Chatting To Learn

Chatting to Learn

Fluent Forever (Revised Edition)

The bestselling guide to learning a new language and remembering what you learned, now revised and updated “A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide . . . If you want a new language to stick, start here.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero Gabriel Wyner speaks seven foreign languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he mastered each one on his own, drawing on free online resources, short practice sessions, and his knowledge of neuroscience and linguistics. In Fluent Forever, Wyner shares his foolproof method for learning any language. It starts by hacking the way your brain naturally encodes information. You’ll discover how to hear new sounds and train your tongue to produce them accurately. You’ll connect spellings and sounds to images so that you start thinking in a new language without translating. With spaced-repetition systems, you’ll build a foundation for your language in a week and learn hundreds of words a month—with just a few minutes of practice each day. This revised edition also shares fresh strategies that Wyner has refined over years of study. You’ll learn to • use your interests to curate vocabulary that you’ll actually be excited to study • fast-track fluency, with a new appendix devoted to conversation strategies with native speakers • compile the best language-learning tool kit for your budget • harness the science of motivation and habit building to turbocharge your progress • find the perfect level of difficulty with reading and listening comprehension to stay engaged and avoid frustration With suggestions for helpful study aids and a wealth of free resources, the intuitive techniques in this book will offer you the most efficient and rewarding way to learn a new language.

We Need To Talk

Take a moment to consider how many outcomes in your life may have been affected by poor communication skills. Could you have gotten a job you really wanted? Saved a relationship? What about that political conversation that got out of hand at a dinner party? How is it that we so often fail to say the right thing at the right time? In her career as an NPR host, journalist Celeste Headlee has interviewed hundreds of people from all walks of life, and if there's one thing she's learned, it's that it's hard to overestimate the power of conversation and its ability to both bridge gaps and deepen wounds. In We Need to Talk, she shares what she's learned on the job about how to have effective, meaningful, and respectful conversations in every area of our lives. Now more than ever, Headlee argues, we must begin to talk to and, more importantly, listen to one another - including those with whom we disagree. We Need to Talk gives readers ten simple tools to help facilitate better conversations, ranging from the errors we routinely make (put down the smart phone when you're face to face with someone) to the less obvious blind spots that can sabotage any conversation, including knowing when not to talk, being aware of our own bias, and avoiding putting yourself in the centre of the discussion. Whether you're gearing up for a big conversation with your boss, looking to deepen or improve your connection with a relative, or trying to express your child's needs to a teacher, We Need to Talk will arm you with the skills you need to create a productive dialogue.