How To Maintain Languages

by Robin Macpherson, Alexandra Nazario (Illustrator), Timothy Andrews (Photographer)

Learning a foreign language truly is a wonderful experience that opens up doors into new worlds and enriches our lives beyond measure. Unfortunately, many people come back to their foreign language to find the door locked, because we don't talk enough about how to actually maintain language skills once we've acquired them. The good news is that the process of properly maintaining a foreign language is just a beautiful as learning one. In fact, I would argue that's one of the best parts! This book will teach you everything you need to know to build a lifestyle where you can maintain languages in a sustainable way that is realistic with a busy schedule. This book is for all language learners . It is not just for people who have already learned a foreign language to a high level and want to maintain it. It is also packed full of useful tips and advice that will help you learn a language the right way in order to set yourself up for successfully maintaining that language later. The book makes a point to show how all of this is possible amidst our busy day-to-day lives. It details various scenarios, such as being a full-time student, a working adult, and even a full-time working parent! Robin also emphasizes how to maintain your language(s) while still being able to follow your other hobbies and interests, and how to do all of this without living in the country where your target language is spoken. Absolutely! Robin devotes an entire chapter to show you the art of maintaining multiple languages , showing you how to become what he calls a language project manager .

Genres: Nonfiction

149 pages, Paperback

Published March 30, 2018

About the author

Robin MacPherson, a designer, web developer and polyglot entrepreneur who grew up in England, but has lived and worked in 9 countries and speaks 8 languages.

Reviews

[Carlos Eliseo Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book presents advice and tips for bilinguals and polyglots who wish to maintain and improve proficiency in their target language(s). It has the pleasing format of a coffee-table book, with photos of the book's studious author, and drawings of a cute cartoon character. Robin MacPherson shares practical ideas and useful concepts such as “extensive reading” vs. “intensive reading” and "content cycle" as applicable to learning foreign languages and maintaining a certain level of proficiency. The book includes links to the author’s Youtube channel and a link to download tracking forms mentioned in his book.

[Jessica Cleghorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ironically enough, in need of a good edit. The book was however beautifully presented , and while I personally didn't glean much new information till the final chapter ,I can see this being very useful to someone starting out in their language learning journey.

[BJ Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is cool to see that we pretty much have the same approach to maintaining and learning multiple languages at once. I found the final chapter particularly helpful. Though the book was a bit repetitive and lacked some organization, I think it is one of the better language learning advice books out there at the moment. It is clearly inspired. It is simple and to-the-point. It is visually pleasing and not overwhelming. It is honest about the reality of learning multiple languages at once. And it is consistent with the author's brand on YouTube. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I will most likely use it as reference material later.

[Sheelie Kittee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but i think i need more detailed structure when it comes to language studying and planning. My goal this rest of the...9 months i have is to strengthen the ones i have learnt. So perhaps 1 a week and rotate! Still a lot of good advice. Here