What 2 polyglots taught me about how to learn a new language

I am no language expert, nor do I claim to be one. In fact, for a long time, I fell into the same language learning traps as many other people. 

I thought I didn’t have the “language gene”. That I was too old. That I simply didn’t have time. I now know all of these are false... unless you believe them to be true. 

Living much of my life knowing only English and enforcing it onto other people has always been a huge source of regret, as it is for many others too. Even with years overlapping with different cultures, I did not know enough of their language to create nuanced interactions that can be so special and memorable. 

But now, learning a language has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life so far. I have learned so much about my own mind, the limits of my comfort zone, and Spanish culture through language. 

Along this journey, I had the opportunity to interview two well-known polyglots in the online language-learning world. These conversations equipped me with methods, mindsets, and the motivation to make language learning more fun — and more effective.

The language experts 

Early into the pandemic, I started a job in the content team at Preply, a platform that connects tutors and students for 1-on-1 language lessons.  

Preply’s mission is to “shape the future of effective learning”. So as a content creator, I felt obliged to understand the minds of polyglots and successful language learners, so I could seek advice that would help me learn Spanish practically from scratch. 

I have always been someone geared towards self-improvement. Writing for huntingthemuse.net, I am always curious to find the small ideas that make a long-term difference in our lives. I took this approach into two, hour-long interviews with Olly Richards and John Fotheringham, who live in the world of language learning 24/7. 

Olly Richards speaks eight foreign languages, and is well known online for being the man behind the popular website I Will Teach You a Language and the creator of the StoryLearning® method. He has published 10s of books devoted to helping language learners learn through story. He also creates some brilliant content on YouTube too.

Watch the full interview here.

I also spoke to Olly’s friend, John Fotheringham, whose website languagemastery.com and podcast The Language Mastery Show features interviews with some of the world’s most well-known polyglots. John has written extensively about being able to immerse yourself in a language from anywhere in the world, particularly in his books Master Japanese and Master Mandarin.

Watch the full interview here.

Both of these conversations were a chance for me to learn the best ways to learn a language directly from language-lovers and pass their tips onto others too. 

In this article, I’ll summarize their language learning tips, and show you how I’ve put their lessons into action.

6 language learning tips from Olly & John

1. Fixate on your reason “why”

“Sounding cool” because you know a language just isn’t enough of a reason to learn. John told me that you need a “tangible, clear and emotional” reason why. 

You may be familiar already with Simon Sinek’s “Golden Circle', from his book Start with Why. Sinek describes that people don’t buy what you do, but by why you do it. Starting with why doesn’t just apply to business, but to many other facets of life. Your language learning methods might be effective, but you need a big reason “why” to drive you, especially in the days when you don’t feel like studying. 

There are so many ways you could create a tangible reason why you would want to learn a language, from booking a flight in 6 months to Japan, to asking your girlfriend’s parents for their blessing. 

It helps to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound) when setting this goal. People also rely on systems such as OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to set goals that keep them motivated in the long-term, by leveraging shorter-term wins. I wrote about this framework for Preply in our language study planner guide. 

In my case, I quickly realised that when I reached my goal, that I quickly needed to switch to another one to keep me motivated. My goals were, in order:

1. Be able to speak to my girlfriend’s parents in Spanish in February.

2. Be able to understand and share jokes with my girlfriend’s parents in July. 

3. Pass the B2 Spanish exam in February. 

Like acquiring any skill, you can’t be left standing still. You need an achievable challenge that pushes you to keep going.

2. Find material that suits your level and keeps you engaged

Finding engaging learning material is not easy, particularly in the early stages where every sentence looks like weird squiggles. 

This is where starter apps like Duolingo and super simple conversational phrases come in handy. They will give you enough of a base of vocabulary to get started. Once you have your base, however, there are thousands of learning materials suited to whatever medium you like to keep you engaged.

This is why I was so excited to talk with Olly Richards. Olly publishes books of short stories in many different languages, from high-beginner level to early intermediate. Learning languages through stories gives your brain something to hold onto - a universal hero’s journey story arc - and gives your mind plenty of context that makes picking up words and grammar natural.

If you listen to or read a good story, then the part of your brain associated with certain emotions will light up, as if you’re experiencing it yourself. That means you’re involving your entire brain in the learning process.That’s when synapses form new connections, and that’s when memory is formed.

Once you grasp enough grammar and vocabulary through these natural means, you can find more complex texts and narratives, from TED talks to one-person podcasts about interesting topics. Below you’ll find some of my favorite resources I’ve used while learning Spanish:

• Short Stories in Spanish for Intermediate Learners: Short stories that include useful vocab glossaries at the end of each chapter. 

• Relato de un Náufrago: The first book by Gabriel García Márquez, a non-fiction tale of a shipwrecked sailor. 

• Duolingo Spanish podcast: Spanish-spoken stories from all over the world, with context filled in in English.

• Caso 63: A Chilean audio series about a man in a mental asylum who claims to be from the future, and the doctor who’s starting to believe him.

• Libros para Emprendedores: Summaries of some of the most famous entrepreneurial books with a fun and engaging host. 

3. Don’t have zero days. If you do, quickly recover

I’m sure you’ve started something before, and the beginner's motivation wore off. Maybe it’s the guitar picking up dust in the corner, or the Duolingo notifications that switched off passive-aggressively, then never returned. 

Poor discipline is going to kill your language skills in their tracks. As John Fotheringham said in our conversation when you start acquiring a new skill and have a strong reason “why”, you need to avoid “zero days”:

Do the minimum viable habit. Maybe it’s just one lesson on Duolingo to get you started. That alone of course is not going to get you fluent anytime fast, but it’s better than a “zero day”. You want to avoid having two zero days in a row. Missing one day is an accident—missing two days is a new habit.

Nowadays, I force myself to engage with the language using stories, podcasts, and language journaling. Luckily, I also live in Barcelona, which can allow me to find ways to use the language: with friends, at stores, or when I do sports like Brazilian jiu-jitsu. 

It’s easy to think that because I live in the country, I immediately have an advantage. But I also lived 8 years in Cyprus, without speaking a word of Greek! Your environment helps, but it is not everything. You can also build language habits and immersion environments from your own home. 

To avoid zero days, I now build “mini habits”, such as reading books, listening to podcasts, or watching TV in Spanish, around a consistent “cornerstone habit”. For me, this cornerstone habit is one-hour lessons on Preply with my Spanish tutors, twice a week. For you, it might be something completely different. 

The important thing is that they happen, no matter what. 

4. Use technology to your advantage, but don’t rely on it 

There are so many apps, programs, courses, and websites dedicated to learning a language that we often struggle with option paralysis. What do I use? What will bring me the best results? 

When I asked Olly Richards about the technology he recommended, he responded quite glibly: “Well, you don’t really need apps…” Olly even didn’t recommend TV as a study method, because “when you’re watching a series with subtitles, you’re not listening to the language — you’re reading”. 

Likewise, John Fotheringham said that watching a series in your target language with subtitles in your native language is pretty much useless. He also said that flashcard decks used in many apps, with a single word with the target language on one side and the translation on the other side, are the “worst possible type of card”.

The key is to make learning more active: and to do that, all you need are paper and a pencil.

Olly highly recommends reading as a study method, because you take the time to engage closely with the language. His books also include vocabulary sections at the end, to refresh the new vocabulary you’re building. John said that one of the best ways to make new vocabulary more memorable is to link it to physical activity. This could include drawing memorable pictures on one side of the flashcard, and the word in the target language on the other.

And of course, one of the best ways to form the memory of new words is to use them over and over while speaking. 

5. Speaking is key

Speaking is the scariest step when you’re just starting out a language, especially when you hardly know a thing. It’s the reason why 8 out of 10 language students say that they’re unable to do no more than understand basic phrases.

When we asked Olly Richards about his strategies when he learned Italian in 3 months, he said he spent his entire second and third months actually speaking Italian. His first month was focused solely on input, so that he could build some basic vocabulary to work from. If we have nothing to work with, our first conversations can feel flat and demotivating. 

I remember many times where I’d confuse two words, and people would laugh. Now, because I made the step and had the experience, I rarely make those same errors anymore — but I would still be making them all the time had I not opened my mouth to say them in the first place.

Conversations also help you see what set phrases and vocabulary you need. If you realize that half of your conversations are about dogs and the other half are about World War II, then it’s time to listen to Crufts with Spanish commentary and read a book about the Battle of Stalingrad.  

There are tons of great language exchange apps and websites for free speaking practice, but if you’re looking for a pain-free way to practice without judgment, finding a tutor is a great move too. My lessons with tutors gave me the vocabulary, and most importantly the confidence I needed to take Spanish into other areas of my life. 

6. Common language mistakes are psychological  

Like I said at the beginning of the article, I was a victim to all of the tricks your brain will throw at you to stop you from learning a language. But over time, I began to see that language learning is shrouded in myth. 

People think that they are “too old”. And yet people like Steve Kaufmann, who is continuing to learn languages in his 70s, prove them wrong. 

People think that “language learning is long and boring”. But there are so many other alternatives to textbooks and Duolingo to learn in fun ways. You just need to build a base in the language, and then find them. 

People think that they “don’t have time”. But a minimum viable habit of 15 minutes a day is enough to keep momentum going and keep you going. And if you want to learn enough and have a strong reason “why”, you’ll make time. 

One of the toughest concepts to manage, and which Olly Richards said all good language learners have in common, is an idea so essential that I need to highlight it for the skim-readers out there:

Tolerance for ambiguity

​​This means you have to beokay with the millions of things you don’t understand in a new language. With this mindset, you can read a text and not feel stress at every word you don’t know. Simply, you’ll use the other words and the context to understand it. 

The biggest mistake we can make is insisting on knowing everything.

I’m still going, and you can too

So these are the learnings I’ve taken from Olly, John, and others in the language learning world to enrich my effectiveness and experience. 

If this process has taught me anything, it’s that our brains are amazing: we really can learn anything! But you need a combination of mindsets, motivations, and methods to make the most of it. With those, you can start to feel the powerful rewards that the journey of language learning holds for everybody.