Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Remember It Forever
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-21 08:53:13
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Gabriel Wyner
- ISBN：0385348118
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
The ultimate rapid language-learning guide！ For those who’ve despaired of ever learning a foreign language， here， finally， is a book that will make the words stick。 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。 In Fluent Forever Wyner reveals what he’s discovered。
The greatest challenge to learning a foreign language is the challenge of memory; there are just too many words and too many rules。 For every new word we learn， we seem to forget two old ones， and as a result， fluency can seem out of reach。 Fluent Forever tackles this challenge head-on。 With empathy for the language-challenged and abundant humor， Wyner deconstructs the learning process， revealing how to build a foreign language in your mind from the ground up。
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。 Soon， you'll gain the ability to learn grammar and more difficult abstract words--without the tedious drills and exercises of language classes and grammar books。
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。
The greatest challenge to learning a foreign language is the challenge of memory; there are just too many words and too many rules。 For every new word we learn， we seem to forget two old ones， and as a result， fluency can seem out of reach。 Fluent Forever tackles this challenge head-on。 With empathy for the language-challenged and abundant humor， Wyner deconstructs the learning process， revealing how to build a foreign language in your mind from the ground up。
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。 Soon， you'll gain the ability to learn grammar and more difficult abstract words--without the tedious drills and exercises of language classes and grammar books。
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。
Reviews
Alaina
，
This book is a practical tool to help you learn a new language。 Many of the ideas in here are good， but now that there is an app: much of a book is now concise in an app form。 Although I still liked reading it to know why this method works。 Unfortunately it did not get 5 stars from me because of all the unnecessary "bad language" used。 I see this as the author trying to be cool but it is just not professional。 This book is a practical tool to help you learn a new language。 Many of the ideas in here are good， but now that there is an app: much of a book is now concise in an app form。 Although I still liked reading it to know why this method works。 Unfortunately it did not get 5 stars from me because of all the unnecessary "bad language" used。 I see this as the author trying to be cool but it is just not professional。 。。。more
Sai
，
Good
Sherry Callear
，
Interesting how to book for learning another language in a unique way。
Vivien
，
I expected this book to tell me to "work smarter， not harder" and it definitely did。 However， on reading it， I realised what I was looking for was "work smart， not hard"。 I was definitely looking for a way to get out of working hard- but yeah， nah。 Language learning， especially rapidly， involves hard， smart， work。 No getting out of it。I am more inspired now though and will probably sign up for their app soon。 I expected this book to tell me to "work smarter， not harder" and it definitely did。 However， on reading it， I realised what I was looking for was "work smart， not hard"。 I was definitely looking for a way to get out of working hard- but yeah， nah。 Language learning， especially rapidly， involves hard， smart， work。 No getting out of it。I am more inspired now though and will probably sign up for their app soon。 。。。more
Stacy
，
Provides good structure， techniques like SRS and resources on new language learning so you know what to look for when you use apps and the like。
Ellen Andrews
，
Trying to step up my nonfiction game！ This is a great resource for teachers of language， learners of language， or just linguistics nerds （I happen to be all three！） that combines brain science with personal experience to give some really solid tips on how to learn a language well and quickly。 I probably won’t use all of his exact methods， but there are some really good nuggets of wisdom in here！
Arlette
，
If your goal is to learn another language efficiently and permanently， this book is a fantastic resource。Each method is explained for the reader’s use， as well as how to implement it to ensure no regression in one’s progress。 As a high school Spanish teacher， I also gained insights in my instruction， allowing me to re-examine and improve my current practice for the benefit of my students language acquisition。
MrLimonada
，
Too much advertising in the final of book and a lot of self promotion。。
Karthik S
，
3。5 stars。It's a great book， and I will definitely be using his techniques to learn new languages。I wouldn't say the book is filled with generic advice， but I do feel he could have massively shortened it。 There was no need to give such an in-depth explanation on flashcards。The first and the last part just felt like he was talking about flashcards over and over again。 He could have written a short brief chapter about the topic and gotten his point across， but for some reason， the author had to ex 3。5 stars。It's a great book， and I will definitely be using his techniques to learn new languages。I wouldn't say the book is filled with generic advice， but I do feel he could have massively shortened it。 There was no need to give such an in-depth explanation on flashcards。The first and the last part just felt like he was talking about flashcards over and over again。 He could have written a short brief chapter about the topic and gotten his point across， but for some reason， the author had to expand it。 Maybe that's something some people appreciate。Rather than reading the book， I'd advise you to look up a blog post or a summary of the book and follow through。 You won't be missing out much。 。。。more
Redza
，
“My father inexplicably develops an exaggerated Spanish accent whenever he orders Chinese food: “I LIKE-A CHEEKON FRY RICE-O PLEASE-O。””Excerpt FromFluent Forever : How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
Miguel
，
Gabriel Wyner's Fluent Forever outlines a language learning method that masters phonology， grammar and vocabulary through his personalized spaced repitition （SRS） flashcard system。 After using his method using an anki deck to add to my intermediate Spanish vocabulary， I can definitively say that I have improved faster than I would have without it。 Using an Anki deck and Google Images， I have taken his advice by learning some thematic vocabulary and it proves much easier to learn than with regu Gabriel Wyner's Fluent Forever outlines a language learning method that masters phonology， grammar and vocabulary through his personalized spaced repitition （SRS） flashcard system。 After using his method using an anki deck to add to my intermediate Spanish vocabulary， I can definitively say that I have improved faster than I would have without it。 Using an Anki deck and Google Images， I have taken his advice by learning some thematic vocabulary and it proves much easier to learn than with regular flashcards。 However， he can rely too heavily on his flashcard system especially when it comes to learning phonology and grammar。 Downolading an mp3 for every word and attaching it to your flashcard is overkill especially if you are learning a phonetic language。 To his credit he mentions the necessity for both of these things but， having a flashcard for every grammar rule or sound is unnecessary。 Wyner's Method method is an excellent starting point for a beginner language learner or the intermediate who can't seem improve much past basic conversation。 Once I get to an advanced level of fluency I think I'll abandon the flashcards and start learning in the way that I continue to learn my native language， English。Learn:Phonology -> 625 most frequent words -> Grammar -> Specialized VocabularyHappy Language Learning！ 。。。more
Thomas Robert
，
WYNER PROVIDES A SCIENTIFICALLY-BASED， METHODICAL APPROACH TO LEARNING A LANGUAGE。 A REAL MUST-READ FOR PROSPECTIVE LANGUAGE LEARNERS。 BUT UNFORTUNATELY NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN DUE TO THE AUTHOR’S UNNECESSARY SEXUAL REFERENCES！
Xuân Nguyễn
，
Đây là một quyển sách cực kì tốt cho những ai muốn học ngoại ngữ。 Ghi nhớ bằng hình ảnh chính là chìa khoá của mọi loại ngôn ngữ kể cả con số （ trong quyển TRÍ TUỆ DO THÁI có hướng dẫn nhớ hàng nghìn con số bất kì bằng hình ảnh ）。
Mahmoud Al Moufti
，
Amazing！ I have never imagined that i will enjoy a book like this。 How come a subject about language learning can be so fun and so exciting like this！
HR Habibur Rahman
，
Want to get profit from this book？ Read it thoroughly and for at least a year。 Read slowly and practice。 When you've finished your practice then move to the next chapter。 Pick up your language then try it and do whatever this book says。 I have installed the Flashcards app before but didn't use it。 Presently I'm using it almost every time。 Not for language learning though。 For my study purpose。 Linguistics definition and the system of IPA and some of the other sound systems showed in this bo Want to get profit from this book？ Read it thoroughly and for at least a year。 Read slowly and practice。 When you've finished your practice then move to the next chapter。 Pick up your language then try it and do whatever this book says。 I have installed the Flashcards app before but didn't use it。 Presently I'm using it almost every time。 Not for language learning though。 For my study purpose。 Linguistics definition and the system of IPA and some of the other sound systems showed in this book are awesome。 How a child acquires language and why cannot adult and what should one do to overcome the difficulties is mildly described in this book。 Overall it's a good book for learning a language if you are ready to do the hard work。 This book will show you many paths and guide you through the process。 。。。more
Katie Mac
，
I'm glad I read this！ There's a lot of useful， concrete info here （though Wyner repeats himself quite a bit） about learning languages and how the human brain processes information。 He also provides a step-by-step plan to making your own flash cards and a schedule for going through said flash cards （hint: it's not rote repetition）。 I'd be tempted to buy a copy just for the information in the appendices， but a lot of his information is on his website （fluent-forever。com）。 I'm glad I read this！ There's a lot of useful， concrete info here （though Wyner repeats himself quite a bit） about learning languages and how the human brain processes information。 He also provides a step-by-step plan to making your own flash cards and a schedule for going through said flash cards （hint: it's not rote repetition）。 I'd be tempted to buy a copy just for the information in the appendices， but a lot of his information is on his website （fluent-forever。com）。 。。。more
Mustakim
，
I'm a book lover。 My main reason of learning new languages is to read books of different languages。This book is about some tools to make language learning more efficient。 The tools are useful but I already knew most of them。 And almost half （or more） of the book is about just one tool ‘SRS’。 Sometimes the same thing repeated over and over。But as a whole the book is quite good。 If you are a very beginner of language learning I'll recommended this to you。Rating - 4/5 I'm a book lover。 My main reason of learning new languages is to read books of different languages。This book is about some tools to make language learning more efficient。 The tools are useful but I already knew most of them。 And almost half （or more） of the book is about just one tool ‘SRS’。 Sometimes the same thing repeated over and over。But as a whole the book is quite good。 If you are a very beginner of language learning I'll recommended this to you。Rating - 4/5 。。。more
Eva
，
Some interesting points， but the whole book is about how to make flashcards， which is not super helpful since drilling individual words doesn’t improve fluency。 Instead words should be learned in context preferably through reading or listening。
Aldo
，
Este libro es muy recomendable a todo aquel que quiera aprender un idioma。 Pero tiene sus peros。 Sólo le vas a sacar el máximo provecho si no te has adentrado ni una pizca en el aprendizaje de idiomas。 Debo decir que bastantes conceptos que Wyner introduce en su libro， como las flashcards， sumergirte en el idioma， o las prácticas con nativos ya las conocía， y realmente le saqué poco provecho debo decir。 Lo que sí es que no se me había ocurrido practicar escritura， gramática o pronunciación como Este libro es muy recomendable a todo aquel que quiera aprender un idioma。 Pero tiene sus peros。 Sólo le vas a sacar el máximo provecho si no te has adentrado ni una pizca en el aprendizaje de idiomas。 Debo decir que bastantes conceptos que Wyner introduce en su libro， como las flashcards， sumergirte en el idioma， o las prácticas con nativos ya las conocía， y realmente le saqué poco provecho debo decir。 Lo que sí es que no se me había ocurrido practicar escritura， gramática o pronunciación como él propone en el libro， y como definitivamente lo voy a hacer de ahora en adelante。 Pero si les soy sincero， siento que muchas partes del libro fueron relleno， y hace un hincapié （a mi gusto excesivo） en las flashcards。 。。。more
Cassiokendi
，
Comecei a aprender alemão faz uns meses。 Alguns pontos da gramática são um inferno。 Alguns sons são meio estranhos de fazer， e eu sinto estar constantemente catarrando quando falo。Este livro ajuda a tornar este processo de aprendizagem de qualquer língua mais eficiente e， por que não， divertido。 Mais ou menos metade do livro é sobre as metodologias em si que ele sugere em uma ordem lógica， e a outra metade são apêndices de tópicos isolados。Um resumo do que aprendi:- Procure começar pelas pronúnc Comecei a aprender alemão faz uns meses。 Alguns pontos da gramática são um inferno。 Alguns sons são meio estranhos de fazer， e eu sinto estar constantemente catarrando quando falo。Este livro ajuda a tornar este processo de aprendizagem de qualquer língua mais eficiente e， por que não， divertido。 Mais ou menos metade do livro é sobre as metodologias em si que ele sugere em uma ordem lógica， e a outra metade são apêndices de tópicos isolados。Um resumo do que aprendi:- Procure começar pelas pronúncias das vogais e consonantes que você não encontra na sua língua materna， ou em outras línguas que conhece。 Assim， toda palavra nova que aprender já virá com a pronúncia correta， e escutar fica bem mais fácil。- Ainda sobre os sons da língua， utilize pares mínimos para treinar diferenciar sons que são bem parecidos。 Digitando 'minimal pair pronunciation' + 'língua' é possível achar bastante material。 Exemplo em inglês: niece vs knees。- Um dos métodos mais eficientes para armazenar informações na memória é utilizar um sistema de repetição espaçada， que te ajuda a fazer revisões em intervalos de tempo que são cada vez maiores conforme se relembra corretamente a informação。 O mais popular é o Anki， e no livro há ideias bem detalhadas de como montar um sistema destes para sons， vocabulário e gramática。- Comece aprendendo as 1000 palavras mais comuns da língua que quer aprender。 Digitando '1000 most common words in ' + 'língua' também encontra bastante material gratuito。- Depois que já dominar uma quantidade boa de palavras， utilize um dicionário monolinguístico ao invés do Google Translate。 Isso te ajuda a lembrar de outras palavras que sabe ao mesmo tempo em que aprende uma nova。- Um bom livro para ser o primeiro na nova língua é um de que você goste e que já tenha lido。 Harry Potter ou Pequeno Príncipe， por exemplo， têm tradução em quase todas as línguas mais comuns。 Utilize um audiolivro para acompanhar a leitura e se acostumar com o som e cadência das palavras。- Idem para séries e filmes。 Inicialmente， uma série dublada é melhor porque já se tem uma ideia do contexto e a dublagem costuma ser mais clara do que séries na língua nativa。 Tente assistir sem legendas para se forçar a entender as falas。Há várias outras dicas boas no livro， o que o torna uma ótima referência para revisitar conforme seus estudos avançam。A resenha termina aqui， abaixo são outras dicas mais pessoais que acho úteis:- Mude a linguagem do seu celular， browser e computador para a que quer aprender。 Só decore como voltar de volta em casos de emergência。- Se você tiver o hábito de escrever em diário， tente escrever na nova língua。 No início， para não ser tão frustrante， escreva em português mesmo， e só substitua as palavras e expressões que conhece。 Exemplo: Querido diário， Today foi legal。- Se for usar Duolingo， e já souber inglês， tente usar a versão 'Inglês-língua' ao invés de 'Português-língua'。 Três vantagens principais são: há mais aulas na versão em inglês para qualquer língua， boa parte das aulas vêm com uma explicação gramatical e há uma seção de Stories， que são pequenas conversas para escutar conversação em um contexto mais real。- Um site muito bom para encontrar professores nativos é o iTalki， que é mencionado no livro。 Dependendo da língua， é possível encontrar professores por valores relativamente baixos。- Outro site muito bom para treinar conversação é o IhAprendi。 É um site brasileiro em que você pode participar de conversas em grupo em várias línguas。Se tiver alguma outra dica， fique à vontade para compartilhar。 。。。more
Ahmad Faris
，
Language Superpower Anyone？Have you ever been to a foreign country where you enjoyed the food， the places and picked up even a few phrases throughout the journey， along a few friends？ But when you come back and a few months later， you can’t hardly remember how to say thank you in the mentioned language。 I did and it was more than once。 Hence I find the title of this book a bit skeptical， yet intriguing。 I like it though。 There are three main things that I like about this book。 1。 The book has a Language Superpower Anyone？Have you ever been to a foreign country where you enjoyed the food， the places and picked up even a few phrases throughout the journey， along a few friends？ But when you come back and a few months later， you can’t hardly remember how to say thank you in the mentioned language。 I did and it was more than once。 Hence I find the title of this book a bit skeptical， yet intriguing。 I like it though。 There are three main things that I like about this book。 1。 The book has a story。 It is not just a grammar book or a how-to book， listing steps that must be done to achieve fluency within a promised certain date。 Instead this book opens nicely telling how the writer plunged himself into being a polyglot and breaking down the benefits of being multilingual。 Spoiler: it makes you happy。 2。 The book follows with very technical steps on how to be fluent， or at least how to tackle a foreign language， in an easy to understand manner。 There are various resources too on the website。 What’s better is that the writer encourages you to break these steps， or rather disregard the ones we don’t feel like doing it， in the learning process。 3。 The book encouraged and EXCITES me to learn a language。 This is hard to pinpoint where it does so， but the writer makes me feel like grabbing the next french that passes by and talk all day long in his/her language。 I also learned or understood better certain part of the English language， and the error（s） that prevented me from improving。 I was unconsciously re-examining how I learned English and realized that had I followed the recommendations from the book， I would have been even more comfortable in this language。 Still， like the book says， it is never too late to learn a second language， and English is， most people’s second language。 。。。more
Ross
，
Excellent framework to jumpstart your language learning。
Byron Flores
，
Good material with good tips
Aurora
，
（I have decided to stop rating nonfiction because I never know how to rate it？？？ So I'll just make my life easier and that's it） I dont agree with all of his methods but I guess that's the magic of language learning， everyone has their own little magic hacks to doing it， some of your hacks might work for others while others will make them cringe just thinking about it （the "start watching tv shows with no subtitles whatsoever before you're even at a higher beginner level" made me actually want t （I have decided to stop rating nonfiction because I never know how to rate it？？？ So I'll just make my life easier and that's it） I dont agree with all of his methods but I guess that's the magic of language learning， everyone has their own little magic hacks to doing it， some of your hacks might work for others while others will make them cringe just thinking about it （the "start watching tv shows with no subtitles whatsoever before you're even at a higher beginner level" made me actually want to die just thinking about watching something that I understand maybe 5% of but ok， everyone has their methods。 And also my main method of learning a language and actually enjoying it has ALWAYS been through music lyrics and the author just says to ignore music altogether because they wont do much for you learning， while for me if I dont listen to music in my target language。。。 I wont get much learning done I can guarantee you） 。。。more
Priynandini Gupta
，
good book。 I don't have a lot to say since I've only recently started to apply the techniques to my language learning but hopefully I'll update fully in a bit。。overall good advice and explanations。 good book。 I don't have a lot to say since I've only recently started to apply the techniques to my language learning but hopefully I'll update fully in a bit。。overall good advice and explanations。 。。。more
Simon Hohenadl
，
Based on research and anecdotes， practical to detail， yet entertaining and mind-opening。 Also well-adapted to the audio version。 I really enjoyed listening to this。 Now， I only have to go and actually learn。。。
Dani
，
Lots of great tips for language learning in this book。 Many of them are things I have done on and off over years of language learning。
Willow Rankin
，
What a fabulous book companion for language learning。 Unlike other study guides or specific books for specific languages， this is a guide on how to actually learn a language。 There are loads of fantastic tips and techniques， some of which I can see have been implemented into modern language learning guides （DuoLingo anyone）。 It is an incredibly informative study companion， so much so， that I feel I need another read， just to fully understand all the tips being thrown at me。 The reason this loses What a fabulous book companion for language learning。 Unlike other study guides or specific books for specific languages， this is a guide on how to actually learn a language。 There are loads of fantastic tips and techniques， some of which I can see have been implemented into modern language learning guides （DuoLingo anyone）。 It is an incredibly informative study companion， so much so， that I feel I need another read， just to fully understand all the tips being thrown at me。 The reason this loses a star， is I read the ebook version， and some of the links to the authors personal website are broken and encourage purchasing his app with a subscription service。 。。。more
Jessica
，
there are 52 million books on language learning and most of them only tell you how to learn enough of a language to survive as a tourist on vacation。 fluent forever actually tells you how to comprehensively learn a language， not just memorize phrases like 'where is the town square' or 'one coffee， please'。my favorite pieces of advice:1。 learn proper pronunciation！ this is the foundation of your language learning。 if you're confused how a word is supposed to sound it will be harder to remember vo there are 52 million books on language learning and most of them only tell you how to learn enough of a language to survive as a tourist on vacation。 fluent forever actually tells you how to comprehensively learn a language， not just memorize phrases like 'where is the town square' or 'one coffee， please'。my favorite pieces of advice:1。 learn proper pronunciation！ this is the foundation of your language learning。 if you're confused how a word is supposed to sound it will be harder to remember vocabulary and recognize words when you hear them。 forvo。com is an excellent website with recordings of words by native speakers， not computer-generated。 also listen to music in your target language。2。 for flash cards writing 'gato' on one side and 'cat' on another isn't going to cut it。 include images that illustrate the word you're learning （a picture of a cat） along with an example sentence using that word （los *blank* son mejores que los perros）。 the book goes into much greater detail。 i hate flashcards because they always seemed inefficient and a waste of time， but the method described in this book actually looks promising。3。 learn the 625 most common words in your language。 the book includes these words in english organized by category。4。 once you have a solid foundational vocabulary start looking up new words using a monolingual dictionary。5。 don't use english subtitles when watching movies or tv shows in your target language because the spoken language will just become background noise。 also try to avoid using subtitles in the language being spoken。 before watching something look up a summary so you already know what's going on。 。。。more
BakaRena
，