Welcome to Language From Nothing!

Confused About Language Learning?

Do you want to learn another language but maybe you don’t know where to start?  Maybe you don’t know which words and phrases to learn first. Maybe the thought of memorizing a whole bunch of grammar rules, word lists, and verb charts turns you off. Maybe you just don’t have a lot of time, energy, or money to spend right now.

Or maybe you have tried to learn another language, but found the process became too complicated and much more of a hassle than it was worth.

For myself, all the of these things have been true at some point in my life. But does language learning have to be so complicated?  I don’t think it does. 

Welcome!

Welcome to Language From Nothing, my name is Justin Ryan, and this is an experiment of mine to simplify the language learning process in order to help you get started today with the least amount of hassle.

I want to do this in 2 ways:

1. Taking some of the mystery out of language learning, and
2. Using strategies designed to reinforce your brain’s natural ability to become familiar with a language.

The Mystery

For me, there’s always been a bit of a mystery as to what magic happens behind the curtains of language learning.

• How do people get started?
• What does their day-to-day study look like?
• What words are they learning first?
• Where are they spending their time, energy, and money?

How is this language learning actually taking place??

Documenting My Own Language Learning

So if you’re like me, you want to see that language learning in action. And that’s what I want to provide for you.How? Simple. I will learn another language myself and show you exactly how I do it.

I will take the seat of a beginner and start learning a language I don’t know (or at least know very little of) from the very beginning, documenting everything that I do.

Starting from nothing, I will share with you how I approach, study, and start speaking that language, taking you step-by-step right along with me.

Using Strategies That Help Your Brain’s Natural Abilities

So taking the mystery out of it for you is the first thing to help you get started.  The second thing is to use strategies designed to reinforce your brain’s natural ability to acquire language.

Simple Concept

Now, I’ve tried to learn several languages before, but have always failed. So, for the past several years I’ve been doing a bit of research on how best to go about learning a language. I not only have my own experience both learning and teaching language, but I’ve also learned a great deal from well known language rockstars. Brilliant linguists such as Dr. Paul Pimsleur, Lomb Kató, Stephen Krashen, and many other like them have offered wonderful insights into the way we acquire language.

And through all my research what I’ve found is this: the actual concept of language learning is much more simple than you might think. According to Stephen Krashen, we all acquire language in one way – that is when we understand messages. That’s it. It is really that simple.

Over-complicating the Process

But here’s what happens – we tend to over complicate the process by spending time, energy, and money doing things that are unnecessary or completely backwards from how our brain actually naturally acquires language.

We add extra tasks to our learning – tasks we didn’t perform when we learned our first native language. Things such as memorizing word lists & verb charts about vocabulary we don’t regularly use on a day to day basis.  And that’s what can make language learning burdensome, leaving many confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed.

So I want to help you simplify your language learning with more efficient techniques, so you that don’t overcomplicate the process for your brain, but instead you help feed it’s natural ability.

I completely agree with Krashen, although I would take it one step further and say we acquire language when we not only understand messages, but when we become familiar with them.

And that’s what I want to help you to do. I want to show you how simple it can be to start understanding messages in a new language today. And all of this without spending a lot of time, energy, money, or hassle.

An Experiment

It is an experiment, so I’ll be learning and changing as I grow. But I’d love for you to grow with me.

So if you want to learn another language and if you want to see how I, myself, will get started from nothing, come on over to languagefromnothing.com:

On the main blog I discuss lots of strategies, techniques, and insights into language learning. And if you want to see those insights in action you can head on over to the Spanish From Nothing area by clicking the link in the menu. There you can follow each of my Spanish sessions, as I learn and document it from the very beginning. And even if you aren’t learning Spanish, you can still use these same strategies for any language you choose.

So come on in and experience the craft with me at languagefromnothing.com!