Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

This isn’t a just memoir of the author’s trials and tribulations when picking up languages. A professional opera singer and born again polyglot, Gabriel Wyner recounts not just his experiences cozying up to German, Hungarian, Russian, Italian, but offers you the whole enchilada to mastering the rather ingenious path to fluency yourself. This is a simple, yet revolutionary way of becoming fluent forever in whatever language(s) you so choose, by sticking to three simple concepts:

- Learn to pronounce your target language like a native
- Don’t translate!
- Use the Spaced Repetition System (SRS) of flash cards to nail down vocabulary, grammar and verb conjugations

I really enjoyed Wyner’s folksy, warm and relatable writing style that hooks you in from the start. I’ve been a lifelong language lover, and although I’m good with the grammar and can read pretty well in a few of ‘em, I’m not absolutely fluent; seems I’m always striving for greater fluency.

Funny how I’d never heard of the SRS method before this book. Making your flash cards is the tricky part, but there are plenty of step-by-step instructions and valuable resources that the author provides. In my e-book, lots of links to great sites were included, too, including the one for Anki, the free flash card app. I’ve already begun making my own cards and practicing with my refresher card deck.

I usually find these DIY books a bit suspect. But this one was surprisingly understandable and refreshing. If you love languages, then read this book, my pick for Week 33: a book you've owned for at least a year, but have not read yet. It’s a revolutionary way of becoming a cunning linguist forever! Tão bom!

I'm a language teacher, and so glad I have discovered Anki thanks to you, Stacey! I'm gonna recommend it to my students and add the book to my TBR list right away! :-)