Preamble

Not being good at languages must be the most popular excuse for not learning one. It is a good excuse. Vague, enticing, simple.

Conventional wisdom has it that there is no such thing as being bad at languages, that you are thinking too low of yourself. But conventional wisdom doesn’t know you. Maybe it’s true, and you really are bad at languages.

Now, what does that mean?

Being good is not about how much you know, but about how you approach what you don’t know.

It is the ability to pick up new things effortlessly, to overcome challenges as they come. It is being resourceful and self-sufficient. So it doesn’t matter whether you speak 20 languages or just one, it only matters how you learn the next.

There are many ways to learn, but a good learner always learns with confidence. Confidence to resolve situations, to speak in public, to make mistakes, and learn from them.

Confidence is what allows you to get out of your comfort zone step by step, and find new directions in your journey. Without it, you would be merely memorizing words and rules like mice on a treadmill.

That doesn’t work because language is much more than memorization, and communication is much more than language¹.

The key to being good is not an extensive vocabulary or a native-like accent. It is the ability to learn from one’s context, adapt, and improve.

This book approaches language learning from that perspective. It requires you first to “learn to learn” and develop self-awareness. Then it shows you the tools you can use to progress confidently toward your goals, whatever they are.

You don’t have to use them all, you don’t have to do as I say, and you don’t have to follow an exact procedure written in stone by the ancient sages².

But you have to dig in, choose your own adventure.

That is your responsibility, and if you are serious about learning you can not evade it.

Ready?