The Art of Learning a Foreign Language

25 Things I Wish They Told Me

By: Benjamin Batarseh

Narrated by: Ben Graham

Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Language is the gateway to culture and the riches of humanity thereof. It affords access to people, history, ideas, art, religion, aesthetics, and economic opportunities. Language also exerts a transformative effect on the vessel through whom it is expressed. Charlemagne is reported to have said that “to speak another language is to possess another soul”.

The Art of Learning a Foreign Language consists of all the things I wish I knew at various stages of my language learning journey during the last 15 years—as a hobbyist, student, academic, and professional linguist. This book is designed to help the learner avoid many pitfalls and seize opportunities, with lessons on choosing a target language, travel, accent, immersion, technology, learning approaches, and the lifestyle habits of professional linguists.

Some of the chapters address topics of general interest to the language learner (“nice to know”). Other headings address more crucial issues with potentially vast implications for the language learner (“must know”). Had I known then what I know now, I would have made some different choices, but the beauty of life is that it can be lived in only one direction.

In sum, with unprecedented language learning resources at our disposal and abundant opportunities for cross-cultural connection, today is the most exciting time in history to acquire proficiency in a foreign language. Whatever your motivations for learning a foreign language—or current foreign language level—this digestible listen will bring you closer to achieving your goals.

©2022 Benjamin Batarseh (P)2022 Benjamin Batarseh

Fast and furious

Tons of helpful rules of thumb.

Obviously this isn't going to talk about specific languages and help you learn, but it does help with mindset and set expectations so that you go into a new language knowing what to expect along with quick tips on optimization.

My 2 main take aways were:

1. think in the language as much as possible, ie: do your Google searches in your target learning language.

2. Think in hours spent training rather than time. Lots of people do 5 min a day programs and lament that it's been years and they haven't gained fluency. Instead track hours as it's very consistent how many hours it takes to learn a language when your base is English.

For me, studying Japanese, the expectation is 2k hours to gain 5th grade fluency. I can do it in 5 min. Chunks but it will take a very long time.

I listened at 2x speed and it was still clear so! Congrats to the Narrator. Well done.

I hope Benjamin writes another book, focusing on Atomic Habits and adding more stories & anecdotes.

Motivating, actionable, efficient

I'm a researcher in a linguistics-adjacent field and have also been studying linguistics informally for nearly 20 years. Although my interest in linguistics is not primarily foreign language learning (I am most interested in the structure and evolution of language), I have spent years studying various languages off and on, but never made much progress beyond being able to formulate basic requests or read children's books.

My persistent monolingualism has been a source of mild shame given my interest in language, and especially so after I lived and worked in a foreign country for over a year and came home with still only very basic skills in the language. This book helped me to re-evaluate what exactly I want out of learning a foreign language, to think more explicitly about the costs associated with learning a language, and motivated me to try again in a more focused and disciplined way.

The book is full of practical advice. I really appreciate that it is honest about the hard work involved, and that it emphasizes the value of focused study. I see a lot of advice online that is much more immersion-centric, and makes language learning seem like an almost magical thing that happens when you just dive in. I'm sure this works for some people, but it's not very efficient, nor practical for most people. In contrast, I'm good at focused study in other areas, so hearing about its benefits for language learning was motivating to me. Also, the book includes lots of practical tips for increasing your exposure to the target language in relatively low cost ways, which make it seem much more possible to fit some of the benefits of immersion into the rest of my life.

I also really appreciate how efficiently this book presents its information. It is not a rigorous framework for language learning, but rather a humble set of tips, observations, and motivations from someone who has succeeded at learning multiple foreign languages, and also made the conscious decision to give up on learning others. So many books in the how-to/self-help genre wildly over-claim benefits and stretch 2 hours of content into 10-15 hours, surrounded by fluff and repetition. This book doesn't waste your time and delivers exactly what it promises. I can definitely see myself coming back to listen to it again in the future, when I find myself in a rut or losing steam on my newest attempt at language learning. :-)

Great for anyone interested in language

I've been studying Japanese as a hobby for a few years now and this book gave me actionable advice as well as fun anecdotes that would be interesting for anyone even if you're not studying or thinking of studying a new language. I was worried that I wouldn't hear any tips that I hadn't already heard before but was pleasantly surprised.

Looking in as a Fellow Polyglot

As a polyglot, titles like these always draw me in.

First, one thing I appreciate is that while the author includes their own personal experiences and reflections on things they could have done better, it's not an endless barrage of bragging. That's a troupe I find so often in educational books/audiobooks. There is a strong sense of humility in the stories that I truly appreciate.

Second, the narration was great. There was a good balance of narration and acting. It felt like the writer themself was reading retelling the experiences to me. Oftentimes, the narrator is clearly reading the script and hasn't invested enough time to figure out the intended intonation and feeling that needs to be conveyed. That isn't an issue here.

Third and most importantly, the content. Having learned 7 languages, I can relate all too well to Benjamin's experiences and tips. Especially those about Japan. It's all too true that in Japan, people expect or rather you to speak English. It's not to say that they don't appreciate your attempt to speak Japanese, but that your appeal to them is as an English speaker. "If they suspect their English is better than your skills in the target language, they will switch to English," this quote, in particular, rings true. Unless, you hire someone as your speaking partner, a shop attendant, or just anyone, in general, will switch to English (if they are fairly proficient) if they notice the wrong accent, pitch, grammar, or odd vocabulary use. There are other golden points such as years studied are not a good measure of proficiency. Many learn a foreign language for years without ever reaching fluency or sometimes even a level good enough for basic survival in a foreign country.

I actually gave the book two full listens to fully appreciate it. The first time was passively and the second actively listening to it. Although, I have learned these tips by now if I was learning my first (or even second) foreign language this information would have been invaluable. It's not going to make you fluent, but it teaches you the steps you'd need to take to get fluent faster.

tldr:
- Author doesn't pat themselves on the back constantly and stays humble.
- Narration is great: good pace, great emoting, and nice voice volume.
- Content is good. Nothing, as an experienced polyglot, that I would argue against.

Everyone Can Learn Something From This

The author did a fantastic job creating a through learning guide. This isn’t a “learn a language in 10 days” type book. It goes over philosophy of choosing a language, actually tips to improving your mastery, slight history, and motivational techniques to continue your journey. I think any level of language learner can gain some knowledge from this book and is a must read for someone interested or already learning a language. The narrator is excellent as well.

Focused Primer for Language Learning

I have an advanced degree in applied linguistics and have 20 years of experience teaching English as a foreign language and teaching pedagogy. This book is targeted toward language learners and I found it has echoed many of the things I have told my students throughout the years.

One of my biggest pet peeves for nonfiction books is when the author tries to extend a 2-hour book into a 10-hour book. Thankfully, this book does not do that. It is concise. It is actionable. It is backed up by applied linguistics research without needless citations meant to insist credibility.

Overall, it's an easy listen that gives the reader the proper orientation for beginning their language learning journey.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in return for an objective review.

Not the "What" but the "How" and "Why"

If you are wanting to learn a new language, or have tried without success, I highly recommend this book. This book provides insight as to what are reasonable expectations for yourself, reminders of the rewards of learning another language, and actually helps weigh the cost and benefits of identifying the language you want to learn. It is possible to learn a foreign language, but your expectations have to be reasonable and this book provides objective parameters to set those expectations.

Boring Repetition

I am honestly flabbergasted by the reviews stating this won’t waste your time when it’s nothing but fluff. He speaks of his failures after so many years of study in several languages & keeeps repeating why, which could be helpful but he doesn’t elaborate & you really don’t need him to because it’s very basic-you didn’t take advantage of what you had at your fingertips a lot of the time. I found this book completely useless and almost insulting. I want my money back!