Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Elisa Polese
I have learned 24 languages in total – 14 to a teaching standard. All of this is led by my passion for understanding how
languages work, communicating with people, and experiencing other cultures and mentalities.
I was not raised bilingual and, other than French, I began to speak all of my languages from the age of 20 onwards.
My language method varies depending on the language studied, but these tips correspond to all of the languages
I have learned to an advanced and upper-intermediate level (C2-B2 of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages).
My tips have already worked for hundreds of people and are designed to help you boost your skills for your
favourite foreign language(s).
I hope you enjoy my language learning tips and try out my learning strategies!
1 Spend at least 5 minutes a day practising the language(s) you want to learn
Why don’t you try to learn a language for a short period of time every day for 30 days and see the results?
If you want, you can also book a language mentoring or coaching session with me during which you can ask
questions about language learning and language learning methods, study routines and resources and/or we can
discuss topics/learning tactics that interest you (how to optimise your language learning path, create and stick
to your language study routine, maximise results within your deadline, reach your language goals, etc. More
information on this here.
if your aim is to be able to speak a language within a short period of time, spending
the whole time reading will not really help you when you want to have a conversation.
There are productive activities (speaking and writing) that help you produce
the language, and there are passive activities (listening and reading) that help
you understand the language. Focus more on what’s useful for you and for your
goals. A language is a system, so everything you learn is useful in the end. If you
really enjoy reading, please keep doing it.
When we do grammar exercises, or when we say that we want others to correct every single mistake we make, we
are focusing on accuracy.
When we just speak (and make mistakes according to our current level), we are training fluency.
Both are useful and how much we should focus on one or the other depends on our goal (speaking with friends,
passing a written or oral exam, etc.).
What we often forget is that there are two different types of abilities and each should be trained separately. Have
you ever tried to learn something (for example a sport) and your friend or instructor told you so many things that
you couldn’t even remember them, let alone apply all of them at the same time? Concentrate on one skill at a time.
You will see more results if you alternate between working on grammar topics and vocabulary (if possible,
in an interactive and fun way) and sessions where you just use what you know.
Have you ever listened to something in a language and not understood where a word started or finished? This is
completely normal. Our brain has to get used to a) how words (and which words) are pronounced together; b)
rhythm and intonation; c) hear/distinguish the words we already know; d) make sense of the other words that we
don’t know according to the context. All of this can be improved with passive listening.
Another example: if you watch a series or read a book, there will be words that are repeated many times (even
when you don’t know a certain word, you usually notice when it’s repeated several times). The words that are
repeated are important (either in general or in the context of your series or book).
You can learn words just by paying attention to what you hear (even if you don’t understand much at the beginning).
In the same way, you can revise/reinforce words you have already learned in a much more useful way than just
reading a list: words in context are the best for training our brains because they will be linked to a situation and
you will know when to use them.
When you listen to a large amount of information, your brain automatically starts to understand more.
If you didn’t understand much before, the first thing that will happen is that you will start to distinguish where a
word starts or ends. Therefore, if you learn a little bit every day, you will see how your brain “magically” starts to
understand more and more.
As adults, we often forget that we were all students once. We can perform normally in our daily lives but when
it comes to speaking a new language, we feel as if we know nothing, and that is frustrating. We expect to know
everything, and we may even get angry at ourselves for not remembering words or for not performing as we had
hoped.
Bear in mind that you are in a learning phase and as such you simply cannot know or remember everything.
Learning is a beautiful experience, forcing us to leave our comfort zone, but in a very rewarding way. When we are
stressed, we can’t think clearly: how can we perform well if we treat ourselves worse than we would treat a
friend? Our mental state matters. Be open to learning, treat yourself kindly and be aware that this is a path
we all have to and have had to go through in order to improve and grow.
By using different channels (watching, listening, reading, writing), you will see words and structures in
different contexts. This will help you to a) remember things better (different stimuli, different senses); b) build
connections between different things you learn; c) revise vocabulary and grammar structures just by being
exposed to them; d) learn (automatically/unconsciously) which words and structures can be used in each
context. Try out each channel and take the best out of them!
Setting reachable goals is important. Have you ever set a goal that you couldn’t keep up with and you preferred to
let the stress go? This is what happens to many people, not only in the language learning field.
A good way to approach this may be to have a vision (your ultimate goal and why), whilst working on concrete
goals. If these goals are still quite big, then think in terms of steps. Take things one step at a time and you will
definitely be closer to your goal.
Sometimes we are too hard on ourselves and want too much, too soon. This is a quote I really like: “If you think
your destination is far away, start and think about it when you are already walking”. Don’t look at the
mountain in front of you, concentrate on the small steps which will take you closer to what you want to achieve.
Even the furthest goal is just a matter of steps away.
10 Adjust the method to your learning style and concentrate on what matters to you
Build your own learning method taking into account these important factors: a) focus (focus on what matters to you
in terms of useful vocabulary and structures, interesting material and activities, and skills you want to improve); b)
input (regular practice from different channels); c) quality time (quality time means practising for just five minutes
but doing the things that you find most useful, and without distractions); d) mental state (embrace learning, have
fun with the language, be kind to yourself); e) goal setting (create your vision, set your goals and define small
steps that you will be able to follow).
Focusing on the right things will help you make faster progress, look back with satisfaction at all you have
learned and keep you motivated.
Unless you are at an advanced level of language learning, you don’t need to learn all the words, structures and
expressions you find in books or textbooks. You need words which you find useful and which help you to talk about
your life, because this is normally what we talk about when we meet people.
I hope you have found my tips useful and are going to try out my learning strategies.
Above all, I wish you lots of success and fun with your language learning path!
Over the past 20 years I have developed my own learning and teaching method. It works
very well and I have helped thousands of people reach their language goals.
If you want to try out my method, which I always adapt to your needs, preferences and goals.
Here are some of the most popular options:
1) Interested in multiple languages and want to learn them in an efficient way without mixing them up?
You could:
a) read my book “How to become fluent in multiple languages” (available on Amazon in both English and Italian),
for more information click here.
b) book a multilingual lesson with me.
If you want to see my videos on learning multiple languages at the same time, you can visit my YouTube channel
“PassionForLanguages”.
5) Do you want to improve your study routine, study efficiently and reach your language goals within a
short time frame?
You can book a language mentoring or coaching session with me during which you can ask questions about
language learning and language learning methods, study routines and resources and/or we can discuss topics/
learning tactics that interest you (e.g. how to optimise your language learning path, create and stick to your
language study routine, maximise results within your deadline, reach your language goals, etc.) More information
on this here.
You can do a language challenge, 100% tailored to your needs. For more information, click here.
Follow me on YouTube