ENDORSEMENTS "This book is a conduit for students, teachers, and teacher educators -- a carefully guided path to making language learning not only possible, but meaningful and fun " --Marjorie Hall Haley, PhD, Board of Directors of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), Director of Foreign Language Teacher Licensure, George Mason University "Professor Konyndyk has developed a foreign-language pedagogy that makes students' deserts bloom. Foreign-language instructors and special educators will find themselves grateful to her for this contribution. --Lynn E. Snyder, PhD, CCC-SLP, Professor Emerita and Former Director of the Center for Language and Learning, University of Colorado at Boulder "Though I was told for such a long time 'No, you can't, ' you constantly were a voice saying 'Yes, you can and you will.' You not only helped show me that the world of language is one that is possible for me, but you also showed me the way that we . . . can have such a positive impact on the lives of others." --a personal note from one of Irene's own at-risk students ABOUT FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR EVERYONE "This book is about how I learned to teach a second language to those who either have failed before or were not really given a chance to succeed. I wrote it to help others to be smart, productive teachers of foreign languages to students with learning disabilities. The book called me. My life journey prepared and inspired me to write it." --Irene Brouwer Konyndyk, from her preface Foreign Languages for Everyone is based on Professor Irene Brouwer Konyndyk's careful study and classroom experience teaching foreign languages effectively to students with learning disabilities. The goal of serving at-risk students became highly personal for Irene when she realized that her own daughter had a learning disability but could succeed academically with the right combination of multisensory learning experiences. This is a wonderfully practical and inspiring book loaded with practical tips and pedagogical insights for successfully teaching foreign languages to children, young people, high school and college students, and older adults who have difficulty learning a second language. ABOUT IRENE AND HER FREE ONLINE RESOURCES Irene Brouwer Konyndyk has taught languages at all levels -- from elementary through college. She received the Calvin College Innovative Teaching Award for her groundbreaking work developing a successful curriculum for at-risk second-language learners. She leads workshops across North America. Her free website, FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR EVERYONE, provides: (1) downloadable copies of book-related appendixes, forms, and lesson plans, (2) illustrative video and audio clips, (3) news about important developments at the intersections of special education, learning disabilities, and foreign-language instruction, and (4) a community for second-language instructors to share best practices. TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) This book is ideal for educators and volunteers who teach English as a second language (ESL).

"The first half of this book examines the commercial, social, and political implications of American monolingualism. The second half of the book explores the techniques and tools that a working professional can use to acqure functional skills in a new language."--Back cover.

Benny Lewis, who speaks over ten languages—all self-taught—runs the largest language-learning blog in the world, Fluent In 3 Months. Lewis is a full-time "language hacker," someone who devotes all of his time to finding better, faster, and more efficient ways to learn languages. Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World is a new blueprint for fast language learning. Lewis argues that you don't need a great memory or "the language gene" to learn a language quickly, and debunks a number of long-held beliefs, such as adults not being as good of language learners as children.

In this entertaining and groundbreaking book, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, creator of the renowned Pimsleur Method, the world leader in audio-based language learning, shows how anyone can learn to speak a foreign language. If learning a language in high school left you bruised, with a sense that there was no way you can learn another language, How to Learn a Foreign Language will restore your sense of hope. In simple, straightforward terms, Dr. Pimsleur will help you learn grammar (seamlessly), vocabulary, and how to practice pronunciation (and come out sounding like a native). The key is the simplicity and directness of Pimsleur’s approach to a daunting subject, breaking it down piece by piece, demystifying the process along the way. Dr. Pimsleur draws on his own language learning trials and tribulations offering practical advice for overcoming the obstacles so many of us face. Originally published in 1980, How to Learn a Foreign Language is now available on the 50th anniversary of Dr. Pimsleur’s publication of the first of his first audio courses that embodied the concepts and methods found here. It's a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the mind of this amazing pioneer of language learning.

Forget everything you’ve heard about adult language learning: evidence from cognitive science and psychology prove we can learn foreign languages just as easily as children. An eye-opening study on how adult learners can master a foreign lanugage by drawing on skills and knowledge honed over a lifetime. Adults who want to learn a foreign language are often discouraged because they believe they cannot acquire a language as easily as children. Once they begin to learn a language, adults may be further discouraged when they find the methods used to teach children don't seem to work for them. What is an adult language learner to do? In this book, Richard Roberts and Roger Kreuz draw on insights from psychology and cognitive science to show that adults can master a foreign language if they bring to bear the skills and knowledge they have honed over a lifetime. Adults shouldn't try to learn as children do; they should learn like adults. Roberts and Kreuz report evidence that adults can learn new languages even more easily than children. Children appear to have only two advantages over adults in learning a language: they acquire a native accent more easily, and they do not suffer from self-defeating anxiety about learning a language. Adults, on the other hand, have the greater advantages—gained from experience—of an understanding of their own mental processes and knowing how to use language to do things. Adults have an especially advantageous grasp of pragmatics, the social use of language, and Roberts and Kreuz show how to leverage this metalinguistic ability in learning a new language. Learning a language takes effort. But if adult learners apply the tools acquired over a lifetime, it can be enjoyable and rewarding.

The eleven chapters of this ACTFL volume approach language education from a variety of perspectives including the history and current status of language policies; language needs of our government and our international businesses; teachers, teaching, and learning; assessment; instructional technology; heritage learners; less commonly taught languages; and special learners. This volume's authors accepted the challenge of answering the following basic questions related to their topic, as well as that of expanding upon their themes. Where are we now? Where should we be? or Where could we be? How do we realize our vision of languages for all?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • For anyone who wants to learn a foreign language, this is the method that will finally make the words stick. “A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller Guitar Zero At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered. Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day. This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.