Author: Mark Biernat

This is part three of how to learn a language.

How I learned a language interview

• How did I learn a language? – Introduction
• How did I learn a language and why?
• What prevents people from learning a foreign language?
• What idea can help others learn a language?

What prevents people from learning Polish, or for that matter any foreign language?

I really think anyone learning a language at some point hits a plateau, and if you are just doing rote learning, people can burn out quickly.  So the saying that keeping it fun and interesting is key is definitely true.

And part of keeping it fun is kindling a passion for the language.  If you have a reason why, you figure out the “how”.  I think that basic idea applies in so many areas of life, and it definitely does in language.

For some, especially those living in a foreign country, being able to function in the day-to-day, and the feeling of independence and freedom that being able to communicate for yourself gives you, is a strong reason ‘why’.

Others maybe motivated for reasons of love and the opposite friendship.  No surprise there.

I’ve also seen people, especially in upper levels of English and academics, who seem to take a real pride and pleasure in learning a language well, the semantics and the ins and outs.  They continue to devote time and energy to learning, among other reasons, because they have a natural passion for language in itself.  Some people have this, almost like a natural quality or inclination.  Others don’t, and so other reasons may have to serve as a ‘why’.  But I believe you can also cultivate a passion for a language—for example as you learn more about the structure and meaning and origin of words in a given language, it often naturally stimulates curiosity and interest.

For example, I particularly find the connections, similarities and differences among Slavic languages fascinating.  I discovered this early on a trip to the Czech Republic.  Some words were the same or nearly the same as in Polish (ie “rabbit”—“krolik” in Polish, “kralik” in Czech).  Others weren’t but made sense to me (“hospital”—in Polish “szpital”, in Czech “nemocnice”, which makes sense knowing the Polish “nie moc”, in other words roughly “to not be able to”, which would make sense—people in a hospital are generally incapacitated and unable to totally function normally until they heal).  And still others seemed totally unrelated to one another (the verb “to find” being “szukac” in Polish and “hledat” in Czech).

There are many other aspects of language that one can develop a passion about, not just the comparative aspects between languages.  For instance, if you are a political junkie, learning a language may allow you to read articles in that language that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to for lack of translation.  This will not only further expand your knowledge, but in a way can make you more savvy by being able to perceive an issue in the way it is written by the writer in its original form, with all its original bias and context (which is of course often lost in translation).

Continue reading how to learn a language here: What idea can help others learn a language?

This is part four of a real life interview with someone who learned a language as an adult to the fluency level:

How to learn a language – Interview

• How did I learn a language? – Introduction
• How did I learn a language and why?
• What prevents people from learning a foreign language?
• What idea can help others learn a language?

What other ideas can you share about learning Polish and languages in general?

A language can be learnt in the spare moments of the day.  I always tell people who are learning English that my absolute favorite method for increasing my vocabulary in Polish was simple flash cards.  I would use these for example while waiting for or riding in a tram around Krakow or any other time I had a few moments to kill.  The 10, 15 minutes here and there throughout your day are just ripe to be used for learning a language and boosting vocabulary.

I would keep a stack of flash cards in my shirt or jacket pocket and would cycle through them.  As I got comfortable with them I would rotate them out and put new ones in the pile.  I found this a fast, effective way to get you confident and feeling like you are learning.  If we know the names of things and can identify verbs, even if we are not totally sure how to put the sentences together or how to conjugate the verb, we still feel a sort of growing power over the language as we continue to file away vocabulary in the memory bank.

Not only that, but I found that flash cards were a great conversation starter.  People are naturally curious when they see you filing through a pack of cards and mouthing words to yourself.  I found them to be fun at social get-togethers, pulling them out and making a game of it even.

The old saying that it’s best to live in a country of course is very true.  But of course not everyone can make such a large life move.  I was fortunate as I did it shortly after graduating from college, and I was fortunate enough to be able to transfer my work from the States to Europe.

When you are in a foreign country you are just constantly exposed to the language.  Even in a place like Krakow, where there are a lot of students and a tourist orientation, and thus a comparatively high level of English.  At the same time, living in larger and more cosmopolitan cities (depending on the country) can be an obstacle, as more people are likely to know English and you are not forced to learn.  If you live in a foreign country you have to be careful not to slip into the trap of only spending time with other foreigners, or with natives who speak your tongue very well.  Cultivating friendships with people who do not speak your language as well is a good way to force you to use the tongue of the country you are living in.

So just going to live in a foreign country doesn’t mean it is automatic, as it really depends on your immediate environment (which you of course have a large measure of control over).  I see a number of people here that have lived here a long time but don’t ever get past a rudimentary level of language, which is not what you’d expect, but makes sense when you look at the social circles they operate in.  It is easy to be lazy about learning when the people around you already know your language.  It may be one reason that in America we generally don’t have the language skills that Europeans do.

Language is a great ice-breaker and a lot of humor and fun can come from language as well.  When I worked selling books in Amish communities, I was always sure to try to meet and use some basic words and phrases in Pennsylvania Dutch.  It was a great ice breaker and I think learning a bit in someone else’s language (even if they can speak your own) is a sign of respect.

I’ll never forget the sight of Amish kids looking up shocked when I slipped in a line or two of my rudimentary Pennsylvania Dutch.  They just don’t expect us “English people” (Amish term for non-Amish) to know PA Dutch, so using it out of the blue like that it often gets a laugh.  A lot of fun and again a great way to make a connection.  I would often teach some basic Polish in return—fun things that fit the environment—the word for cow, horse, etc.  Language differences, perhaps counter-intuitively, often bring people together.

People enjoy seeing you make the effort, and even if you struggle a bit, people tend to be on your side and want to help you because they see you are trying.  The more obscure the language, the more true this is, I find.  For example, someone learning English, since there are already many foreign speakers of English, is less of a novelty.  Not that you won’t get sympathy and help as an English learner, but people are less fascinated by someone speaking English with a foreign accent (versus, say, someone speaking Polish or Estonian or Thai with a foreign accent) since there are so many foreign-accented speakers of English already.

But the key thing in this is not to be afraid to make mistakes.  The only mistake is not opening your mouth.  We train our minds and tongues by using them.  Everyone will make mistakes but the vast majority of the time people are very forgiving when they see you are trying.  Just try to avoid the swear words.  Come to think of it, perhaps this is why swear words are among the first thing language learners are taught;  for amusement, but also to prevent you saying something that you really wouldn’t want to!

Post comments or go back to the start here: How to learn any foreign language you study..

This is part two of a four part series on how to learn a language:

How I learned a language interview

• How did I learn a language?  – Introduction
• How did I learn a language and why?
• What prevents people from learning a foreign language?
• What idea can help others learn a language?

How did you learn Polish—and why?

I originally became interested in Polish after visiting the country as a child.  My grandparents lived in Warsaw and I still have a grandmother there today.  Mom was born and lived her first 20+ years in Warsaw, and Dad was technically full Polish too, his family having originated from near Lwow (or rather L’viv as it is now a part of Ukraine).  But my father, immigrating to the states at age 4, did not have the strong Polish foundation and began to lose it in American society.  He met my mother when they were in their 20’s and she was visiting on a trip from then-communist Poland.  Since his Polish wasn’t strong and her English was excellent, English was the language spoken at home (with a few Polish words thrown in here and there).  Occasionally I would hear Polish when relatives would call and I’d hear one side of the conversation, with my mom talking, but little of it stuck.

Perhaps it did help a bit for knowing what Polish should ‘sound’ like on some subconscious level, but other than some rudimentary vocabulary like the word for “ice cream”, and being able to count to 10, I really had zero Polish knowledge when I signed up for a Polish language course at age 20 while a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.

After 2 years of studies, I was definitely the weakest in my class of 7, though I was able to pass the courses and move on.  At this point I really did not have more than a functional command of the language, still struggled greatly with conjugations and declensions, and to be frank, lacked a burning desire to learn more.  Though I wanted to return to Poland for a period of time, there was just not an immediate need to be good in Polish, and thus I lacked the level of motivation to really throw myself into it.

But I did have a strong desire to return to Poland for awhile, and I will say that I really began to learn when I arrived in the country.   And it turned out my 2 years spent learning I the States was really a good investment, as though I did not have a strong active command of the language, I had acquired a good bit of latent knowledge and when I began learning in Poland my mind was able to fill in some gaps and begin to build on what I had learned at studies.

After about six months of self-study as well as attending a further Polish course in Krakow, I hit a point where I remember things began to click.  Like a switch had been turned in my brain.  I still remember it well;  perhaps this is when I began to “think” in Polish.  Responses and words just seemed to flow better, the words I was looking for and struggled to find before began to appear, and life got sunnier.  I continued to build from there over the next few years with continuing self-study, reading newspapers and articles, and so on.  I did not do too many more courses, in total I took perhaps 2 or 3 semesters worth when in Poland.

So I think there is a definite place for language courses, but they function best by providing a foundation, and then when you are in the environment you have to swim or sink with the language.  That gives you the motivation that you may lack otherwise.

Continue reading here to find out: What prevents language learning?

The purpose of this post is to tell a story;  a personal real life experience of how someone learned a language. This is a story that deserves to be told and is 100% of what you need if you want to learn a foreign language.

• How did I learn a language? – Introduction
• How did I learn a language and why?
• What prevents people from learning a foreign language?
• What idea can help others learn a language?

At this point I recommend you jump right into the interview above. The rest of this post below is just my rants about language learning; which I have a passion for, but might not be as interesting. So go to the second part above called ‘how to learn a language and why’.

My rants about this language interview

Why is it good? It is specific, instructional and authentic and not written by a linguist, but by a man on the street.

It is not written in some broad abstract ivory tower way; rather, it a very concrete interview with someone  who learned a language to the fluency level. It asks the three most relevant questions for language learners.

This person started studying his language with no knowledge of his target language as a adult.  The result is this:

• He now communicates perfectly, almost as a native speaker, in fact,  native speakers have told me they hear absolutely no mistakes, with the exception of sometimes a very light but nice American accent.

Note: When I am in a club with him and the music is playing, people do not hear an accent.

His own modesty would prevent him from saying he is at this level so I would rather convey what native speakers have told me.

I think this will be of  a great value to readers, because probability the most frequent question I get is ‘how do I learn any language?’.

Most people feel  intimidated and feel that languages are either acquired as a child though a bilingual education or learned by the gifted.

This is not true. Please read on.

For ease of reading I have divided this narrative into three additional parts. Each part answers a question.

An interview with a language learner

I chose the interview format as it is the most interesting and readable.

The language he learned was Polish. It is one of the   hardest languages to learn for an English native speaker. This is because of the grammar and pronunciation which is foreign to Western European languages.  However, I think it is the best language to hear a story about because it is so challenging. It is not something relatively easy like Spanish or Italian.

I felt it better to have someone else tell their story, rather than my own experience with language learning here. This is because I might lose some of my objectivity and show partiality towards my method of how to learn a language.

How to learn a language feedback

If you have any comments or feedback or personal experiences with you or someone you know who has studied a foreign language with success,  please let me know. I think it is a story worth being read, for any one who wants to know how to learn any language.

Read part two of this series here and find out: why and how I learned a language.

I teach English to foreigners.  The purpose of this post is to tell you some common mistakes I’ve seen with students learning English.

Mistake number 1 in learning English

There is only really one mistake in learning English, that is studying things that are not important.  People study text book English not real English.  This post will outline some common examples of studying textbook or school English rather than real English.  I will pick on the perfect tense.

The typically student who studied English as a foreign language in school spent many years studying English verb tenses and conditionals.  They study one tense at a time, then move to the next one.

This is the wrong approach, a mistake.  The primary tense in the English language is the simple tense. Sometimes you might use the continuous tense.  However, most Americans including myself don’t know the perfect tense and if they do they use it incorrectly. British English goes overboard with rules.  English is changing and not like that anymore. It is a flexible universal language.

Further, 80% of the world speaks American English, sorry.  All films, music, business comes mostly from the USA. Sorry again but this is a fact.  English is evolving into an international English based on simplified American English without old fashion Cambridge English rules from the last century.

Think about how your own language, has changed from the past? Do people speak the same way they did in the last century? Then why study outdated English?  Studying the wrong things is the biggest mistake in learning English as a foreign language.

In fact, when I first came to Poland, even though I graduated first in my class and have a master’s degree and was an honors English I didn’t know what the ‘perfect tense was.  It was Polish people that told me about the perfect tense.  They told me this is very important, you must know the perfect tense.  I said really why?

My nephew who grew up in London and went to the best private school in London and studied English when he came to Poland he heard there was something called the perfect tense, but did not know what it was.

The sixteen English tenses are important only in text books and on some stupid Cambridge exam. This type of grammar is not important if you want to speak to a native speaker. If fact if you over use this formal grammar to a native speaker you might sound ridiculous.   The simple tense is the primary tense in the English language.  If I want to sound really elegant or old-fashioned, you could use the perfect tense, I guess.

And what about conditionals. How often do we use conditionals?  Maybe if I say something like ‘if I had been born in England I would have spoken English as a child ‘. But do we really talk like that? To talk that formal is a mistake ESL. Learn the language that is spoken now with people on the street.

Learning English grammar is about prepositions and articles

In my opinion the most important thing after you learn the simple and continuous tense in the English language is to learn propositions and articles.  That is the basis of English grammar.  Not reported speech and the other stuff they teach you in text books or language schools.

Every English sentence has at least one proposition or one noun article. many Polish or Russian people think, because they do not have noun articles in their language, articles are not important.  What I tell them is it is like a foreigner who speaks your language without noun cases. It is all wrong.

Many people learning English think they speak ESL fine, but they make mistakes and in every single sentence with articles and propositions.  English native speakers have learned to tolerate this but it is very intermediate English.

On the other hand, they may be able to tell you about the perfect tense and conditionals and about reported speech, however, what good is that if they can’t speak English.

What about phrasal verbs? They are simple verbs with two words, that is all.
Idioms? They change all the time, learn them with practicing speaking to a native speaker or reading.

Avoid mistakes and learn real English

The therefore if you want to speak real English my recommendation is on the grammar side learn articles and propositions perfectly.  Also learn the simple and continuous tense.

Next, read a lot.  Read a lot of books things that you really love to read. Not the Internet, its not radical enough.  Try not to read children’s books in English unless that’s really what you are into because often times these are too juvenile in fame to keep your attention. Do not read English classics, they are too old-fashioned language. Read Stephen King rather.

Vocabulary learned from lists you will not use, you need to activate them. Or speak with a native speaker. Activate vocabulary with this method of learning English vocabulary. Basically you take a hat and with that hat you, draw vocab words out of a flashcard. The person who is working with you needs to guess the word you drew out, only by describing it. The act of description in a foreign language engages more areas of your brain. I call this the hat trick for learning. If the descriptions are sensory focused even better as it connects to deeper areas of the brain. Dr. Win Wenger writes about this on his image streaming site.

Next practice with a native speaker. Do not learn with some foreign language teacher that is going to teach you about conditionals and tenses and speak to you in an accent that you will understand. Learning from someone speaking your own language will not teach you real English too well, unless you are a beginner.  In this case, it is very OK to learn from someone from your own country.

Summary of how to learn English

• Learn the simple tense and continuous really well
• Learn prepositions and noun articles perfectly.
• Read books every night in the English language, books you love and speak to native speakers

Because what good is it if you can understand someone from your own country speaking with your accent in English from your own country, but then you go to new York city and you don’t understand anybody?

What do you think of my post about learning English?

This post sets out to answer the question, what is the best language to learn? It will answer it clearly and objectively and I hope to open your mind when it comes to language learning.

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).

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.

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.

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?

What is the percentage of Ukrainian citizens in Ukraine who speak the Russian language? About 30% of the Ukrainians speak Russian as their primary language.

This was because it was a conscious effort to stamp our Ukrainian identity. Russian imperialism tried to flex over the democratic and free people of Ukraine. They tried to brainwash the people like they had propagandized their people.

However, most Russian-speaking Ukrainians are in the autonomous region of Crimea. About 50% of the people in this area are ethnic Russians, and about 75% speak Russian.  However, this is only one region.  The rest of Ukraine does not have these percentages. This is only because of the Russians moved people in there to skew the numbers.

In New Mexico Spanish speakers are about 50% and in Puerto Rico 95% percent of the people speak Spanish,  does that mean the USA should go Spanish?

Most everyone in Ukraine speaks Ukrainian, not Russian.  A minority speaks Russian, but many people in the UK speak Arabic; therefore, should the UK have Arabic as the official language?

Ukrainian should remain the official language of Ukraine.  If people want to speak Russian, they can, but Ukraine is Ukraine, not a state of Russia. Therefore, The Russian language should not be official in Ukraine.

In the Kyiv region, only 7% of the people speak Russian compared to 90% of Ukrainians.

Ukrainian is spoken by 71% percent of Ukrainians in Ukraine.

Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine.  However, Russian was required.  For a people, in this case Ukrainians,  to define themselves as a nation it is important to keep the Ukrainian language not Russian as the official language.

In Western Ukraine, like Ternopil Oblast (where my family is from) and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, the percentage of Russian language speakers is only about 1%.

Why is the Russian language in Ukraine?

Because Russia is an Empire and always has been, this percentage is because Ukraine went under a forced Russification and colonization program by Moscow.  Ukrainian was not a legal language.  Now Ukrainian is the language of Ukraine, however, Moscow is trying to change that and bring Russia back to its official language status.

The whole objective of Moscow is to try to disrupt and weaken Ukraine so it can further extend its empire.

I have studied Russian history, and for 1000 years, they do nothing but try to exploit and extract wealth for the elite in Moscow. The tragedy is, the Russian people suffer the most.  Russian language speakers and Russians in Ukraine and Russia could be wealthy if they simply voted out these pro-Moscow oligarchs. However, it is not as easy as it seems, as Moscow cheats in the Ukrainian elections.

Ukrainian elections

Moscow always tries to buy votes, poison Ukrainian politicians, bribe officials, and rig the Ukrainian elections.  Mean while, the West is too afraid to say anything. Germany needs gas from Russia; the US needs Russia to support its Oil policies in the Middle East.  This is all foolishness.  Ukraine is a rich country in terms of people and potential, and if Ukraine was integrated into the EU and NATO, then Russia’s position would be weakened, and eventually, Russia would be free from its Moscow Oligarchs.

Since the unjust and brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, there is not reason to learn or speak Russian in Ukraine.