Luca-Spaghetti

Luca Spaghetti (from Eat, Pray, Love) learned English with American pop songs

The worldwide bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love, turned the already comical surname of Luca Spaghetti into an almost household name. Luca Spaghetti In the USA Today article, When (Luca) Spaghetti met (Elizabeth) Gilbert ..., reported that Mr....

Ode to imperfection: why trying to be perfect is counter-productive to language learning

A couple weeks ago, I got some criticism for my imperfect Russian in a Russian-language Facebook forum that had linked to my Russian language video about using music and media to learn languages. Here's my...
english as a second language

Ai, Se Eu Te Pego! Learn a catchy Brazilian song, learn Brazilian Portuguese

Do you want to know what the Brazilian Portuguese words "nossa", "balada", "pegar", and "galera" mean? Do you want to distinguish the words "mas" and "mais" and not confuse them? You can learn those lessons in...
Spanish cow

Don’t speak like your neighbor’s cow, Why a good accent is important

The French, who are very proud of and particular about the pronunciation and proper use of their language, have a saying about people who speak French poorly and/or with a bad accent: “parler français...
how to learn a new language fast

How to learn languages and make them stick

Last week, I did a guest post on Polyglot Dream (Luca Lampariello's popular language learning blog about how to learn languages and attain native-like pronunciation. I internalize the foreign languages that I learn to...

Music = learning languages and staying in school

Another TV interview about the awesome power of music! Songs, TV and other media help us learn foreign languages. Hip-hop music can keep at-risk kids in school and out of trouble. Susanna Zaraysky and Anthony Pineda...
Russian through French

Russia through French eyes: Experiencing life anew in a different language

Rare is the book which envelops my attention, delights me in its prose, makes me re-read passages both for the joy of the flow of the sentences and for the content and strikes a...
English as a second language

Language is Music. Songs help Rep. Gabrielle Giffords regain speech

Language and Music. Language is Music. Music helps you learn language. It's so simple. Yet sometimes it feels like I am talking to the wall when I tell people how lyrical songs can help people...
anti-aging

Learning a Foreign Language Can Help You Live Longer

In his book, Healthy Aging, Dr. Andrew Weil recommends learning a foreign language as a way to prevent Alzheimers. From the ABC News story, "Learning a Foreign Language Can Help You Live Longer": "Weil believes that...
The Polyglot Project

Susanna’s interview on the Polygot Project Podcast

David Mansaray and Claude Cartaginese are doing a The Polyglot Project Podcast with interviews of language learners. It was an honor to talk to them about how I learned languages. I clarified how I...

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