My 6 Tongues

 I'm trying to focus on resources oriented to oral skills. I'm experiencing with "autologues" and I want to introduce "shadowing" in the near future. The Polyglot Kató Lomb explained that  doing "autologues" is very useful. "Autologue" means a conversation with oneself. She uses the term "autologue" because neither "monologue" nor "dialogue" covers the concept. I've been practising that for some days, at the beginning of the day, I explain to myself my plans for the day or maybe things about the previous day, then I ask myself a couple of questions about it. First of all I do it in my native tongue (Catalan), then I repeat the exercise in German and finally in French. I'm feeling some progress and I'm trying to perform this as a routine (routines are powerful in language learning). I also have to find the way to block some time to start "shadowing" in order to improve my pronunciation (m...

Steve Kaufmann és un dels poliglotes més coneguts, bàsicament per la seva presència a Youtube i a events internacionals relacionats amb el multilingüisme. En una visita a Barcelona va ser entrevistat per la ACN (Agència Catalana de Notícies). Parla uns 20 idiomes i diu que n'aprèn més fàcilment amb 74 anys que ho feia quan en tenia 15. Fes clic aquí per llegir l'entrevista de l'ACN (octubre 2019). Fes clic per escoltar una altre entrevista a Tarragona Ràdio (setembre 2019). Instagram: @My6Tongues

Alex Rawlings is a polyglot, citizen of the world. He was born and grew up in London and he is living currently in Barcelona. You can learn from his experience learning multiple languages with his book  " How to Speak Any Language Fluently ". In this video he gives some advice to learn Catalan. Enjoy!! Instagram: @My6Tongues

The EuroCom   method was created to encourage multilingualism in Europe. It was presented by Til Stegmann from the University of Frankfurt. This method teaches you to take advantage of your knowledge of one Romance language in order to read the other Romance languages. All over the book there are exercises for reading articles, ads, different texts written in different Romance languages. The method explains how to read 5 Romance languages simultaneously. The version I have uses Catalan as a sort of bridge language to learn how to read Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian. There are other versions of the book that use another Romance language as a bridge language: Eurocomrom - Els set sedassos (CAT) Eurocomrom - Les sept tamis (FRA) Eurocomrom - As sete peneiras (POR) ... This method takes a text written in a Romance language and applies seven filters ( sieves ) to it in order to 'decipher' the meaning. The 'sieves' or filters are: Fir...

Even though English is my 'best' foreign language I try to keep improving a bit every day. I struggle sometimes when I have to write something in a formal setting. Fortunately I found a book in one of my local libraries. I like checking the space they devote to language learning and I find some times little gems. This time the gem is a book called 'Writing Skills' by Anne Laws. It is designed to help non-native speakers to write business texts effectively in English. Even though you have a good level of English, it is still probable that some meaning gets lost in translation. You can find reliable sentences/expressions about stating understanding, making references, generalising, explaining, giving opinions and recommendations, expressing obligation/necessity, expressing degrees of certainty, focusing attention, contrasting... Here you have some examples from the book: About focusing attention... I should like to draw your attention to Clause 12 ...

I think Michel Thomas Method is a good kickstart in order to learn the languages it covers. In my experience, the best part of it is that you can achieve an A2 level very quickly, let's say in about 60 hours. In my case, after studying French at school and get a good level (I even used it comfortably working in the South of France) I lost my fluency because I devoted all my language study efforts to English for a long time. Michel Thomas Advanced French helped me to refresh my previous knowledge of the language. What's is interesting about this method is that you "only listen", no homework, no memorization.  The courses are recorded in a classroom situation, you can listen to the teacher (Mr Thomas) and two students, you become the third student in the class. It's a good place to start but you will need additional material for your reading and writing. After this update of my French with Michel Thomas, I will follow my French routines with th...

Currently I use English everyday, it's my preferred language for reading, watching videos and so on. Anyway,  I try to improve my English just using it as much as I can. I have conversations with teachers twice a week in order to reduce my accent. I have also started some routines to keep learning French and German. My goal is to consolidate my B2 (French) and my B1 (German) before summer. French is a lot easier for me, I find that written French is very similar to Catalan. German is more challenging even though my English helps me sometimes while studying it. I think you have to follow some kind of system that covers the language as a whole (grammar, basic sentences and a good deal of vocabulary), for this purpose I like Assimil even though I have tried other methods. I try to keep in contact with the languages on a daily basis. This is my current routine.                               ...

Kató Lomb (1909-2002) was a Hungarian translator and a simultaneous interpreter. She has had a great influence  on how others learn languages. She herself spoke 10 languages and was able to "translate technical documents and enjoy fiction in 6 more, and understand written journalism in 11 more or so". I've found her book "Polyglot - How I Learn Languages" very interesting, I like her point about how useful is to know a language even at a low level: "We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly ", because "well-intentioned sentences full of mistakes can still build bridges between people. Asking in broken Italian which train we are supposed to board at the Venice railway station is far from useless". About her METHOD , some main points are: devote 60-90 minutes a day time spent in language learning is lost unless it reaches a certain -daily and weekly- concentration "one sh...

Today I've learned an expression I didn't know: " Spring Forward - Fall Back ". Most countries change their official time after summer and after winter. Depending on the season, the change implies moving clocks one hour forward or one hour backward. I'm one of these people who year after year can't recall if you have to change your clocks one hour forward... or backward?... but there is a phrase most often heard in the US and Canada that can be of help in this situations... The saying " Spring forward - Fall Back " is meant to trigger your memory in order to set your clocks correctly, one hour forward in the spring ( spring forward ) and one hour back in the fall ( fall back ). Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

Aujourd’hui, comme tous les mardis, j’écoute Radio France International en route pour le travail. Pour ce faire, j’utilise l’application TuneIn Radio. Parfois, je change de station, c’est incroyable d’aller travailler à Barcelone et d’écouter en même temps la FM de Paris! Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

Si vous souhaitez apprendre le catalan, vous trouverez une bonne ressource en ligne: Parla.cat Cette ressource en ligne offre des plan gratuits et payants et vous pouvez avoir accès aux examens et cours officiels. Le catalan est ma langue maternelle. Je suis là si vous avez des doutes! Bonne chance! / Bona sort! Facebook fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram @My6Tongues Tweeter @MTongues

If you are interested in learning Catalan there is a good resource on line: Parla.cat It offers free and paid plans and you can get access to official exams and course. Try it! Catalan is my native language. I'm here if you have any doubt! Good luck / Bona sort! Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

Today I have read a fairly long text in German. I have used Google Translate to get some expressions translated into English (I also use it with French>English). This Google tool allows you to add the translated expressions (or words) to a phrasebook in order to study them later. To do this, simply touch the star image (smartphone or computer): On a computer, the phrasebook also lets you sort the saved words/expressions by language - a very useful feature if you are learning more than one language: Let me know if this tool is useful for you! Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

Lingohut.com ( web i app ) permet practicar molts idiomes (19 llengües  en aquest moment) i també permet triar entre desenes de llengües vehiculars per seguir el curs. Tot i que, de moment, no hi ha curs de català, sí que es pot fer servir el català per practicar (amb àudio) molts idiomes... Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

Reading is an essential tool for... getting new vocabulary revising/increasing your overall knowledge in your target language having a good time " Private India " is my current reading. I got the book in a book-crossing spot in a hotel on the Catalan coast. The plot is set in Mumbai, a city of over thirteen million people!. The main character is a P.I. (private investigator) who works in a case related to the killings of seemingly unconnected people, strangled in a chilling ritual... " nine nights, nine bodies, it's the season for murder in Mumbai "... OMG!!! I'm enjoying the book, maybe I will read another one from the same series... Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

I've been studying German with " Assimil German " (B2) and now I want to continue with " Assimil Perfectionnement Allemand " (C1). The second one is in French, my French is more advanced than my German and I think using the French version of the book is an "extra bonus" to improve two languages at the same time. Even though, before beginning with " Assimil Perfectionnement Allemand " I want to improve my fluency in German. I've put aside my loved Assimil for a while, first I want to be focused only in the speaking part of the German language. For this goal I've selected " Language Hacking German ", the vocabulary and expressions in this book are beginner-oriented but it gives you smart strategies to improve your fluency. The book comes with audio resources you can use downloading the editor's  app ( Teach Yourself ). After " Language Hacking German " I will carry on with my loved Assimil. F...

In order to refresh my French, every Tuesday I listen to RFI (Radio France International) while commuting. I use and recommend an app called TuneIn Radio. From time to time I switch to other stations, for me it’s awesome listening to the Paris FM while driving through Barcelona!!! Facebook   fb.me/My6Tongues Instagram   @My6Tongues Tweeter   @MTongues

Hello, I'm Joan. I am a native speaker of Catalan and Spanish, my third language is English and I'm learning French and German. I speak my languages with different levels of fluency, and I'm still struggling to consistenly integrate all my languages into my daily routine. Thats why "my 6th tongue" is still a project not even a work in progress, but this concept allows me to keep learning even though right now it's a distant goal. Catalan, Spanish and English are fully integrated in my daily routines. That's not still the case with German and French, I'm working on it. To keep a language it should be first part of your life. My C-level of English took me several years of study, nowadays I have developed a method that allows me a faster progression with German and French. I've learned a lot following some 'linguists' or 'polyglots' on youtube. They have been a source of inspiration and ideas. With this blog I want...