Contents and methodology
| Prologue |
Language learning
|
Quantity and quality
|
|
| GEOGRAPHY | ARCHAEOLOGY | COMMUNICATION | |
| 1 |
Planet earth
|
Human evolution
|
Time management
|
| 2 |
Terrestrial surface
|
Discovery
|
Commercial correspondence
|
| 3 |
Climate
|
Excavation
|
Presentation skills (I)
|
| 4 |
Population
|
Underwater archaeology
|
Presentation skills (II)
|
| 5 |
Agriculture
|
Dating the past
|
Library
|
| 6 |
Industry
|
Looting and destruction
|
Documentation
|
| HISTORY | CULTURE | COMMUNICATION (CONT.) | |
| 7 |
Ancient world
|
Language
|
Plagiarism
|
| 8 |
Middle Ages
|
Marriage
|
Creativity
|
| 9 |
Early modern period
|
Kinship
|
Outlining
|
| 10 |
Age of Revolution
|
Gender
|
Drafting and editing
|
| 11 |
Imperialism
|
Ritual
|
Job application
|
| 12 |
Contemporary societies
|
Religion
|
Job interview
|
| Conclusion |
How polyglots learn languages
Lýdia Machová. Ten things polyglots do differently. Polyglot Gathering. University of Economics, Bratislava. 31 May-4 June 2017. 39:04.
In her talk Ten things polyglots do differently (2017) Lýdia Machová comments on the methods that several well-known polyglots adopt when learning a new language:
- Benny Lewis: speak from day 1
- Steve Kaufmann: a lot of input first
- Lucas Bighetti and Jan van der Aa: Language Boost (500 most frequent words)
- Gabriel Wyner: flashcard system with no translation
- Luca Lampariello: translation
- Robin MacPherson: dissection method
- David James: Gold List method
Her own method is the bidirectional translation method (or back translation method) and her four pillars of learning a language are fun, quantity, frequency and system.
If each of these polyglots follows their own method, what do they have in common?
- Polyglots do not have a special talent for languages.
- Every polyglot has their own special method.
- Polyglots learn languages mostly by themselves.
- Polyglots create their own language material.
- Polyglots learn one language at a time.
- Polyglots spend more time listening and speaking.
- Polyglots are not afraid to make mistakes.
- Polyglots have mastered the art of simplification.
- Polyglots learn in small chunks.
- Polyglots enjoy learning languages.
See also:
- Donovan Nagel. Twenty-five prolific language learning bloggers you should follow. 2020.
- Wilson. The most inspiring and famous polyglots in the world. Mosalingua. 9 April 2020.
Pareto principle
Mike Clayton. What is the Pareto principle?: the 80-20 rule? 2018. 5:26. (Project management in under five).
- FluentUp. What we need to know about the 80/20 rule in language learning. 28 May 2019.
- Benny Lewis. The Pareto (80-20) principle in language learning.
- Olly Richards. Eight ways to apply the 80/20 rule to language learning.
Spaced repetition: flash cards
Thomas Frank. The most powerful way to remember what you study. 2016. 7:47.
- Thomas Frank. How to remember more of what you learn with spaced repetition. 17 July 2020.
- James Gupta. Spaced repetition: a hack to make your brain store information. 23 Jan 2016.
Richard Vaughan. Translation booklet
- Richard Vaughan. Translation booklet. Madrid: Vaughan Systems, 2013.
Similar works are available for other languages:
- Claudia Martínez Freund. Alemán: frases clave. Madrid: Vaughan Systems, 2018.
- Eugénie Dehouck. Francés: frases clave. Madrid: Vaughan Systems, 2018.
TED talks
TEDx Talks. TED & TEDx explained. 2012. 1:15.
- Taylorr Payne. What is a TED talk? The fundamentals of TED explained.
Copywork
Benjamin McEvoy. How to improve your writing with copywork. 2020. 9:10.