Please consider the exhibit below. It is only one word, but contains many forms.

This is clearly the most difficult language to learn

What are you kidding me? There are like over 100 forms, you can count them. This is one Polish word. It is the word ‘to read’. Every word in Polish must agree with the other words in the sentence, therefore, there are almost an infinite number of combinations in one sentence.

The pronunciation is very hard and people in this central European country speak very soft.  I would say to learn the Polish language it is equivalent to learning several other European languages. This especially goes for English speakers.

The language can be studied and spoken but only if you have the right attitude.  The right attitude is, you do not have to speak it perfectly to communicate, rather focus on vocabulary and you have to be patient.

Please add your comments about or your experiences with language learning and what you think are the determinate criteria for learning and language and the factors that make any language  hard or easy to learn.

Who is Moses McCormick

He is a polyglot that speaks 42 languages (from beginner to Advance, most at an intermediate level). He is 28 years old and goes to University in Ohio.  He is an African American with a very positive relaxed nature.   Is he a genius? It does not matter. He is a normal guy who has a passion for learning languages. I have since questioned his real abilities but he is worth exploring.

This combination of humility and passion is genius not any degree or attitude.

His first language was Chinese which he learned when in was in college, well not in school but on his own, because he loved to watch old martial arts films. She bought books, started studying and practiced with native speakers on campus.  However, he did not do well in school because he was too busy learning Chinese. he would chat with Chinese speakers anytime he got a chance.

Moses McCormick loves to chat with native speakers to practice his languages

His secrete is that he simply is a relaxed person that loves languages and loves people an loves talking to people. He is not really into impressing people, but rather having fun with languages.  I imagined he was into talking to girls also in these languages, but then I learned he is happily married, therefore, there goes that theory. He used a lot of books and studies alone.

Polyglots use language books

IS there anything else we should know about his self lessons? He does say that it must be fun.  If it is not fun you will not learn it too well.  The more it is relaxed, no big deal and fun the better you will learn it.

Motivation is Moses McCormick’s advice

Combine know how with motivation. But it is really about motivation that determines the rate of progress you will make. He does not believe you need special skills.  It is about taking it seriously. Anyone can do it, its a matter of wanting to do it. If you are not motivated you will not learn.  If you are not motivated it is not going to work. Moses McCormick believes anyone can do it and it is not about having a gift to learn languages.

Moses McCormick says time is important

You need to manage your time to study most efficiently. How to learn a language?  He studies everyday for several 3 hours a day.  He has a goal of four languages a year. 3 hours each language a day. Studying 3 hours a day is better than going to any school.  All study after all is self study.

Can you speak languages like Moses McCormick? Yes, just be relaxed, study 3 hours a day really passionately and do not be afraid to speak to any native speaker you run into.  If you are afraid to talk you will not learn to fast.

You can also watch him on Youtube speaking all these languages as proof that he can speak the 42 languages he says he can.  For me his humility is noteworthy as his ability to learn languages as a polyglot.

Polish is the best language in the world to learn. I write this seriously as a professional  linguist.

CW and the best language to learn

English is both a European language and a universal language.

Conventional wisdom programs most American to think you should learn Spanish for example. In Europe the mantra might be to study the German or French language.

Wrong.  The best language to learn is not German or French or Spanish etc.  Ignore conventional wisdom and the herd mentality.

Best language to learn

The best language to learn is not the answer you might think.  Lets say you are a native English speaker, therefore, lets rule out English.  If you are not a native speaker of English, of course the answer is English, do not waste your time learning French for example.  Great language mind you but not the best language to learn.   To learn German or French it is only useful if you are really into those cultures.

The best language to learn if you live in Europe:

1. The Polish language – You can not even compare languages for both usefulness and uniqueness.
2. Chinese (no explanation necessary, but in 100 years or so everyone will look like future people from south park.)

The best language to learn if you live in the USA:

1. Your ethnic roots, Polish or Italian or Greek, for example.
2. Chinese

This goes against conventional wisdom but is very important to understand my rational.

Why is Polish the best language to learn

Why do I recommend Polish as the most useful language?  The whole world speaks English.  This is the universal language for business.  I have traveled the world to pretty remote place and never had a problem with English.  Thank you MTV and Hollywood.

Therefore, why learn another universal European  language like French or German or even Spanish, if it does not get you anywhere that English can not already do.

People that speak English as a native language and Polish as a second earn 38% more in the UK than those in IT and finance than those who know English alone. This is according to a EU based think tank. The reason are obvious, with the millions of Poles working in the UK there is a great demand on all level for this language.

Further, KPMG has asserted that Poland is one of the best places to develop and invest a business.

John Markman and Jim Jubak from MSN money, two top US investment managers as well as Templeton”s  Mark Mobius recommends to explore emerging markets as this is where the real opportunities are in the future.

Go to Egypt or Greece for vacation,  everyone is learning Polish or Russian as a foreign language, not Spanish for example. Go to the Austrian Alps skiing and signs are in Polish in the hotels. Forget Croatia in the summer it is a Polish tourist colony.

For there being so few Polish people they have had such a huge impact on history from the beginning in 966 to bringing down communism to disproportional number of Nobel prize winners.  There is not way this nation is not the future. It is a great language to learn if you can get past the crazy grammar.

You say well I will double the number of people I can speak to if I learn Spanish. In my mind it serves no point unless you are passionate about this language. Why? I have traveled through South America and the Caribbeans and never had a problem with English. I am also from the US where large parts of the population is Spanish.

But I have never used Spanish.  I study Spanish now because I like it, but not because it is useful. In fact, I have a Spanish website and really love this language, but it is not my first choice or the best choice if you were going to learn one more language. But to compare it is one of the easiest languages to learn.

Do not learn Spanish because you think it is some golden ticket, it is not.

Here is my rational, Polish is the top language because with Polish you will be an amazingly different. No other language can compare.

Polish is a unique language. It also the hardest language to learn. However, it will make you unique as is Ukrainian, Norwegian or even Romanian.  It is also very useful as Polish people are everywhere, especially the UK, Brazil (1 million) Australia, US Poles are pretty much everywhere.

Polish people love to explore the world, not only for work, but like Wojciech Cejrowski, they are passionate all things cultural.  I have been in the most remote places and met Polish speaking people, from South American jungles to Mississippi (now that is really remote).

Warsaw Opera house 1938 - Best language to learn for literature and rich culture.

Many businesses are outsourcing to Poland.  Investment opportunities are in the new and emerging markets. Poland will be a net recipient of globalization for at least the next 15 years.

Poles are progressive. Do you think you can study French for a few years and be accepted by the French?  No way.  But Poland is a very progressive country and if you learn Polish, Poles will be more open then the French.

The best combination of languages to learn is – one universal language and one unique language

How do I know this and can go against conventional wisdom with confidence? I am an American and have been teaching languages in Europe for many years. My friends that have studied English and French or English and German get yawns from people on their CV when looking for a job or new opportunity. This combination of languages is nothing special. It is a generalist.  However, my friends that know English and Polish or English and Norwegian, have doors open to them. They are experts and specialists.

Indian linguistic map - learn a unique language - this is the best langauge to learn.

One universal language like English and one unique language like Polish makes you stand out and shine if you are an English native speaker.

Language learning  and relationships

Lets be honest and cut through the BS, countries like Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Romania and Iceland have the most beautiful women.  If you were to learn one of these languages things might happen in terms of relationships.

If you are back in the USA checking your match.com account when you get home from the office hoping something will happen, guess again.  If you are living in some exotic European country and speak their language, you might be surprised.

Best language to learn if you are a guy -A lot of my friends have made this comment: ‘there is no way I would marry a French or German or American woman’ . However, Polish women are the most beautiful women in the world.  Hmm, I am living in Poland and I do not know if I want the rest of the world finding out about Polish women and then moving here, but it is true.

18th century Polish lady - learn Polish the best language to learn if you have an eye for beauty.

Disclaimer, I am also Polish in ancestry of course so perhaps I am partial.

Best language to learn if you are a girl – If you are a women, many women like Italian or Spanish guys, so these languages you might find more exciting.

I met an American girl in South America. She said she was 35 not married, a lawyer living in NYC.  She said scr_w it and moved to South America, learned Spanish and got married.  I do not know if she is still with this Latin musician but at least she had guts and dared to be different.

Should with languages is boring

My point is do not study a language that is common or you think you should.  Have you ever noticed the word should sounds like the word S_ _ t.  Never base your life on shoulds, especially other people’s conceptions.  That is, do not listen to conventional wisdom as to what language you should speak.

Learn the language you have a connection to (ancestral), that is interesting for you.  I think the less spoken languages will make you more unique and more interesting as a person, as a human. This is why I recommend you ignore conventional wisdom about the best language to learn in the world and consider what am conveying.

Best language to learn – I need your feedback

What languages have you studied and how has it affected your life?  That is, what experience has this language brought you. Do you agree with my thesis that Polish (or some linguistically equivalent language) is the best language in the world to learn?

Language Learning programs and the Matrix

I teach languages in schools and to individuals.  I write language learning programs.  But remember the movie the Matrix.  Neo could only learn so much from training programs and from the great Morpheus.  Eventually if he wanted to learn and grow he needed to take his base and use it in Matrix, and fall and learn the hard way.  Language learning programs give you a very good base.  They are a very efficient way to learn a language, especially if you are not in an immersion environment.  However, they will not teach you to speak a language.  They will give you a base.  Language learning programs can open the door, but you have to walk though it.

The Matrix of learning

You want to learn a language you just can not jump. You need to train, like Neo did.  Then when you are ready you can jump.  If you can not visit the country you can start reading books and watching films and then chatting online with people in your target language.  And see what happens from there.

Rosetta Stone is makes language learning software, and Rosetta’s management is taking the company public. This means you can buy their stock on the market. Overall I think it is a good language learning software program. I just did not have a good personal experience with it.

My own opinion (I am not just saying this because I compete with them, rather because I write language learning software and am a language learner and teacher and see their weaknesses clear as day)  Rosetta Stone is: 1) very boring – try doing the lessons for more than a few weeks, you will not finish. 2) does not teach most languages well, for example does not even address cases in Slavic languages, this is beyond me. If you want to learn Russian for example you need to know some grammar cases 3) does not work.  No one I know has learned a language with Rosetta Stone.  Nobody.

However, Rosetta Stone is a marketing sales success. Cookie cutter marketing machine.

The company is not a language learning success but it is a business success.

The fact is today there are many resources to learn languages online. You have webages, radio, online TV and even YouTube.  At this juncture it is not a matter of finding resources, but finding resources of value that will help you learn.  It’s a matter of efficiency.

The best way to learn a language at first

If you are a beginner, you need to learn words; this is better done with audio files or a computer program that is done methodically and logically, not YouTube. Audio/mp3 words is the most efficient way to learn for a beginner. When you have learned individual words and some grammar then, you can try your listening comprehension skills on YouTube. Once you know a critical level say 3000 high frequency words and phrases, using YouTube is not a bad idea, but more for fun.

How to use YouTube to learn

With YouTube, you can listen to a portion over and over again until you get the sense of it. It is fun and visual, for about a 1/2 an hour.  Just try hitting pause and back often to get the language phrase memorized. YouTube is mostly fun, and enjoying learning a language is what it’s all about. But you can use YouTube as a reward after you have a critical level of words. Also its not serious language learning from A to Z.  That is you can not really learn a language from YouTube.

Why you can not really learn a language from YouTube

YouTube is not systematic and can be very boring after a while. A lot of the things on YouTube are very stupid. But the main reason its very chaotic and after a while you will realize there are more effient ways to get from point A to point B.  But for fun or a 15 minute break YouTube is quite ok to test your langugae skills.

I am from the school of thought that in language class or any other class you should not take notes. Why?  Notes are an excuses to be passive in class.  Also you can not fully focus on the point being made and much of what you learned leaves your mind when you leave the class and you must relearn it at home via your notes. A better idea for learning in class is listen to everything the teacher is trying to tell you.  While you are listening actively try to memorizes what is being said.  Then for 20 minutes after class write down everything that you can remember in class. If you have gaps in your notes refer to your books and fill in the gaps.  I think this exercise is a much more efficient way to spend your class time. Many people zone out during class or are more concerned about notes rather than learning.  If you try this method with practice you will improve not only your memory but also what you retain and learn.  I know its a radical theory but many people say it works. So consider not taking notes during language class or any other class. This is one way how to learn a language

Rosetta Stone is an American company that makes language learning software. I think it is a good idea and can recommend it to some people but not all.

Rosetta Stone |A personal experience

I bought Rosetta Stone to try to learn Polish. I think paid over two hundred dollars for level one. This was at the height of my motivation, when I was just starting out. I spent about three to four hours a day trying to learn Polish with Rosetta stone. The effect was, I wasted my time. Why? Rosetta Stone was constructed to learn English. It was written by English speakers who tried to fit English construction to every language in the world. This is ridiculous. English is about tenses and noun articles, on the other hand, Polish, Ukrainian and Russian is about cases and gender.

I tried and tried and yet Rosetta Stone only yield confusion and frustration as nothing was clear. The idea of Rosetta Stone is good, however, in reality it does not work. However, I would be open to hear if anyone became fluent or conversational using Rosetta Stone and their only personal experiences.

Rosetta Stone | An alternative

If you can not afford Rosetta Stone, do not. Make flashcards with index cards for about eight dollars total from WalMart. You can make thousands of useful words and phrases on your own. You can make more useful and practical sentences than Rosetta Stone and make more progress. Or you can use my learning language with music if you want to learn Polish, Russian or Ukrainian. These languages will be out soon. But if you want to learn a language, I personally would not use Rosetta Stone,  but it is not a bad product over all.

Why is the title of this post ridiculous language blogs? Because the Internet is filled with very silly language learning blogs. I am not saying I am a great blogger, however, I come across scores of ridiculous language blogs on the Internet written for the sole purpose of marketing their language school or products. Hey, I am not knocking it, and I think blogging is great -  fun to write and fun to read. What amazes me these language schools etc hire none native speakers to crank out content about a subject. Again no problem, however, they write in such a telling fashion.  And they write in ways and on topics that would never fly on the English Internet. Here is an example of a large companies Russian blog post on the Internet – it opens with:
“Yes, dear ladies and gentlemen, good day to all– it’s been too long since classic picture post was posted in this blog.”
I am sure the Russian girl they hired to increase their Internet presence via blogging is nice and very bright, however, after about three more sentences of this type of ridiculous highbrow language on their blog, I feel like I did when I read college roommate’s term paper, just numbed into a bored stupor.

How to write a language blog

Again, I am no expert, but I think blogging is like dating. People like you if you are sincere, if you talk to and with peolpe, rather than at you from 10,000 feet.  Convey personal experiences and stories and ideas. If it is personal, then people might find it interesting. However, if you are writing your language blog like you are talking from a mountain top, (“Yes, dear ladies and gentlemen, good day to all– it’s been too long… “) then people can not relate to it or will find it ridiculous. So to write a good languge blog be real.