Any Language You Want: 18 Conflicting Lessons for a New Kind of Language Learner

Di Fabio Cerpelloni

A collection of contradictory true personal stories in answer to "What's the best way to learn a language?" In each of the 18 chapters, Fabio -- a language learner and teacher -- shares a story about how he mastered English, his second language, and tells you what's the best way to learn another language. Each chapter ends with the same sentence: "This is how to learn a language". But each chapter disagrees with the next. One story tells you to hire teachers and take classes — just like he did while learning English in London. The next one argues you should do everything on your own. Take no courses, hire no teachers. Do what Fabio did when he was living in Australia. One story says you should never touch a dictionary. The next one persuades you to look up every unknown word you encounter. Should you aim at sounding like a native? Yes. Wait, no, you shouldn't. Which chapter tells the truth? Which story is right? All of them. It's a language learning method of conflicting perspectives and approaches to help you become an independent learner. "Any Language You Want" was read and reviewed by Scott Thornbury, one the most renowned and influential figures in the field of language teaching methodology."I have long been a connoisseur of the 'stories' of highly successful language learners, so I was keen to hear Fabio's own account. Even more so when I discovered how closely we align on the issue of prescriptivism: I have always argued that there is no one 'best method' for learning a second language, and Fabio draws the same conclusion from out of the multiple strands of his own very readable and insightful 'language autobiography'."

• Lingua: Italiano
• Editore: Youcanprint
• Data di uscita: 23 ago 2023
• ISBN: 9791221491159

Anteprima del libro

WHY THIS BOOK?

(READ THIS, REALLY, THE BOOK WON’T MAKE SENSE IF YOU SKIP THIS CHAPTER)

In over a decade of learning and teaching English, my second language, I’ve heard language teachers, coaches, learners, YouTubers, linguists and language school owners claim that they know the correct answer to the question What’s the best way to learn a language? Some even claim to have found the secret to learning languages or the best method.

I wrote Any Language You Want to rebel against this.

I first came up with the idea of writing this book in 2021. I had just finished reading Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur. Anything You Want is a book by Derek Sivers, an American entrepreneur, musician, and author who accidentally started a multimillion business selling CDs online in 1998. In every chapter, Sivers shares his insights, personal stories and lessons he learned while starting, growing, and ultimately selling his company for $22 million. He also gives practical advice and inspiration to anyone looking to build their own business.

I loved the format of the book and thought I could write a similar one. Not about building a multimillion company – I’m still miles away from that – but about how I mastered English, my second language. I thought I would write my stories on how I did it, share lessons learned while becoming a proficient English speaker, and give practical advice and inspiration to other language learners. This was just a wild idea I had but, like most of the ideas I have, I did nothing with it.

One year later I read another book by Sivers called How to Live: 27 Conflicting Answers and One Weird Conclusion. Each chapter of How to Live answers the same question: What’s the best way to live? Every chapter persuades you to adopt a certain life philosophy. But each philosophy disagrees with the next.

For example, one chapter tells you that the best way to live is to seek novelty and live in the world of tomorrow. The next one encourages you to ignore everything new and value only what has endured. All chapters make sense. But which one is correct? Sivers believes that all of them are. Life is complex so there's no one right answer to the question, What's the best way to live? Contrary to Anything You Want, though, Derek never tells personal stories in the book and never uses the subject pronoun I.

My key takeaway was not some illuminating idea on how I should live my life. Instead, I learned that complex questions don’t have straightforward answers. How, for example, would you answer questions such as:

• What’s the best way to make money?

• What’s the best way to raise a kid?

• What’s the best way to be happy?

Different people might have different answers depending on their own circumstances and beliefs. And although the answers to these questions might be conflicting, they may all be valid.

I started thinking about language learning, my field of expertise, and I realized that asking What’s the best way to live? is like asking What’s the best way to learn a language? There’s no one right answer to this question.

Yet I have heard some say, Want to learn a language? Forget about learning grammar! Speak instead! I agree. You’ll never get fluent in a language if you never speak it. I’ve said this to my students many times – this is great advice. But is this great advice for you? If all you’re doing to learn a language is completing grammar exercises, then yes, stop learning grammar, get out of your study room, and start having conversations.

However, if you can already communicate well but still make mistakes, then you should probably reject this advice. My Italian partner, Aloha, is a good example of a person who should study