Another Language Book...
I love language memoirs like those of Barry Farber and, of course, Steve Kaufmann. They provide inspiration and lots of great advice from someone who's been there. But there is another perspective out there... yours.
The other day, Simon at Omniglot received a review copy of Ultimate Language Secrets. I read about it, got the free sample introductory and bought the damn thing. Ultimate Language Secrets, like all books, draws on the authors biases and experiences. But the perspective is slightly tilted. In style, at least, this is a book about how you are going to learn new languages, not how someone else already did. The advice is practical, step by step, and is better than most at addressing the biggest challenge most self-taught learners face - finding the time and the motivation to keep going till you've actually accomplished your goals.
Readers of Ultimate Language Secrets probably won't find anything they didn't already know at some level - especially experienced learners. But Socrates already noted that we can only be taught what we already know, which means the big problem is taking stock of what we know and doing something with it, not actually finding some great secret. If you're going to learn a language but can't seem to get started, or if you're learning a language but can't seem to keep going, visit the ULLS home page (linked above) and check it out. This might just be what you need.
The other day, Simon at Omniglot received a review copy of Ultimate Language Secrets. I read about it, got the free sample introductory and bought the damn thing. Ultimate Language Secrets, like all books, draws on the authors biases and experiences. But the perspective is slightly tilted. In style, at least, this is a book about how you are going to learn new languages, not how someone else already did. The advice is practical, step by step, and is better than most at addressing the biggest challenge most self-taught learners face - finding the time and the motivation to keep going till you've actually accomplished your goals.
Readers of Ultimate Language Secrets probably won't find anything they didn't already know at some level - especially experienced learners. But Socrates already noted that we can only be taught what we already know, which means the big problem is taking stock of what we know and doing something with it, not actually finding some great secret. If you're going to learn a language but can't seem to get started, or if you're learning a language but can't seem to keep going, visit the ULLS home page (linked above) and check it out. This might just be what you need.
Labels: reviews
5 Comments:
I was thinking about buying the book after Simon introduced it. I was waiting for some reviews.
So, does the book offer more, or just elaborate on the stuff mentioned in the author's web site?
Edwin,
If this book were $20, I'd recommend it highly as a great resource to peruse for tips you might have missed along the way. For the $50 it actually costs, that's a more personal question. The value of this book is not its tips, but that they are strung together on the backbone of a program for helping you 1) study effectively and 2) keep studying.
If your language learning is coming along fine on its own and you can see, honestly see, your abilities in reading, writing, listening and speaking consistently improving, save yourself the $50. But if you're losing ground, forgetting what you've learned, and know you could be doing more but you can't seem to find the time or energy, then $50 is a pretty reasonable sum to get yourself studying again with a plan to follow and hold yourself accountable to.
Since reading this book, I've made a serious push to rebuild my Italian and have done a lot that I might not have otherwise. Does that mean the book had a lot to offer that I didn't already know? Not really. But did it have a way of putting it together to get me off my butt and doing something useful, and sometimes that's what's needed more than anything else.
I had the same impression the first time I visited the website. For $20, or even $30, I would buy the book right away. The extra $50 made me hesitate.
So you mean the book is useful as a kind of motivational material? Compared to other motivational resources you have encountered, what makes you think this one will last longer?
Edwin,
The problem with motivational resources is that they need to be regularly tapped. Even hypnotic suggestions require periodic renewal. For this reason, this resource, like any resource, will only be useful as long as you are, er, motivated to use it.
The nice thing about the book is that it's addressed to the language learner, rather than a general reader, and so it anticipates some of the hurdles specific to language learning that might otherwise flummox the person who takes on more obvious challenges easily but isn't sure what to do with the less tangible and less measurable issues that come up in language learning (am I really making progress? when can I start talking?...).
As I said before, this book is easily worth $20 for the good suggestions. For the actual cost, though, you have to be both motivated enough to do the program and in a difficult enough place that you need motivation and structure help.
I think the same thing about motivation programs and language programs, though - you should expect to use more than one for any challenge big enough to require a longer-term commitment. So this gave me a good but short-term boost; I'll let you know down the road if it gives a longer-term boost.
There is a similar book to Ultimate Language Secrets that, in my opinion, is superior and is less costly (only $20). You might want to check it out at: http://www.learnthatlanguagenow.com/ -- I've read both this book (Learn That Language Now) and Ultimate Language Secrets and I think that Ultimate Language Secrets is way too expensive for what it teaches. Learn That Language Now is much better in my opinion.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home