Do what it says and you’ll learn any language you want.

And there’s plenty of good reason for me to affirm it with such certainty.

I happened to stumble upon this book when I was starting to have progress learning French.

Because of it, I understood why I had “unwillingly” learned English as a kid and why I was finally progressing in French.

I say ‘finally’ because I had tried once before, and it was a disaster.

Keep in mind I did everything I had been told to.

I watched French lessons on YouTube. I reviewed verb conjugations. I used apps daily (Duolingo and Memrise for example). I did it all. Nothing changed.

I still couldn’t understand native speakers, the songs I’d listen to, the books I’d try to read… the list goes on.

It all made sense when I found this quote from French linguist Pierre Delattre in the book “How to Learn a Foreign Language”, by Paul Pimsleur, which says:

“It appears that the basic error in language teaching methods is one of order. We put the cart before the horse. We use the eye before we use the ear; we take up writing before we take up speaking; we teach reading before we teach pronouncing; we study the rules before we study the examples; we concentrate on quantity before we concentrate on quality. In all this, our error is that we go against the facts of language. A language is first of all “speech”—a system of sounds transmitted directly from mouth to ear and produced by automatic reactions of the speech organs. The functioning of those automatic reactions depends on the linguistic habits of the speaker, and it is the acquisition of those habits that must come first.”

Right on the money.

The reason why my first attempt was an absolute failure is perfectly described in those words.

And not only that of my attempt, but of most people’s too.

Let’s understand why.

“We use the eye before we use the ear.”

Think about it:

In school and language courses, you usually follow a textbook, study with vocabulary lists, eventually do grammar drills, etc.

In all this, you use your eye before your ear.

The problem with this?

That’s not how you learned your language.

Again, think about it:

What was the first thing you ever did with your language?

You heard it.

You didn’t understand it, of course, but you heard it.

The reason why that is so important is, since language is speech, you need to get used to a language’s rhythm, tone, volume, tongue movements and placements, lip movements, etc.

Although you won’t notice it at first, the more you hear the language around you, the faster your ears create a sort of catalogue of sounds, sound-clusters and accents in that language.

The bigger this catalogue becomes, the more you can understand the language when you hear it.

Not only we’re not taught this, we also have to deal with the focus on rules and grammar that exists to this day.

Now, evidently, if you don’t know how to properly use the rules and grammar of a language, you will make tons of mistakes.

The problem here lies in STARTING to learn a language focusing on grammar.

To use an analogy, think of a kid interested in learning how to play soccer.

If they try to learn soccer the same way we’re taught to learn languages, they will read theoretical books on its rules, what tactics should be used, how you’re supposed to play, etc.

They will gather all of that information, but never have a ball on their feet nor go to the pitch.

This is the situation in which millions of language learners find themselves now.

They remember the names of verb tenses, grammar conventions, specific rules regarding conjugation and writing, but they can’t use the language.

They have the theory, but not the practice.

That’s the road I was on.

But then I noticed the way Delattre described what should come first when learning a language.

Allow me to remind you:

“A language is first of all “speech”—a system of sounds transmitted directly from mouth to ear and produced by automatic reactions of the speech organs. The functioning of those automatic reactions depends on the linguistic habits of the speaker, and it is the acquisition of those habits that must come first.”

To make it simpler, here’s what you should ALWAYS prioritize when learning any language:

The acquisition of the habit of automatic reactions.

Write that down, print it, take a screenshot, make a tattoo out of it, do whatever you can to not forget it.

This one sentence is the key to learning languages, and I’ll tell you why with a scenario.

Imagine a stranger comes up to you on the streets and asks:

“Scusate, che ore sono, per cortesia?”

If you never studied Italian, you’ll most likely say: “Sorry, what?”

But if you speak Italian, you’ll just give them the time.

This quick interaction would have gone flawlessly had it been in English.

And no, it’s not just because you speak English and not Italian (duh).

It’s because you’ve seen, heard, read and wrote those same words (excuse me, what time is it, please?) in the same context THOUSANDS of times, which means your brain is already programmed to recognize and use them in milliseconds.

That is, in practice, what Delattre called the “habit of automatic reaction”.

You had to see it and use it so much, it became automatic.

And guess what made my progress in French skyrocket in 3-4 months?

Trying to come up with sentences on my own and checking to see if they were right on Google Translate/ChatGPT, imitating native speakers when I’d listen to them on a YouTube video or podcast, learning to sing songs I liked exactly like the singers and having video calls with friends I made on the apps Hellotalk and Tandem.

We’re talking about 2020 here, so no possibility to go out, meet up with friends, try to meet foreigners, etc.

But you see, all the things I mentioned before trained my brain, ears and mouth to develop the habit of automatic reactions in French.

And it only happened because I surrounded myself with the language so much to the point where it was impossible not to see it and use it time and time again.

It made me develop those habits of automatic reactions a lot faster.

I could genuinely go on forever talking about this book and explaining every single detail that makes it a life-changing read.

Advices such as “learn grammar through the ear”, “learning a foreign language is like filling a bucket from a slow-running tap”, “grammar is best learned by using it, not talking about it” among others are golden nuggets that will stick with you forever if you truly grasp their utility.

I can’t talk more about this book because if I did, I would end up writing another book inside this newsletter just to explain how great this one is.

However, before I leave you to your studies, there’s one last thing I need to share with you from it.

Of all its advices, this might be the most powerful one.

Here it is:

“Let the ‘living purpose’ for which you undertook the language be your guide in how to learn it.”

If you’re subscribed to this newsletter, I suppose it’s because, among other reasons, you want to learn another language.

Now, here’s my question to you:

Why?

I mean, genuinely, why?

Is it for a possible promotion at work?

Or maybe for an upcoming trip?

A love interest?

I don’t know, but what I do know is this:

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how” Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

As long as your why is always on your mind, you’ll keep going.

Notice I said your why.

Not what someone else told you.

What you feel deep inside.

It you align it with what this book tells you to do, you are guaranteed to succeed in any language you want.

That is a promise.

So read it, apply it, live it.

Your life will definitely change.

Go for it, my friend.

PS: this is the last newsletter from the 5-part series I made about books that changed my life. I truly believe leaders are readers, so I’m constantly reading about something to keep my mind fresh and have something useful to share with my students, followers and friends. I’d like to hear your thoughts about this 5-part series. Was there a specific newsletter that was more useful to you? Do you have any constructive criticism to give me? Would you like another series in the future talking about books that deeply impacted me? Please, share your thoughts with me! I really want to make this newsletter a space to help all of you as much as possible.

Hope to hear from you.

See you next Saturday!