Good morning!

As far as this book goes; I can not recommend it enough! I know his theories are not for everyone, and everyone has their own opinions. However, he is really great at giving you advice in learning languages. Especially with the number of languages he speaks.

However, I would not trust him in learning Asian-Centered languages, because he is mainly focused on Western European languages. So languages like Hungarian, Czech, Russian, or Asian languages other than Mandarin, I would only trust his method if he claims he got it from another source, like a polyglot that has more experiences with languages around that area. Especially not with Arabic, since it is such a difficult language. He has even learned the created language of Esperanto instead of learning a language people speak around towns and countries.

So, after those disclaimers, let’s get into the book review!

The first few chapters are long but very personable. He talks about himself, other polyglots he has met, and how none of the myths you hear and read are true. It made me feel great because he had a myth about disabilities in language learning! Also, I was able to call my mom out because she has said at least half of those myths in the past. I learned the key to language learning was passion. You need to have a strong desire or interest to learn a language.

Then he gets into tricks he uses. He uses techniques such as word association. Like, the word “playa” in Spanish, it means beach. Someone like me thinks of a song I’ve heard it in, like “Vamos a la Playa”, but he thinks of the word player. A player trying to pick up girls on the beach. There are many other connections he makes with other words, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it because, at the time of reading it, I was reading it for me.

He also talks somewhere in his book, that to “hack” Spanish, you should just learn the verb conjugations for yo, usted, and ustedes. As for the rest, you can create sentences to avoid using nosotros until it is necessary. He uses a lot of his own life stories to explain concepts of language learning to the readers. He talks a lot about making phrases into little jingles or songs.

I am a FI3M Premium member, and use his course and blogs often. I hope this is useful to people!

Marina.