Despite doing well in other school subjects, Andrew Barr failed French in secondary school. Upon hearing this news, his supportive father assured him:
"The Barrs don't do languages. We do maths and sciences. You will never have to speak of a word of French again!"
It turns out that this prediction was a bit of the mark. Today, Andrew speaks multiple languages and has built a successful business teaching languages at Real Fast Spanish.
In this deep dive into Andrew's language learning journey and philosophy, you will learn:
- How a multilingual climb up Mount Kilimanjaro inspired him to learn languages (and led to befriending a French actress).
- The importance of high-quality language input (high-yield listening and reading content).
- The power of learning with other people (teachers, tutors, and exchange partners) and why you need to avoid the input-only trap.
- Why motivation, consistency, and discipline are the essential 3 essential ingredients of successful language learning.
- Why Andrew decided to start learning Polish (his first non-Romance language) and the surprising origins of his family name.
- The ideal order of operations for learning a new language from scratch and why you should master sounds first.
- The 24-hour rule for new vocabulary and the simple $5 language-learning tool you should carry with you everywhere you go.
- The language-learning advice Andrew would give to his younger self to break through his earlier stories and self-limiting beliefs.
- Why learning a language is akin to learning to play the guitar (you have to learn by doing, not watching).
- Why your feelings about a language-learning method are more important than the method itself.
- Why pursuing pleasure in language learning is not always the answer and why Andrew studies flashcards in Anki even though he doesn't enjoy it.
- The most common mistakes that native English speakers make in Spanish (and how to sound less like a "gringo" by changing just one sound).
- Why correctly pronouncing vowels is more important in Spanish than getting consonants right.
- The critical difference between "accent" and "pronunciation" and why the latter matter much more.
- Andrew's 2 essential language-learning principles: 1) readiness to learn, and 2) high-quality practice.
- How to build early confidence by setting the bar low and having specific goals in each conversation.
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