Why You Should Join The Language Event in Edinburgh

I’d really like to get across why you should join The Language Event in Edinburgh this year. To start let me give some of my own motivations for being in this world of languages… As I see it, language is an essential part of our lives. Language cuts across everything we do. It the an… View Article

Can Duolingo Make You Fluent?

I was looking at common questions about the app with the famous owl that some love to hate, some hate to love and other just love. One of the most common questions is: Can Duolingo make you fluent? In July I took Speakly for a test drive over a month. I used it intensively to… View Article

Learn a Language with Richard Simcott

Starting a new language? Improving one you have studied already? Would you like to learn a language with me? Well here is your chance! This is not a course. This is not a book. No gimmicks. Just you and me. This is how you get to learn a language with Richard Simcott. A Life of… View Article

Intensive Language Learning

The last time I did intensive language study was in 1999. I was 21 and I moved to Germany to learn German in one summer. It was a crazy period in my life and also extremely exhilarating. But is it easy come easy go with intensive language learning? Why do intensive language learning? My story… View Article

6 Months of Korean

I started a new language learning journey in January 2021. At the time of writing we are now at the end of June. It felt like it was a good time to look back over what’s been happening. After all it’s been 6 months of Korean! Has it really been 6 months? I had a… View Article

Learning Cornish (Kernewek)

I started learning Cornish in autumn 2020 during lockdown. It’s been a great language learning journey. Since starting my studies of Cornish I have been asked how to get into the language. This blog post includes the things I found really boosted my experience learning Cornish. Why Cornish? During lockdown I decided to take on… View Article

Learning Languages on TikTok

Who thought we’d get to a point? The famous dancing, singing and lip sync app that took Gen Z by storm is being repurposed by more diverse audiences. A lot of this is thanks to lockdown and people getting creative around the world. Now learning languages on TikTok is a thing and let me show… View Article

How Do We Learn Languages?

We talk a lot about tips and tricks for language learning. During a Scottish Gaelic class the teacher told the students not to write things down and to be present and in the moment. Taking notes is something that has always appealed to me. Now I was calling it all into question. The question in… View Article

Heritage Languages

Lately I have been on a journey learning Korean. My connections to the country are limited to friends and a couple of stopovers in Seoul. Sometimes we need to bolster our reasons to learn a language. Sometimes they are naturally there. Enter heritage languages… Many of us wonder which languages our family members spoke in… View Article

Clubhouse and Language Learning

You’ve heard a lot from me recently about the difficulties with studying Korean with a number of things going on externally. It has been a pretty unusual time and it’s made things hard to focus on studying something brand new. It’s also been hard to focus on new projects generally. Enter Clubhouse and language learning… View Article

Giving up on Language Learning

We talk about language learning and setting goals. I have written about the need to review goals and to make sure we stay realistic and honest with ourselves during the learning process. When it comes to giving up on language learning: How do you deal with the highs and lows of language learning. Let’s get… View Article

International Day of Multilingualism

As you know, I am into languages in a big way. I love learning new languages and you may have seen my most recent foray into Learning Korean. In between I also talk about other languages like 2021 being the year for the Manx language. Naturally for me there is a big interest in an… View Article

Check Your Language Learning Goals!

How to learn a language and stay motivated: Check your goals! My Korean learning journey started with some important prep to help with motivation and to get to grips with the task ahead. Make sure to check out that blog post to see how I achieved that! I have been studying Korean now for almost… View Article

Starting to speak and write in Korean

A few weeks ago I set myself some very concrete goals to complete for my Korean studies. I would complete the Michel Thomas Korean Foundation course and learn to read and write with the Teach Yourself Korean Script Hacking book. So how did I get on? I won’t keep you in suspense. I did meet… View Article

The Year of The Manx Language: 2021

In 2019 I was proud to be officially associated with the Year of Indigenous Languages with the Polyglot Conference. Sometimes we hear about these “Year of X” and wonder why we need to do that for one specific thing, right? We see it in many areas of life where we think everyone should be equal… View Article

Content in Korean

I warned you about my silly jokes and puns in the very first blog post on Korean. That said, there are two important messages in this punny title of mine. It definitely serves as a good overview of what’s to come in any case. The Year Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken Valdemor, stand aside! 2020… View Article

Get into Gear for Korea

WARNING: Silly puns will litter these posts about learning Korean! If you are allergic to daft humour, look away now! Right, now the weak have fled, please join me in this latest update on learning a language from scratch. The month of prep It’s been two weeks since that magical Tuesday when I started on… View Article

Starting a New Language

I know. I know. 1st January is meant to be the day we start new things, right? Well, at least do something new on a Monday! I know. I get it. But no! I refuse to get into those rituals. And here’s why… You set yourself up for disappointment by letting everything ride on a… View Article

Mayan Magic & The International Year of Indigenous Language

The UN made 2019 The International Year of Indigenous Languages. People from all over the world the language learning community and specialist groups for languages, especially groups dedicated to the protection, promotion and learning of indigenous and endangered languages got excited by the idea. But what does it mean? Over the year so far, I have spoken… View Article

Strength in Languages

Putting together the very first Polyglot Conference, the first event of its kind, ignited something quite special. Naturally I saw some things come out of it almost immediately. There were language challenges, people getting together to work on projects. But the thing that really stuck in my mind was the starting of so many friendships… View Article

Going Quebecois!

Where is the other challenge this summer? OK, admit it! You may have seen my blog post about learning Indonesian this summer and thought, where’s the other language? I know he always takes on another similar language at the same time for these summer challenges! Well, you’re right! This summer, I am taking on Quebecois! Why Quebecois… View Article

Indonesian Language Challenge

Let the summer language challenges begin! This month I have taken on a language learning challenge that’s new territory for me. Yes, from the title, you know already that it’s a month of Indonesian language learning. So here I am in Bali and this is my teacher, Daniel from Cinta Bahasa language school. Why Indonesian?… View Article

Breathing Life into Language

Mike Campbell (from Glossika) first raised this question for me many years ago: Why are you not out saving languages? My answer then was that I really didn’t have the time and I felt there were other people already doing it. I still believe I was honest when I said that and, in part, it’s… View Article

How fast can I learn a language?

Last time I explored the “The Secret of Learning Languages” with you and now I’d like to talk about just how fast you can learn a language. This is a frequent question people ask me. It is usually followed by, “it gets easier after each one your learn, right?”. It’s practically impossible to answer these… View Article

The Secret of Learning Languages

During a Polyglot Workshops Online session with participants, I got a really interesting comment: “I came to learn about the secret to learning languages”. This was not from someone who is new to languages, but rather someone who has learnt languages successfully for a number of years. This is someone, I consider to be an… View Article

It’s all Greek to me!

End of a conference…start of my challenge… At the end of the Polyglot Conference in New York City, I was pleased to announce that we’d be taking the event to Thessaloniki in Greece in 2016. We hope to see everyone interested in languages there – polyglot, polynot and anything in between. Mixed with the excitement… View Article

Setting goals

The summer is coming to an end in the northern hemisphere and it’s time to go back to school. This time of year feels like a lot of new starts for us. Over the summer I had a number of goals I set myself on my travels. I took on the Add1Challenge for Latvian over… View Article

What’s a Rusty Language?

We often hear about people being “rusty” in a language. But what does that mean? How do we measure rust? Can we scrape the rust off and make it shiny again? Rusty? Really? I totally identify with the issue of have a language that is rusty. Basically all it comes down to is not having… View Article

Polish your Polish

Can you get your tongue around the weird and wonderful consonant sounds in Polish?  Watch this video I put together and see how you do too!  Post a reply to the video with you saying “chrząszcz”!  🙂 Each group of languages I have studied has a special place in my heart.  The Romance and Germanic… View Article

Sharing your language story – MehrsprachICH

The Goethe Institute has launched a video competition called MehrsprachICH for people who speak a number of foreign languages.  This is the latest in a recent wave of interest in our ever-growing online language community, polyglots, hyperpolyglots and the language-learning process in general.   Why share your language story?   Growing up I always wished… View Article

Live The Language – Studying in-country

Going abroad is the one thing many of us think about as being the best way to learn a new language. If the opportunity arises, is it worth grabbing? I have talked about courses before, be self-study with Pimsleur or taught like Turkish course in Skopje. What about these “intensive courses” though?  Just how much… View Article

Danish, Norwegian or Swedish?

There are a number of languages in the world that are mutually intelligible.  Croats and Serbs can communicate with each other relatively freely, as can Macedonians and Bulgarians, Afrikaners and Dutch people and of course the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. Cristina – the Norwegian polyglot This week I was stayed with another polyglot in Oslo. … View Article

How do you learn a language?

This sounds like a very simple question and it is one that I am asked regularly.  The short answer is…it takes continuous study and plenty of practice.  The methods involved in learning a language though can vary.  Even for me, there have been different ways in which I have learnt different languages. Why change tactic?… View Article

So…how is my Pimsleur Hungarian? :)

You picked Hungarian for me to study for one month to try out the Pimsleur method. I finished the 30-day level one Pimsleur Hungarian course and the results are in! 🙂 On 15th April I started my 30-day Pimsleur Hungarian challenge. The course I used was from my local library. It came with a booklet… View Article

Vote Speaking Fluently!

Visibility online gets your message out there. Speaking Fluently has been nominated in The Top 100 Language Lovers 2012 competition. Voting has started now! Please help me to get this site some more views by clicking on the link below and voting for Speaking Fluently: I enjoy helping to motivate other language learners and to… View Article

Word Play

On Saturday 5th May 2012 a piece called “Word Play” appeared on Canada’s GlobalTV. It formed part of the 16×9 programme and was hosted by Carolyn Jarvis. The programme brought together a panel of Canadian polyglots, spoke to linguists and Michael Erard, author of “Babel No More”. As part of the story Tim Doner (a… View Article

Start spreading the news…

As you may know, I went to New York recently.  This was not a planned holiday for me, though I did get to see some great things! 🙂  The main reason for my trip was to take part in the 16×9 show on Global TV in Canada. As part of the show I met up… View Article

B ready!

I started learning Turkish in September 2011 and I completed the A1 course and exam after three months of study. The journey from zero to hero in Turkish… 😉 At the end of the A1 course, I had a good grasp of the fundamentals of Turkish and I could make myself understood to native speakers… View Article

Pimsleur Challenge – You picked Hungarian

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote on this blog and on my Facebook page.  My Pimsleur challenge language will be Hungarian.  I will start my 30-day challenge on 15th April and tweet each day (Internet access permitting as I have some trips during that time too) and update here and on Facebook… View Article

Vote for my Pimsleur 30 Challenge on Facebook or SpeakingFluently.com

Thanks to everyone who has taken part on Facebook so far.  I had some messages from people who are not on Facebook, so I wanted to give everyone a chance to have a say in which language I take on for my Pimsleur 30-day challenge.  There is plenty of time to vote.  I will collate… View Article

The Polyglot Pimsleur Language Challenge

People often ask me about various courses that you can buy to learn a new language.  I have tried many of them, including TeachYourself, Colloquial, Michel Thomas, Assimil, Linguaphone as well as many online materials from LingQ to Busuu to LiveMocha.  I have found that all have something to offer.  One method that comes up… View Article

Learning the Lingo

We talk about learning languages and how quickly we can do it.  We look for the best courses to get us to the best level possible at break-neck speed.  But is all this all in vain?  Is language learning at this accelerated rate a myth? Well, you can pick up a book, read it or… View Article

Motivation

Many people have asked me how I stay motivated.  In order to answer this question, I need to also define a few things.  When people talk about motivation, especially related to language learning, I get the impression that they expect to be motivated 100% of the time, or close to it. To me saying, “I… View Article

Language switching

Recently Micheal Erard released his book, “Babel No More”.  The book is the, “search for the world’s most extraordinary language learners”.  When I posted the link to an article in The Economist about the book on my Facebook page, I was asked if I agree with it.  At first I thought about the whole article and… View Article

A1 bitti…

Today marks the end of the A1 level of my Turkish.  We had the writing, listening and reading parts of the exam on Monday and the oral exam just today!  I can hardly believe that it has been three months since I started learning Turkish.  But it’s not over yet… 😉 From Monday I will… View Article

Interview with a translator

In the three years since I first made an appearance on YouTube with my video in 16 languages, I have received many comments and messages, asking a wide range of things.  I have always tried to answer the questions I get to the best of my ability. One type question that has been asked several… View Article

The little things…

We often hear that the little things in life are the things that bring us most joy.  I can definitely confirm this for many of the life events I have lived through so far, my child’s first words being one.   As a parent, when you first hear those words, you react.  That reaction has… View Article

What’s your number?

How many languages do you speak? The question itself seems simple enough.  I have lost count how many times I have been asked it.  I am even less sure on the various answers I have given in the past.  Sometimes I am very guarded about it, especially if I know it will be published and… View Article

Turkish delight – language learning on a formal course

Whenever I meet people and they find out about my language learning, I am often asked how I go about learning a language.   My answer to that is, “it depends on the language”.  I have never been one for refusing any method, well except for subliminal learning… 😉 It’s always good to try out new… View Article

Balkan language “hit list”

My relationship with The Balkans started almost a decade ago.  Like the language obsessed person that I am, I had grand plans to learn all of the languages spoken in the region.  I’m big into learning the languages spoken around me.  I simply need that connection to motivate me to learn a language to a… View Article

Understanding the mistakes…

As a Brit I went to a school full of students scared of speaking in a different language for fear of making a mistake or sounding silly.  Some even said they felt silly “putting on” an accent.  Call me what you will, but I like to have a laugh when learning a language.  Making mistakes… View Article

Reading the signs…

I’ve been in Poland for three weeks now already.  Just under a week left and I will be back on the road… Learning a language in-country is a luxury and it is not always an option.  It is still possible to study a language successfully to a high level without going abroad.  We live in… View Article

The language monkey

If there is one thing that language learning has taught me, it is that aping the people around me is the most effective way to speak like them. Sometimes we can feel self-conscious about putting on an accent.  Perhaps we’ve heard other people do it badly in our own language.  Perhaps you have been told… View Article

Language studies

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwilekZlcws] You may study a language as part of a course or for work.  You can also set yourself up on a course and study alone, but give yourself a certain timeframe or goals. Many experienced language learners shy away from formal courses for a variety of reasons… * it’s too slow * it’s too… View Article

Speaking fluently for work and life…

Many people live and work in a foreign language environment daily for years and never learn much more than the very basic words in the language.  I know, I have met many such people.  Then there some of us would like to also learn a language with which we have no direct contact. How do… View Article

The language of love

What is the language of love? That is a question I have heard asked countless times and answered in many ways.  To my mind, the language of love is always unique to the speaker and the listener. Let me explain what I mean and how you can use it to improve your language skills. Those… View Article

It’s all about opportunities…

Let’s face it – speaking a foreign language is a showy thing.  You can go and hear people recite or teach things and watch them perform.  But these are all specific situations in life.  You need be there at the right time to witness it.  Languages are different.  They cross all boundaries because everyone uses… View Article

Speaking Fluently

My name is Richard.  Welcome to my blog about languages and language learning! Questions about speaking languages fluently is the most common one I hear, hence the name Speaking Fluently.  How do you get involved? It’s easy! I will share language stories, tips and advice on here with you. Write to me in the comments. Interact… View Article