There it was.

That email I'd been waiting for.

Back in summer, I’d set myself a goal: go from intermediate to fluent French in 5 months.

At the end of November, I took an advanced level French exam (DALF

Imagine a man who does 70 push-ups a day.

What kind of person comes to mind?

An intense overachiever with willpower as strong as his biceps? A tanned guy with an intellect as small as his Speedos?

You might

This time last year, I set some language learning goals for 2017.

Some went better than planned.

Others went horribly wrong.

Which made me wonder: why did some goals keep me motivated right up to the finish line, while others

Which language should I learn?

Whenever I asked myself this question in the past, I only considered widely-spoken languages like Spanish or Mandarin.

This is because I'd always assumed that widely-spoken languages lead to better travel options and

I love travelling.

I love jumping on a plane, hopping out the other side and being surrounded by different people, sights, smells and of course, languages.

I even love that awkward feeling of trying to use the lingo with the locals

I’m a fraud.

I write articles about things like "how to reach your language learning goals". But half the time, I don’t actually reach my goals for learning a foreign language.

If you’re someone who gets enthusiastic about learning new

Do you have hopes and dreams of speaking a language fluently, but you’re too lazy to study?

Me too.

But what if I told you that your laziness, far from being a limitation, could actually make you great at learning languages

What do heights, Ikea on Sundays and language exams have in common?

They all scare the crap out of me.

Right now, I’m stressée because I’m taking an advanced French exam (called the DALF C1) in a few weeks, and

Want to learn some handy Italian travel phrases to buy food?

Bene!

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to speak Italian in supermarkets, delis and markets. It includes 3 Italian audio lessons, where you’ll learn the following skills:

• How to

World Snowboarding champion Shaun White falls on his arse a lot.

Most snowboarders do, it’s an occupational hazard.

But Shaun White has a special way of falling on his arse that helped him achieve the highest ever score in the

Can you roll your Rs?

Have a go now. Go on, no one’s listening.

If you made a lovely rrrrrr sound, you can stop reading and go back to Facebook.

On the other hand, if you’re anything like me when

The other day, I was listening to a podcast about Leonardo Da Vinci.

He was a productive fella.

His accomplishments across different fields including art, science, maths and geography have earned him a reputation as the ultimate renaissance multitasker.

Which

Imagine waking up in a remote town in the French countryside, where no one speaks English. Would you be able to get by in French?

If your answer is “non”, you’re in good company.

French is one of the

So you’re thinking about learning Italian?

Molto bene!

If you're looking for some guidance on how to get started, you're in the right place.

When I first started learning Italian (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth), there

Speaking a foreign language is one of the best feelings in the world. It gives you:

• A deeply satisfying connection with a new culture and its people


• The chance to travel with ease


• A huge sense of personal achievement


• New

Where’s the best place to learn French?

France, right?

I tried learning French in Paris once. Before then, I’d been learning French with audio courses, textbooks and a few private lessons with a strict French lady who was all grammar

What do weight loss after Christmas, expired peanut butter and learning Spanish have in common?

Apparently, they all take around 5 months.

Which seems like a long time to hold onto festive pudge and an exceedingly short time to learn

You worked so hard.

You spent ages squeezing those new words and phrases into your brain. Then you try to use them in real life and...

Nada.

You keep searching your brain, but everything you learnt has temporarily left the

Which teacher do you remember most from school?

I bet you're thinking of a brilliant one, or a horrible one. Most people forget about the ones in the middle.

I had lots of mediocre language teachers at school. They didn’t really care about

What comes to mind when you hear the word procrastination?

Sitting on the sofa in your underpants? Staring at GIFs on buzzfeed? Watching a 106 year old Indian lady give cooking lessons on YouTube?  (a few of the things