Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World

Involve Me and I’ll Understand
Bù wén bú ruò wén zhī, wén zhī bú ruò jiàn zhī, jiàn zhī bú ruò zhīzhī,
zhīzhī bú ruò xíng zhī; xué zhìyú xíng zhī ér zhĭ yĭ.
Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and
I’ll understand.
– C
HINESE PROVERB

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The best way to ensure progress and success in your language learning
project is to be active from the start. Don’t make your language learning all
about studying; make it about using your target language.
If you walk up to someone (or use Skype), even if your dialogue lasts
only ten seconds, you will have had your first-ever exchange in your target
language and used the little you have learned. The next time, make it twenty
seconds, then a minute, then five minutes, and so on to keep up this
momentum.
Rather than study for some “ready” day that will never come, speak the
language today.
Find example sentences online, in a phrase book, or elsewhere and learn
them. Just basic first-introduction dialogue is fine. Then use the
suggestions in the previous chapter to find someone to practice them with.
Maybe “cheat” by having a piece of paper with some words written on it
you didn’t have time yet to learn, or have a text document open if your
first practice session is on your computer. Look things up in the middle of
a conversation. It’s okay; the person you’re speaking with knows you are
still learning.
When you have enough words and phrases to start with, find ways to
rephrase what you may want to say with alternative words. Be
imaginative.
In your spoken sessions, keep talking despite mistakes, and rather than
going through a language course designed to try to teach you “everything,”
make your study sessions relevant to your spoken sessions.
Consider dabbling in Esperanto for two weeks, so that you don’t have to
worry about exceptions or tough vocabulary, and get used to the feeling of
speaking and using a new language, in general, which will give your
confidence a boost for your target language. A free Esperanto course is
available online at Lernu.net, and much more information about Esperanto
is accessible at fi3m.com/esperanto.

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Try to keep your conversations in that target language, make inevitable
hesitations more fun, and try not to think too much. I like the Lonely
Planet’s phrase book motto: “Don’t just stand there, say something!” It’s
okay to struggle, as long as you are saying something. Communication is
always the point.
For videos, links, and more information relevant to this chapter, see
fi3m.com/ch–5.

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CHAPTER 6

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