like to spare you.

​

Acclaim for How to Learn a Foreign Language, the handbook used by schools, universities, and independent language-learners throughout the world:

“Useful and Entertaining”

 

The New York Times

 

​

 

"It’s astonishing that no one has ever thought of a book like this before – designed to prepare students for beginning the study of any language.  This book is indispensable to anyone learning a first foreign language."

 

Dr. L. Michael Bell

Professor of English and Foreign Languages

University of Colorado

 

​

 

"Don't miss this little book! It is unusual in that it treats languages as respectable and serious study but also fun. It addresses common fears, and deals with the attitudes that have made Americans increasingly monolingual. It is packed with advice on how to learn a foreign language...Excellent, simple, with summaries at the end of each chapter...I enjoyed it very much."

 

Rene Perez-Lopez

Voice of Youth Advocates

 

​

 

"This book could save a beginning student hours of confusion, and might provide some confidence that learning a language is normal and possible, even for someone like him or her!...Fuller has codified what many successful language learners have found out for themselves about learning languages...The knowledge that Fuller is writing from such vast experience can only inspire confidence on the part of the reluctant language learner."

 

Carol L. McKay

Modern Language Journal

 

​

 

"This is a terrific book.  It really should be required reading before starting to learn a foreign language.  In a very readable way it explains what a student should look out for and what to focus on.  I wish I had been able to read this book before I started my first foreign language.  I would have been much better prepared."

 

Michael A. Kelleher

Student, Indiana University

 

​

 

"As a businesswoman who travels abroad several times a year, I wish I’d had this book sooner.  It’s so sensible, so easy to use, and it’s amazing how obvious the advice seems once you’ve read it.  I’ve been thinking of learning another foreign language – and how I’m going to do it!"

 

Sharon Cooper

Treasurer, Hotel Systems Plus

Washington DC

 

​

 

Graham Fuller

An acknowledge expert in languages, Graham E. Fuller has studied sixteen of them including French, German, Persian, Japanese, Turkish, Chinese, Arabic, Greek, Russian, and even Esperanto. As both a language student and teacher, he's well aware of the problems that beginners face.

 

During his career with the Foreign Service, Graham and his family spent more than seventeen years overseas — in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. So he's especially sensitive to the practical aspects of using a foreign language in everyday life.

 

Now a senior policy analyst with one of this courntry's leading think-tanks, Graham divides his time between California and Washington D.C. In his spare time he likes to cook, build furniture-- and learn languages.

Mailing Address:

  Storm King Press

  PO Box 2089

  Friday Harbor, WA 98250

 

Telephone: 360-378-3910

Fax:              360-378-3912

Publishers of Books that Work

NOOK

iBOOKS

KINDLE

Order for KINDLE

Order for iBOOK

Order for NOOK

Order PAPERBACK

How to Learn
a Foreign Language

 

This book is for those of you who have never studied a foreign language before. And it is for those of you who have already had one painful experience with a foreign language and who hope to do better at it this time.

 

I'd like to pass along to you all the tips that it took me years of study in many different languages to learn. These tips all by themselves won't teach you a language—but they will help you to learn one.

 

And I want to teach you something about what foreign languages are all about—how languages work and how to approach this very special learning challenge. As you'll see, learning a foreign language—any foreign language—will be different from any other kind of study you have ever done.

 

I have had to study a great many languages over the past years. Fortunately, I've always liked languages. And since I've lived overseas in many different countries, I've had to learn quite a number of them just to do my job properly. Between job requirements and curiosity about languages — and a good bit of language work in college as well — I've studied to one extent or another more than a dozen of them, including Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and numerous European languages. In other words, I've been through it all, lots of times. My aim is to make the process as easy as possible for you, whatever your own language goal may be. If you really like foreign languages, that's great. It will only make your task easier.

 

But this book isn't just for people who like languages. It's for those of you who have to learn a language for one reason or another. You might come to enjoy the process, but your goal is a practical one. And just because your goal is a practical one doesn't mean that the effort required to reach it can't be interesting—and even fun as well.

 

The main reason I've written this book is that I remember a lot of needless suffering the first time that I went through the process back in high school French. I had a friendly teacher who loved French—and he even knew how to teach. But there were hundreds of things about how to understand the process of learning a language that neither he nor anybody else ever told me. As a result I had to learn it the hard way, by trial and error, puzzling it out. It's that kind of inefficient, counter-productive work that I'd like to spare you.

​

Acclaim for How to Learn a Foreign Language, the handbook used by schools, universities, and independent language-learners throughout the world:

“Useful and Entertaining”

 

The New York Times

 

​

 

"It’s astonishing that no one has ever thought of a book like this before – designed to prepare students for beginning the study of any language.  This book is indispensable to anyone learning a first foreign language."

 

Dr. L. Michael Bell

Professor of English and Foreign Languages

University of Colorado

 

​

 

"Don't miss this little book! It is unusual in that it treats languages as respectable and serious study but also fun. It addresses common fears, and deals with the attitudes that have made Americans increasingly monolingual. It is packed with advice on how to learn a foreign language...Excellent, simple, with summaries at the end of each chapter...I enjoyed it very much."

 

Rene Perez-Lopez

Voice of Youth Advocates

 

​

 

"This book could save a beginning student hours of confusion, and might provide some confidence that learning a language is normal and possible, even for someone like him or her!...Fuller has codified what many successful language learners have found out for themselves about learning languages...The knowledge that Fuller is writing from such vast experience can only inspire confidence on the part of the reluctant language learner."

 

Carol L. McKay

Modern Language Journal

 

​

 

"This is a terrific book.  It really should be required reading before starting to learn a foreign language.  In a very readable way it explains what a student should look out for and what to focus on.  I wish I had been able to read this book before I started my first foreign language.  I would have been much better prepared."

 

Michael A. Kelleher

Student, Indiana University

 

​

 

"As a businesswoman who travels abroad several times a year, I wish I’d had this book sooner.  It’s so sensible, so easy to use, and it’s amazing how obvious the advice seems once you’ve read it.  I’ve been thinking of learning another foreign language – and how I’m going to do it!"

 

Sharon Cooper

Treasurer, Hotel Systems Plus

Washington DC

 

​

 

Graham Fuller

An acknowledge expert in languages, Graham E. Fuller has studied sixteen of them including French, German, Persian, Japanese, Turkish, Chinese, Arabic, Greek, Russian, and even Esperanto. As both a language student and teacher, he's well aware of the problems that beginners face.

 

During his career with the Foreign Service, Graham and his family spent more than seventeen years overseas — in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. So he's especially sensitive to the practical aspects of using a foreign language in everyday life.

 

Now a senior policy analyst with one of this courntry's leading think-tanks, Graham divides his time between California and Washington D.C. In his spare time he likes to cook, build furniture-- and learn languages.

Order for KINDLE

Order for iBOOK

Order for NOOK

Order PAPERBACK

How to Learn
a Foreign Language

 

This book is for those of you who have never studied a foreign language before. And it is for those of you who have already had one painful experience with a foreign language and who hope to do better at it this time.

 

I'd like to pass along to you all the tips that it took me years of study in many different languages to learn. These tips all by themselves won't teach you a language—but they will help you to learn one.

 

And I want to teach you something about what foreign languages are all about—how languages work and how to approach this very special learning challenge. As you'll see, learning a foreign language—any foreign language—will be different from any other kind of study you have ever done.

 

I have had to study a great many languages over the past years. Fortunately, I've always liked languages. And since I've lived overseas in many different countries, I've had to learn quite a number of them just to do my job properly. Between job requirements and curiosity about languages — and a good bit of language work in college as well — I've studied to one extent or another more than a dozen of them, including Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and numerous European languages. In other words, I've been through it all, lots of times. My aim is to make the process as easy as possible for you, whatever your own language goal may be. If you really like foreign languages, that's great. It will only make your task easier.

 

But this book isn't just for people who like languages. It's for those of you who have to learn a language for one reason or another. You might come to enjoy the process, but your goal is a practical one. And just because your goal is a practical one doesn't mean that the effort required to reach it can't be interesting—and even fun as well.

 

The main reason I've written this book is that I remember a lot of needless suffering the first time that I went through the process back in high school French. I had a friendly teacher who loved French—and he even knew how to teach. But there were hundreds of things about how to understand the process of learning a language that neither he nor anybody else ever told me. As a result I had to learn it the hard way, by trial and error, puzzling it out. It's that kind of inefficient, counter-productive work that I'd like to spare you.

​

Acclaim for How to Learn a Foreign Language, the handbook used by schools, universities, and independent language-learners throughout the world:

“Useful and Entertaining”

 

The New York Times

 

​

 

"It’s astonishing that no one has ever thought of a book like this before – designed to prepare students for beginning the study of any language.  This book is indispensable to anyone learning a first foreign language."

 

Dr. L. Michael Bell

Professor of English and Foreign Languages

University of Colorado

 

​

 

"Don't miss this little book! It is unusual in that it treats languages as respectable and serious study but also fun. It addresses common fears, and deals with the attitudes that have made Americans increasingly monolingual. It is packed with advice on how to learn a foreign language...Excellent, simple, with summaries at the end of each chapter...I enjoyed it very much."

 

Rene Perez-Lopez

Voice of Youth Advocates

 

​

 

"This book could save a beginning student hours of confusion, and might provide some confidence that learning a language is normal and possible, even for someone like him or her!...Fuller has codified what many successful language learners have found out for themselves about learning languages...The knowledge that Fuller is writing from such vast experience can only inspire confidence on the part of the reluctant language learner."

 

Carol L. McKay

Modern Language Journal

 

​

 

"This is a terrific book.  It really should be required reading before starting to learn a foreign language.  In a very readable way it explains what a student should look out for and what to focus on.  I wish I had been able to read this book before I started my first foreign language.  I would have been much better prepared."

 

Michael A. Kelleher

Student, Indiana University

 

​

 

"As a businesswoman who travels abroad several times a year, I wish I’d had this book sooner.  It’s so sensible, so easy to use, and it’s amazing how obvious the advice seems once you’ve read it.  I’ve been thinking of learning another foreign language – and how I’m going to do it!"

 

Sharon Cooper

Treasurer, Hotel Systems Plus

Washington DC

 

​

 

Graham Fuller

An acknowledge expert in languages, Graham E. Fuller has studied sixteen of them including French, German, Persian, Japanese, Turkish, Chinese, Arabic, Greek, Russian, and even Esperanto. As both a language student and teacher, he's well aware of the problems that beginners face.

 

During his career with the Foreign Service, Graham and his family spent more than seventeen years overseas — in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East. So he's especially sensitive to the practical aspects of using a foreign language in everyday life.

 

Now a senior policy analyst with one of this courntry's leading think-tanks, Graham divides his time between California and Washington D.C. In his spare time he likes to cook, build furniture-- and learn languages.