I got in a bit of an argument the other day with one of my advanced esl students when i told him that i was learning to read russian. Other eleven languages, as she mentioned in her book polyglot. Lomb, who by her own account was proficient in 16 languages, attempted to explain teacherdriven language learning with an old hungarian joke. In this first part of a twopart blog, we list her advice for learning languages taken from her book, polyglot, how i learn languages. Unlike most polyglots, lomb came to lan guage learning relatively late. You might not require more become old to spend to go to the book inauguration as without difficulty as search for them. In the next two decades, she went on to become one of the first interpreters in the world, master 16 languages, and gain a basic understanding of 11 more. Yet it seems obvious when you stop to think about it. One of the pioneers of postwar simultaneous interpreting, lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native hungary. She describes success in language learning as purely due to a mix of time and motivation as positive factors, and inhibition working on the negative end. They have free pdf files of grammar textbooks and novels in almost any language. Originally she graduated in physics and chemistry, but her interest soon led her to languages. She was also one of the worlds first simultaneous interpreters. At the time, lomb was in her late twenties and spoke hungarian, some french and a bit latinan unremarkable feat in early20th century europe.
She taught herself more than a dozen languages, and ostensibly did a lot of this just by reading novels. She achieved further fame by writing books on languages, interpreting. She would parse through them and decode them, using dictionaries only if she was dying to know what a word meant. Although more efficient means of learning exist, more accessible and obliging ones do not. A translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world, lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native hungary.
But i knew that when i went to a bar and spoke to fellow patrons, they were happy with just the fact that i. How i learn languages she says indonesian is, without a doubt, the easiest language to learn, what do you think. Well he said you always say how important it is to. There is a free pdf version available as also for her other book, harmony of babel. As an interpreter, she could switch between many of them with ease. Back when i was in germany, i came across an ebook called polyglot. The student told me that lomb kato was considered to be a national treasure in hungary. Wellintentioned sentences full of mistakes can still build bridges between people.
Tested language learning tips from talented polyglots. How i learn languages, she refers to more languages she also. Through the wonders of twitter, youtube and wikipedia, i just discovered. Polyglot by kato lomb 1909 how to learn any language.
She achieved further fame by writing books on languages, interpreting, and polyglots. Lomb learned her languages as an adult, after getting a phd in chemistry, the methods she used will be of particular interest to adult learners who want to master a foreign language. Who else but she knew how to learn a foreign language fast and supereffective. Is this a new book or just another translation of the book polyglot how i learn languages. Kato lomb polyglot pdf language, learning languages tips. In the foreword to the first edition of her book how i learn languages 1970, she says.
No matter the resources at hand, no matter how limited your opportunities, if you stick to the. Why its better to learn languages from books classical. Schliemann, emil krebs, kato lomb, barry farber, steve. How i learn languages by hungarian polyglot kato lomb. Now 86, she has acquired 17 languages and is currently working on hebrew. Spanish language learning language study learning arabic french language sign language learning languages tips learning apps foreign languages learning styles lifehacker reader gabriel wyner was tasked with learning four languages in the past few years for his career as an opera singer, and in the process landed on a pretty damn good method. How i learn languages lomb learned russian through trashy romance novels, which she writes about in her book polyglot. Many of you have read kato lomb s book on language learning, polyglot. Maybe you think learning one language is challenging enough, and have no need to learn more. Kato lomb 19092003 was one of the great polyglots of the 20th century.
How i learn languages lets say that i wish to learn azilian. Writing a diary in the language youre learning will help with practical application. In addition, she wrote several books on language and language learning in the. Kato lomb 19092003 has been called possibly the most accomplished polyglot in the world krashen, 1997, p. According to wikipedia she was able to interpret fluently in nine or ten languages. Kato lomb pecs, february 8, 1909 budapest, june 9, 2003 was a hungarian interpreter.
Native in hungarian, she was able to interpret fluently in nine or ten languages in four of them even without preparation, and she. With an eager desire to become an english teacher while she had a zero knowledge of this language, she attacked english with a single. Kato lomb was a hungarian interpreter in the pdftk shrink pdf file size last. How i learn languages 2008, originally published in hungarian in four editions 1970, 1972, 1990, 1995. The polyglot project, a collection of language learning. No matter how many breaks youve made trying to learn a new language you can finally master it using particular techniques and strategies. How i learn languages, simply gave her a pleasure of reading. Solely in the world of languages is the amateur of value. How to read in another language before youre fluent. She has described her experiences and thoughts about second language acquisition in her book, igy tanulok nyelveket this is how i learn languages, originally published in 1970 gondolat publishers in budapest. Learning a foreign language via the internet is unmistakably the most convenient and costeffective way of learning a language these days.
One idea in it that i would like to discuss is the role of the imagination in language learning. Unknxwn download linkstripped content ebook official link. Dr kato lomb is a polyglot who is very well known in hungary. Learning languages by reading was the favorite strategy of kato lomb. Finally, it is also worth to mind a formula of efficient learning created by another notorious polyglot kato lomb. Russian, english, french, and german live inside me simultaneously with hungarian. One text that relates personal languagelearning experi ence is dr. Korean language learning learning spanish learn german learn french learning languages tips learn languages foreign languages learn another language korean lessons how to learn languages by being lazy so, today im gonna talk about how i learned 7 languages english, spanish, french, german, asl, libras, lsm by being lazy as fck. Lomb learned her languages as an adult, after getting a phd in chemistry, the methods she used will thus be of particular interest to adult learners who want to master a foreign language. Immersion does not always mean comprehensible input. Access free polyglot how i learn languages kato lomb polyglot how i learn languages kato lomb this is likewise one of the factors by obtaining the soft documents of this polyglot how i learn languages kato lomb by online. Now were not trying to say that online learning is the best and most effective way of learning. Kato lomb was a translator who worked with about 16 languages to varying degrees.
Get inspired free book pdf download, kato lomb, how. There are many language learning courses on the market. How i learn languages when i moved to japan, i was both literally and figuratively surrounded by japanese speakers and the japanese language. If yes, then you may know kato lomb a famous hungarian translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters. Kato lomb books download free books online 8freebooks. Indeed, it is better to do that than to remain uncertain and silent and end up back in budapest rather than in milan. I think you will be interested in the secrets of learning english from kato lomb. Hungarian polyglots secret formula to language selflearning. When you are abroad especially as a tourist it is rather difficult to make the acquaintance of someone patient, intelligent, and available enough to help you practice your foreign language skills. This is a great read for lovers of language fascinating insights, instructive and. How i learn languages, first published in 1970, is a collection of anecdotes and reflections on language learning. How i learn languages is lomb s recounting of her own first tentative steps as a language learner. Lomb kato and steven kaufman both recognize the limitations of immersion.
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