ML37: Ellen Jovin on Foreign Language Resources, Grappling with Grammar and Speaking from the Start

Ellen Jovin is a polyglot, writer and the founder of Syntaxis, a communication skills training firm based in New York.

In 2009, she started a project to learn as much as she could of the languages spoken in New York in a year. But once she started, she never stopped - her schedule has included 21 different languages involving a total of nine different alphabets and writing systems - and she’s still going strong with no end in sight.

Ellen’s an accomplished polyglot and an excellent communicator as I found out when we met at the Polyglot Conference in Thessaloniki, where she gave a fantastic talk on language learning products.

In this episode we discuss a range of topics including:

- What it means to know a language and Ellen’s definition of fluency - The method Ellen uses to learn languages and how this can be used by others - The challenges Ellen has faced learning languages and how she overcame them

Whatever language you’re learning and whatever stage you’re at, you’ll benefit from Ellen’s insights and leave this episode with mindsets and skillsets that you can take away and start using straight away.