by John Fotheringham | Apr 22, 2022
Andrew Methven is the creator of Slow Chinese 每周漫闻, a weekly newsletter that helps Mandarin Chinese learners immerse themselves in authentic, colloquial language via interesting stories and news events handpicked from Chinese media, social media, and TV. Instead of learning the stilted and stuffy language of Chinese textbooks, Andrew’s excellent newsletter trains you to understand the way people really speak and write the language today. In the interview, Andrew shares how he first fell in love with Chinese, differences between Mandarin between Mainland China and Taiwan, and his top tips for language learners.
by John Fotheringham | Mar 4, 2022
From full-time Mandarin immersion at Peking University and Shanghai’s Fudan University to years of independent study online, Daniel Nalesnik has spent the last 13+ years on a mission to figure out the most fun and effective way to learn Mandarin Chinese. The result? The creation of Hack Chinese, a powerful spaced repetition tool designed from the ground up just for Mandarin learners, unlike generic SRS apps that struggle to properly handle Chinese characters, tones, etc. In our conversation, Daniel shares the lessons he’s learned, what he would do differently if he started from scratch, and how new language learners can get started.
by John Fotheringham | Mar 2, 2022
The short answer? It depends. It depends on your goals. It depends on your level. And it depends on how much time and discipline you are willing to invest.
by John Fotheringham | Feb 16, 2022
From its beginning as a lean, bootstrapped startup to its recent $50 million acquisition, Drops represents a seriously impressive origin story. But this is a blog about languages, not start-ups. So the question remains: Does Drops actually work? Will it help you get fluent in a language? That is precisely what I answer in the detailed review, over one year in the making!
by John Fotheringham | Jan 22, 2020
Whether you find Duolingo to be a green-feathered friend in your pocket or an intimidating monster lurking outside your door waiting to pounce on you for not meeting your daily study goal, there’s no denying the app’s ubiquity and widespread cultural influence. Even Saturday Night Live has done a skit about it! Given its popularity, I am frequently asked whether I use Duolingo myself and what I think about it as a path to foreign language fluency. The answer to the first part of this question is easy: yes. Every single day. The answer to the second half, however, is far more nuanced and chock-full of caveats. Read on to see why Duolingo (alone) won’t get you fluent in Japanese, but why I think you should use it anyway…
by John Fotheringham | Oct 28, 2019
After many years of requests from Language Mastery readers, I am very excited to announce that today, the print version of Master Japanese is now available on Amazon for just $29! (Cue music and celebratory ninja dancing!) Master Japanese teaches you how to learn Japanese in a way that is both fun and effective, from the comfort of your own home, using my proven method called Anywhere Immersion. It’s not a textbook or course, but a complete guide that teaches you HOW to learn Japanese. Whether you have a business trip to Japan coming up, you want to be able to read manga in the original Japanese, or you want to wow your Japanese partner’s family with your Nihongo skills, I’m committed to helping you reach your goals, whatever they may be.
