Have you been studying a language for months and are still unable to speak it? Are you still focusing on the grammar aspects of the language? Or are you focusing on learning as much vocabulary as possible, as fast as possible? Do you still think that A plus B is always equal to C? If you recognized one of these problems as your own, then you are in for a surprise! The best way to learn a language is not to study it, but to speak it or, rather, to think it! Here are some facts and tips that may blow your mind.

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Hello, everyone. I started learning English language when I was four years old, and only because of my mother. Long story short, my mom wanted me to learn the basics of English language when I was still very young, so when I start to study it in school I won’t focus on figuring out how stuff works, but how to put what I’ve learned in action! That’s basically all you need to know and do to learn a foreign language quickly and almost effortlessly. I know it sounds rather silly at this point, but bear with me, guys.

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I did all that she asked me to do. Repetition, memorization, practice conversational skills, writing stuff down, etc. All of this was indeed very helpful in learning the English language, and I’m eternally grateful to my mother for making me do all of that (s**t), but let me tell you something. It was completely unnecessary!

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At this point, you may be holding your head with both of your hands and screaming: “What the hell is this guy talking about?! This is exactly what we did in school for all those years! He must be crazy!”, and you might be onto something there. Not many people dare to say this, but many school systems are just not meant to teach stuff and should be thrown out the window.

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In school, they teach us about Barney and Sally and what they like to read, watch and put onto their sandwiches. I don’t care if Barney likes a tomato on his sandwich nor whether Sally called her friends the other day and neither should you! To learn a language is not to read about an imaginary character who engages in pre-preschool activities, but to walk on a path to an amazing journey of thinking in a completely different way. There are many textbooks out there that teach about other versions and variations of Barney and Sally and their friends, but they also teach you the soulless grammar and painful vocabulary, which will get you nowhere.

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Let me ask you something for a moment here. Why do you want to learn a new language? Think about it for a moment. Do not just go through this paragraph, but also really stop and think for a second or two. Why is it that you have started to learn a language? Is it because you yearn for learning thousands and thousands of new and unfamiliar words? Is it because you are bored with the grammar of your own language and you are now on a search for something to enlighten you? I would guess that many of you answered with a strong “no!” here. That’s good. That means we are onto something big.

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Let’s stop for a second and talk about your mother tongue. When you talk in your mother tongue, I would guess that you don’t think about which words you are going to use and which tense you are going to put the verbs in, right? That’s because you are so used to thinking in your native language that you don’t need any help with the sentence structure or grammar. You might think this is a bit silly to say, but that should be your goal for learning a new language – to be so used to thinking in it, you won’t need help at all. Do I hear: “Oh, Mladen, but how do I do this?” Well, it’s rather simple. In the next paragraph, I will tell you exactly what to do to improve your language-speaking skills.



Until now, I told you about all the common mistakes schools and people in general make when they learn a new language. Now it’s time for the “How To” part.

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1. Wipe your mind clean! – Remember that the language you’re learning might not work in the same way yours does. Be prepared to twist and use your imagination a bit more than usual.
2. Don’t be embarrassed to make mistakes! – Find a friend on Skype or in your local area who speaks the language you’re learning as a first language with whom you can talk at least two or three times a week. You’ll find yourself making many mistakes at first and it may feel embarrassing. Well, don’t think too much about it! That’s what is supposed to happen.
3. Don’t think s/he will think less of you if you make mistakes! – People generally want to help you learn their language. Especially on polyglotclub.com. So don’t think they’ll laugh at you for not knowing the language in the very beginning!

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4. Don’t be shy! – Don’t be shy to talk about your life and ask them about theirs. (Some of the best topics are: how was their day, what are their plans for the future, what do they do in their free time, etc.)
5. Talk about yourself! – Talk about what you did the day before, about your “what if's”, about your last and future vacations. Basically, make a new friend!
6. Write about your day! – Take your favorite piece of writing software (or pen and paper if you prefer) and write about your day or feelings (try to use the dictionary as little as possible), then ask your new friend if s/he would mind correcting it for you. Take a moment to study the mistakes you made.

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Well, that is all from me for now. I hope I helped you understand a bit more about how all of this works, and I hope you make some new friends along the way. That's really all you can ask for!

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