I speak three languages, more or less. Much of what this guy says is either obvious or wrong. There's not much in-between.
The big irritant is his absurd claims about adult learning capabilities. When I was in my teens, I learned Cantonese as a native English speaker. In my 40s, I learned Italian. Cantonese -- an extremely difficult language for English speakers -- was far easier to learn.
In truth I think there is one overriding rule to successfully learning a foreign language. No matter how many classes you take or Rosetta Stone CDs you buy, will never really learn a language unless you are forced to speak it ALL THE TIME. If you want to learn German, move to Germany.
When foreign PhD students come to the US, I tell them that if they want to be effective researchers in computer science, they must know English well. And step one for doing that, as PhD students in the US, is to get roommates who do not speak their native language.
The big irritant is his absurd claims about adult learning capabilities. When I was in my teens, I learned Cantonese as a native English speaker. In my 40s, I learned Italian. Cantonese -- an extremely difficult language for English speakers -- was far easier to learn.
In truth I think there is one overriding rule to successfully learning a foreign language. No matter how many classes you take or Rosetta Stone CDs you buy, will never really learn a language unless you are forced to speak it ALL THE TIME. If you want to learn German, move to Germany.
When foreign PhD students come to the US, I tell them that if they want to be effective researchers in computer science, they must know English well. And step one for doing that, as PhD students in the US, is to get roommates who do not speak their native language.