Speak Any Language in Six Months?

The Lonsdale Method

As much as we all want to speak that second language, it’s never as easy as it looks in our heads. For someone like me, who grew up in a country where the majority of people speak only one language, it can feel like a hopeless goal. Anytime I hit a rough patch with my language studies, I assume that I missed my window of opportunity to develop the language-learning skill when I was at that “moldable” age. After all, here in Europe I’m surrounded by people for whom learning a second (or third, or fourth) language is completely normal. So why is it such a struggle for me?

If anyone else feels like a hopeless case when it comes to foreign languages, don’t give up yet. We all have different ways of acquiring new information. There’s a very good chance you haven’t found the language learning method that’s suited to you yet.

While some people cry “Pimsleur!” others tout Rosetta Stone, or thump their Lonely Planet phrase-books. For a long time, I had very little success learning French. I felt incapable. That is, I felt incapable until I found the Michel Thomas Method. With Thomas’ method, the teacher takes on the full responsibility of teaching the language, removing the stress of retaining information from the learner. Instead of feeling like I had to memorize everything, I let the teacher lead me through the process without needing to consciously memorize. They break the language down into its most essential components and present it as clear cut building blocks. “No writing, no books, no homework.” And it works. But this article isn’t about the Michel Thomas Method.

Last year I took the TEF. For those of you who will never need to deal with this particular test (lucky you), it stands for Test d’Evaluation de Français. And it was rough. The more I prepared, the more I felt out of my depth. If you’re reading this article, this peddling-thin-air feeling is probably quite familiar to you.

Many of us feel enthusiastic when setting out to learn a new language. The alphabet, simple nouns and phrases, it’s all fairly manageable. Yet as we become stronger at our current level, we approach a towering wall of next-level grammar that make us feel like it just might be insurmountable. In some cases, even if we found a method that was working for us at one point, it won’t necessarily help us over that looming barricade into the next level of that language we so want to speak. My first impulse in this case is to turn around and flee, disheartened (and angry at French), back to English, which is the worst thing to do.

Once I felt the Michel Thomas Method was no longer helping move forward, I had to find a new way to approach French. One method that I came across felt so different from the rest, it caught my attention immediately.

Chris Lonsdale, a psychologist, linguist, and educator from New Zealand has developed a method of learning foreign languages that not only speeds up the learning timetable, it also helps you to retain your interest and enthusiasm for that language you’re working so passionately to speak.

As he explains it, he has broken the language learning process into five principles and seven actions that can help you speak any language in around six months. I’ve always been the slow sort, so I never expect to meet other people’s forecasts time-wise, but there is real genius behind his method that will definitely help keep me in the saddle while I try and tackle French and German.

The principles are the launching pad of this learning method and inspire the seven actions.

The actions will help you direct your studies and prepare you mentally (and physically) for speaking a foreign language.

The Method

{ 5 Principles, 7 Actions }

The Five Principles

One | Focus on Language Content that is Relevant to You.

Many of us make the mistake of overwhelming ourselves learning vocabulary that doesn’t interest us and that we will rarely use, especially starting out. When learning a language, you’re really beginning from scratch, as a toddler would. So why would you try and learn differently than a toddler? We do not teach toddlers words in alphabetical order or by theme. We teach them words that are relevant to them and their everyday life. “Juice,” “nap time,” “play…” We also teach them according to relevant survival terms, “Good,” “Ouch,” “Don’t,” “Bad.”

Teach yourself in the same way. Learn words in the order that you need (or want) to know them. For example, I wasted a solid week memorizing office vocabulary in French… Burnt out on vocabulary memorization by Friday, I realized, I couldn’t remember most of the words. I don’t work in an office, I’m not passionate about “office-life,” and I don’t need to communicate with anyone about “office things.” No wonder I felt like I had wasted a bunch of time!

Instead, I should have focused on writing terms, or phrases asking for help, or cooking vocabulary. (I make a lot of ice cream.)

If it’s relevant to your survival, you will remember it. If it’s relevant to your interests, you will remember it.

Have fun picking out vocabulary that is most relevant to you and start there.

Two | Use your Target Language as a Tool to Communicate Everyday, Starting from Day One

Many people struggle with confidence when they begin to learn something new. With language learning, this self-consciousness can keep you from actually grasping the language you want to use eventually. Unless you want to learn a language solely to read foreign books silently to yourself, you must speak the language to become proficient. We learn to use a new tool the fastest when we use the tool.

Force yourself to speak your target language, even if you hate your accent or are afraid of sounding stupid. The people you attempt to speak to will probably be very touched that you want to learn their language and that you’re willing to put yourself in a vulnerable position.

Many times, I’ve mangled French terribly when speaking with a native, and I’ve always received a smile and an attempt to find clarity from the person whose language I just butchered. Occasionally, I’ve even gotten a big, big smile and a “Bon Courage!” at the end of the admittedly embarrassing interaction. Just remember, as stupid as you feel, you’re actually quite admirable when you put yourself out there. People love that.

And while you might feel embarrassed, the fact that you pushed yourself to try shows that you actually do have confidence in your ability to learn.

Three | When you first understand the message, you will acquire the language unconsciously

One of the most effective methods of learning a language is by focusing on the person you’re talking to and not on searching your memory for technical information. You can have an entire conversation with someone even if neither of you speaks the other’s language. Why? Because humans are fantastic sponges of body language and visual cues.

Assuming that the person you’re speaking with is willing to work with you to get their message across, you can both use body language, pictures, and simple gestures to make your meaning understandable. The meaning behind the sounds that they are making (which you don’t understand yet) become more understandable when paired with visual cues. Your mind absorbs this information quickly and unconsciously.

This phenomenon is called “Comprehensible Input” and has been studied for the last thirty years by linguist and educational researcher Stephen Krashen. Krashen’s studies have shown that learning a language through comprehension rather than traditional grammar and formal study results in better language tests scores.

For Comprehensible Input to work well, you must learn to tolerate ambiguity. You will go crazy if you feel like you must understand every little word spoken, and you won’t learn much. If you are like this, you must learn to be okay with understanding some things and letting other things slip through the cracks. You’ll absorb much more information if you just pay attention to the big picture.

Focus on the central message. Comprehension is the key.

Four | Physiological Training

Language acquisition is not really about packing your head full of information. In a lot of ways, it is about training your physiology to absorb information and form the sounds necessary to communicate in response. Your body has a crucial role to play here, beginning with your ears.

Your ear filters out sounds that you did not grow up with, which can sometimes make it difficult to hear the difference between similar vowel sounds or consonant clusters in your target language. In fact, around the time we turn one year old, we lose the ability to easily distinguish between sounds that aren’t present in the speech around us. And since you never make those sounds in your native language, your facial muscles never developed in the way needed in order to voice those sounds.

With French, one of the most difficult hurdles I’ve had to clear is the dreaded French “u.” Since I did not grow up hearing French spoken, my ear never developed the ability to distinguish those particular sounds that the French hear perfectly well. My attempts to pronounce the difference often end in a loving, yet patronizing, pat on the back. (*I’ve since found a solution to Pronouncing the French “u” for English speakers. Learn here.)

Every culture has the same difficulty with sounds. The Spanish have issues with “v” and “b,” the Japanese have trouble with “l” and “r,” and the French have trouble with “h” and “th.” (Which is why my husband pronounces the word “smoothie” as “smoo-see.” Adorable really.)

Historically, this inability to form certain “extra-cultural” sounds has been used as a test during wartime to determine if the person speaking to you was a true native or an imposter. These test words are called shibboleths, since the Hebrew word was pronounced differently between different towns and was, apparently, a great way of distinguishing Gileadites from Ephraimites. The Dutch did the same with the seaside town of “Scheveningen” to separate the Germans from the true Dutchmen during WWII, and the pronunciation of the letter “H” is a rather violent shibboleth of religious and cultural contention between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland even to this day.

You’ll need to train your ear to distinguish between this “hidden” differences if you want to learn that target language. If you can’t hear it, you won’t learn it.

Additionally, you’ll need to strengthen new facial muscles to voice sounds you’re not accustomed to. Anyone who has felt sore after trying a new sport knows that those muscles that are achings are the ones you will need to focus on building up in order to play the sport better in the future. Lonsdale says, “If your face is hurting, you’re doing it right.”

Five | Your psycho-physiological state matters

Depression, fear, anger… these are all states of mind and body that will prevent you from absorbing new information. If you’re tired or sick, you’re simply not going to learn. Inversely, when you’re relaxed, happy, and curious you’ll learn tons.

We’ve all been there. Early morning classes or meetings? It’s rough to make progress or retain unfamiliar information. And anyone who’s had to give a presentation when they were upset or sad knows that it affects your performance, ability to improvise, and willingness to put yourself “out there.”

When I first go to a new country, I spend hours looking through phrase books in the local language. I love it! With France, it was the same. I was so excited to master the language that I learned a lot, extremely quickly. Later on, during a personal rough patch in my life, my self-esteem and energy were scraping along the floor behind me wherever I went. When I traveled to France to visit my husband’s family around the same time, I couldn’t understand a word of what was said to me despite the fact that I had understood almost perfectly a few months prior. On top of that embarrassment, I had no confidence to try and voice my own thoughts, especially not in a foreign language. The self-perpetuated cycle of sadness built an invisible wall around me where nothing could get in or out, and so my French atrophied.

When it comes to learning and practicing, being in a happy psycho-physiological is integral to making progress.

Now that we’ve covered the five principles behind Lonsdale’s Method, here are Seven Actions you can use to apply them.

Seven Actions

One | Listen (a lot)

You don’t need to move to a new country to fully learn a new language, by any means. Immersing yourself with the language as much as you can is key though. A great way of absorbing the cadence and patterns of your target language is to listen to it being spoken… a lot. Surround yourself with internet radio, foreign films, books on tape… whatever you can gain access to. There is a lot of great foreign language material on the internet and, hopefully, at your local library as well.

You don’t need to understand anything of what you’re hearing. By exposing yourself to the rhythms and patterns of the language you’re absorbing a crucial part of the language. Listen for anything that stands out and don’t worry about comprehending anything!

Two | Focus on the Meaning First (before the words)

By centering your attention on the body postures and facial expressions of a native speaker, you will begin to understand the meaning behind the sounds they are making. The general idea of what they are saying is much more helpful in learning to understand the language, than individual words themselves. Focusing on body language, context, and patterns your languages share, you can absorb the language through “Comprehensible Input.”

Three | Start Mixing

Language is a creative process. If you already know ten nouns, ten verbs, and ten adjectives in your target language, you can already say one thousand things! Don’t worry about getting it perfect. Toddlers speak like tiny cavemen for a very long time before they form grammatically proper sentences. By mixing, you are starting your mind working on making sense of the language and actually applying it.

Mix even when you have no one to speak to. Think of new combinations and situations you would need them for while you wash dishes or commute to work.

Four | Focus on the Core (High Frequency Content)

Every language has a core set of words used in everyday conversations. In English, there are one thousand words that account for 85% of everything people speak about on a daily basis. That’s already a large chunk of the language! And if you learn three thousand words in English, you already know 98% of the words you will ever need in normal conversation. Anything over those three thousand words is, as Lonsdale describes it, is “icing on the cake.”

To find High Frequency Content:

Week One - Put Tools in Your Toolbox: “ What is this?” “How do you say…?” “I don’t understand.” Learn to say them in your target language and actually use them in your target language when you need them.

Weeks Two to Three - Focus on Simple Nouns, Pronouns, Common Verbs, Adjectives : “Door,” “He,” “cold,” “that,” “take,” etc.

Week Four - Develop your Transitional Words : “Although,” “and,” “while,” “but,” etc.

Focus on finding those core words that native speakers use most frequently day-to-day. It will put you on the path to fluency much faster.

Five | Get a Language “Parent” (Spouses are usually not ideal for this)

A language parent is someone who is patient and interested in you as a person, who knows that you don’t understand, and is willing to help you in a safe environment while still treating you as an equal.

A good “Language Parent:”

1. Works to try to understand what you are saying

2. Does not correct mistakes

3. Confirms that they understand by using the correct language

4. Uses words you know

There are many ways to find a Language Parent. Many larger towns have foreign language programs and schools where you can inquire about getting in touch with a native speaker. If you have family or friends who speak your target language, reach out to them to chat on a regular basis. Online programs like Tandem can connect people all over the world who are interested in learning the other’s language. And many foreign language tutors are willing to meet up for a coffee and a chat.

Six | Copy the Faces Native Speakers Make when Communicating in that Language

You need to form the correct muscles to make the sounds of your target language in a way that people will understand. In order to do this you have to pay attention to two things:

1. Hear how the foreign sounds feel and feel how they sound. If you can pay attention to these sensations, means you have a feedback loop operating in your head.

2. Carefully observe a native speaker as they talk, and note how they shape their face for the various sounds. Let your unconscious mind absorb the facial expressions and rules. If you don’t have a native speaker in your life to observe, there are often videos of natives speaking slowly and very precisely online.

Seven | Direct Connect Words with Imagery

Trying to memorize words by repeating them in your native tongue then again your target language is very inefficient. Instead, recognize that every word you know is an image inside your mind. It is sensations and feelings. When someone mentions the beach, you don’t see the word “beach” written out in the dictionary. You feel the warmth and brightness of the sun, the give of the soft sand beneath your feet, the crash of the waves.

This is our most natural way of forming an understanding of the words we use. When learning the same words in an unfamiliar language, focus on that imagery and all of that memory. You will come out with a different mental pathway, a different, automatic connection between image and sound. It becomes an internal representation of both. Over time, that skill becomes easier and more natural to apply, eventually becoming an unconscious process that feels simply normal.

These principles put forth by Lonsdale and other linguists like him are formed from decades of study and research. If you feel you missed your “window of opportunity” to learn a language, try different methods until you find one that is compatible with your way of learning new information. Learning a language now, is the same as learning your mother tongue as a child, except now we have more ego, and self-consciousness to deal with. The genius behind Lonsdale’s method is that he has taken us back to our most formative years to see how we really absorb new information. Applying these seven actions to your daily life may help you speak that language you’ve been dying to learn in much less time.