Kato Lomb was a Hungarian interpreter, translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world. Originally she graduated in physics and chemistry, but her interest soon led her to languages. A native Hungarian, she was able to interpret fluently nine or ten languages (Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish and Ukrainian), in four of them even without any preparation, and she translated technical literature and read belles-letters in six languages. And it was in her time, no audio CD with the voices of the carrier or Skype or language schools … How?
In her best-selling book “How I learn languages ??,” she broke it down to ten rules for learning languages.
1. You need to deal with language every day! It’s like the gym – if you want impressive muscles – train them regularly! Set aside at least 10-15 minutes to read or repeat new phrases.
2. If you wish to learn the language quickly, come up with your own schedule of classes. For example, some study and exercise, then – a little music, a little break for a walk.
3. Context – all of us! We do not learn the individual words, only in the context! For example, if you remember the expression «strong wind», then one of the words in the memory automatically calls the second!
4. Especially useful to read textbooks on the field and try some phrases and use them to the fullest in the dialogue.
5. Mentally translate in your mind what catches the eye – advertising, excerpts of songs, dialogues, names of newspaper articles. Unpretentious and helpful!
6. Learn by heart – a useful thing! But you just have to memorize what is absolutely correct! If you need one here is a link: Find me a tutor
7. Already prepared to use phrases, idioms are recorded and saved in memory in the first person.
For example: «I am only pulling your leg» (I’m just teasing you.)
8. Any foreign language study cannot be isolated, such as – I’ll just quietly do the exercises in your exercise book and listen to the teacher.
Watch movies, read books and newspapers in their original form , communicate with English-speaking friends on the internet!
Actually, Kato Lomb started learning Russian with “Dead Souls” by Gogol and an impressive vocabulary!
9. Do not be afraid to make mistakes, fear of uncorrected errors! Never leave anything unchecked.
10. Follow these simple suggestions and you will be speaking fluently very soon.
Be sure that no matter what, you will learn the language!
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