Assumption #1; you desire to communicate with people who speak that language.

Like I said, it seems obvious. But let me clarify what it means. To have a “desire” to do something implies that it’s stronger than a wish. And the manifestation of that desire will be some apparent effort on your part to fulfill this desire in spite of your limited ability to do it successfully. Practically speaking, as it pertains to learning a language, someone who desires to learn another language is already trying to have conversations with people in that language…even if they’re not very good at it.

20 years ago, I knew nothing about woodworking. I’d never built anything before. But that didn’t stop me from collecting a few basic tools and attempting to build a few things. My work was shoddy and imprecise. I hurt myself a few times…nothing serious. And I often had to scrap the whole project because it was just so terrible. I encountered many obstacles, but my desire to do that work powered me through the failures. I didn’t wait for a class. Even to this day, I’ve never had any training in woodworking. It wasn’t merely a wish, but rather, a real desire.

Dissecting Desire

“With whom are you currently trying to speak Spanish?”

This is one of the first questions I ask of my potential Spanish students. It sometimes catches them off guard. “How can I speak Spanish with someone if I haven’t learned to speak it yet?,” they sometimes reply. The purpose of my question is to gauge their level of desire.

Of course, the fact that they contacted me in the first place indicates that they do have some level of desire. But if they’re not already trying to speak Spanish with someone, it tells me they might be expecting some magical thing to happen during our classes…something that will enable them to have conversations in Spanish that will be free of errors, confusion and miscommunication. That, however, is not how it works. No language lesson or course is going to nullify the need to get out there and imperfectly use the few words and sentences you already know.

Assumption #2; you desire the ability to think in the new language.

Again, it seems unnecessary to make this point. But your answer to this question will reveal whether or not the strategies in this post are going to work for you. Do you find yourself trying to figure out how to say a word or a phrase in your target language? Do you look up words in a language dictionary? And do you repeat and practice the phrases you’ve learned in that language?

One of the most revealing things I notice about my new students is whether or not they bring their own textbooks to our first meetings. If they do, it’s a sure sign that they will greatly benefit from our lessons. These students are like seeds that are eagerly looking for soil in which to bury themselves so they can grow and develop. If I see they have completed exercises or written their own notes, I know they’re going to learn.

I hope that none of what I’ve written here is discouraging to you. I’ve been in this business for so long that I’m now at the point where I’d rather be blunt and honest with someone who’s not serious about learning. I’d rather encourage them to save their time and money and do something else. Another post I wrote directly addresses this situation; Maybe You Shouldn’t Learn Another Language.

How to Learn a Language Fast

If, on the other hand, you unquestionably demonstrate the desire I mentioned above to learn another language, then keep reading. The simple tactics I explain here will drastically accelerate your progress.

Just so you know, this post is the continuation of another post; How to Learn a Language. You may want to read that one first. In that post, I explain the 5 stages of language learning;

1. Introduction / Exposure
2. Learning / Accepting
3. Practice / Exercise
4. Daily Application
5. Real Conversations

The key takeaway from that post is that the fourth stage, Daily Application, is where the real progress takes place. The first three stages occur in the classroom. For the student, these are passive stages. The student receives the lessons presented by the teacher. He follows the lessons, attempts to understand the concepts and participates in the exercises. These first three stages are mainly the responsibility of the teacher.

Keep in mind, however, that there are 168 hours in a week. The average student spends only 1 to 5 of these weekly hours with his language instructor. For some adult students, consistently attending one class per week is challenging. This fact alone reveals the significant limitation of instructors and their lessons.

Daily Language Application

There is only so much training we can cram into a student in such a small amount of time. More time with the teacher, however, is not a realistic solution. Nor is it necessary. The words and phrases learned during brief, occasional lessons are more than enough to equip a student to take the most important step of all; applying the language in his daily routine.

Application is without a doubt the #1 secret to learning a language fast. Ok so how do you apply a language?

“To apply a language is to proactively think and speak in that language throughout the day in order to establish and reinforce it into your consciousness.”

Right from the start, the usual objection to the thought of speaking in a foreign language throughout the day is that it’s not easy to arrange conversations with people who speak that language. Indeed, it’s not easy or convenient at all. Fortunately, however, chats like these are not what I mean by “daily application.” If you can have regular conversations with people who speak the language you want to learn, fantastic. Have those conversations as often as you can.

The problem with those chats, however, is that they’re not frequent or structured enough to help you make progress. Also, even though the people you chat with can effortlessly speak that language, they may not be able to teach or explain anything to you. That’s why you’re better off preparing for those chats on your own through daily language application.

The key dynamic of daily language application is a proactive effort to apply the pieces of the language you’re learning in your daily life. To facilitate this effort, we recommend a routine that will build upon the material you’re learning during your studies.

Exposure, Learning & Practice

We have now arrived to the nuts and bolts of how to learn a language fast. First of all, we’re assuming that the first 3 stages of language learning are already happening. Here they are again:

Introduction / Exposure
Learning / Accepting
Practice / Exercise

You’re engaged in some kind of class or self-study program which exposes you to new words and phrases (Introduction / Exposure). Some teacher, book or software is explaining these new pieces of the language to you so that they’re clear in your mind (Learning / Accepting). And then you must also complete a variety of exercises (written, verbal or both) to reinforce the new concepts and pronunciations you recently learned (Practice / Exercise).

These first three stages are crucial. However, if you’re doing nothing more than these classroom activities, your progress will be limited. You can definitely learn a language with only classroom training, but it certainly won’t happen fast. Something needs to happen between your lessons to reinforce what you learned during your lessons. Otherwise, you’ll spend the majority of each lesson relearning what you covered in previous lessons.

Sentence Lists

Your goal during each class or study session is to create lists of sentences…lots of them. They need to be relevant and personal. If you hear or learn a sentence during your class, it needs to go on your list. You can modify it however you wish to make it more applicable to you. Perhaps someone says “John’s tractor is red.” Well, John doesn’t exist. And no one you know owns a tractor. But let’s say you have a real friend named Steve and he has a red truck. So the sentence that goes on your list is “Steve’s truck is red.”

You certainly don’t have to make each sentence so personal. The key question to ask yourself is “Is that the kind of sentence I’d like to know how to say?” Also ask yourself if you would understand that sentence if someone said it to you. In other words, if you think you’ll benefit from practicing this sentence at a later time, go ahead and write it on your list.

Tamara

I once had a student named Tamara who totally got this concept. She took full advantage of it. I remember telling her in Spanish that I was “on the other side of the table” from her. She then proceeded to say in Spanish that the door of my office was on the other side of the room. She said that her husband’s job was on the other side of the city. And then she said that California was on the other side of the country. On and on she went with similar sentences.

After that, we launched into an engaging lesson in which we covered all the phrases related to proximity; “close to,” “far from,” “next to,” “on top of,” “under,” “to the left of,” “to the right of,” etc. When I met with Tamara again the following week, she had all those phrases down cold. She had written and repeated them at home without my help.

No Memorization Required

The sentences on your list can be totally random. They don’t need to go in any particular order. They don’t need to have a common theme or subject. You do, however, need to know what they mean. If you must, write the sentences in your familiar language in addition to your target language so you’ll easily remember their meaning. If you have any trouble thinking of new sentences, simply extract them from worksheets and textbook exercises you recently completed. Make sure they’re loaded with new verbs and vocabulary words that you’re trying to learn.

Once you’ve written ten sentences on your list, start a new list. Also, number your lists: “Sentence List #1”, “Sentence List #2”, etc. It’s critical that you make at least one new list per day. After doing this for 60 days, you should have 60 lists, etc.

Scheduled Reading

As you begin to accumulate a collection of sentence lists, you should then simply read your lists out loud according to the following reading schedule. Each day, read the new list you created that day (1^st reading). Then read it again the next day (2^nd). Then wait 3 days and read it again (3^rd). Following that 3^rd reading, you’ll read the list again a full week later (4^th). Then read it again two weeks later (5^th) and then one last time three weeks later (6^th).

Over the span of 49 days, you will have read that one list of sentences six times. The purpose of this staggered schedule is to heavily establish those words and phrases early on. And then the latter readings reinforce them in your memory.

Of course, it won’t be easy to keep track of this schedule on your own. So therefore, I posted this simple schedule online to help you keep track of your reading. Click here to view the schedule. It looks like this:

No Memorization Required

Notice that I haven’t said anything about memorization as an exercise. No part of this routine requires that you force yourself to remember words or translate them in your mind. These are the typical tactics of students who merely wish to pass a test.

For a busy adult with a full schedule and many responsibilities, memorization is not the answer. In fact, it sets students up for failure. Even the most enthusiastic students won’t be able to maintain a routine of memorizing words over the long haul. It’s far more realistic and beneficial to make the routine a very simple affair that students can stick to; simple reading.

Just Read (or listen)

In the morning, at lunch or at the end of the day, just read your sentence lists. You’ll never have more than six lists to read. That’s 60 total sentences. You can do this. A couple of my students got in the habit of making audio recording of themselves reading their lists. Each of their lists is a separate recording. Throughout the day, as they drive around and do chores around the house, they listen to the audio clips they have scheduled for that day. That’s an excellent practice!

Join us for one of our group Spanish classes in Austin, Texas

The post How to Learn a Language Fast through Daily Application appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

One option is to simply say it in its common, English pronunciation, which sounds like “OS-tin.” It sounds exactly like “lost in” without the L.

The other way of saying it follows the correct phonetic pronunciation of Spanish vowel sounds. And that would be “OWS-teen.”  It sounds a lot like “jousting” without the J and the G.

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How to Say Austin in Spanish

Therefore, to ask someone if they live in Austin, you could say

Well, when is it “OS-tin” and when is it “OWS-teen?”

The first thing to consider is that Austin was originally a surname, that of Stephen Fuller Austin, the man who is generally regarded as the founder of Texas, or even the Father of Texas. He was a white, Caucasian male from Virginia who was educated in the northeast. We have every reason to believe that Mr. Austin pronounced his name the same way most Austinites refer to their city today: “OS-tin.”

Mr. Stephen Fuller Austin, the Father of Texas

“Beel Cleen-tone”

There is therefore no issue if you say Austin with its regular, English-sounding pronunciation in a Spanish conversation. After all, it’s an American city and that’s the way most people in that city pronounce it. If you were to converse in Spanish about Bill Clinton, for example, there is no need to convert his American-English name to “Beel Cleen-tone”…even though that’s exactly how his name would be pronounced with Spanish phonetics.

Por otra parte (on the other hand)…

On the other hand, there is certainly nothing wrong with pronouncing every word, in spite of its origin, with Spanish phonetics. This is especially appropriate if the person or audience you’re speaking to are native speakers who only speak Spanish. Further, if that person has already said “OWS-teen” or “Beel Cleen-tone” during the conversation, I would definitely mimic their pronunciation of those words.

This issue goes beyond the question of how to say Austin in Spanish. The more important question is how to be a good conversationalist. That’s a much bigger topic that we’ll have to address in another post. But the short answer to that question is that it’s always better to adapt your speaking to the person you’re talking to. There’s virtually no benefit in insisting on saying words “the correct way” if your “correct way” is distracting or offensive to the other person.

another post you may like: How to Learn a Language

What do you think? Feel free to comment down below. And by the way, if you’re in Austin and interested in learning Spanish, consider taking advantage of our free introductory Spanish class. Click here to learn more about it.

another post you may like:

Is Y’all Proper English? No, But It Should Be

The post How to Say Austin in Spanish appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

English is exactly the opposite. The grammar and verb conjugations of English certainly take some time to learn. But they’re a breeze in comparison to Spanish grammar. On the other hand, English pronunciation consists of one frustrating exception after another. There is often no rhyme or reason to a word’s pronunciation. And anyone who seriously intends to learn the English language had better get used to hearing this frequent answer to their questions: “that’s just the way it is.” Post continues below ↓

another post you may like: When Words Get in the Way – why using fancy words is more distracting than helpful

Why is Spanish one of the hardest languages to learn?

Fluent communication in Spanish requires a mastery of more than a dozen verb conjugations. It has this in common with other Latin-based romance languages such as French and Italian. This vast grammatical complexity is further complicated by a dizzying set of rules and exceptions to the rules which are hard to keep straight. These daunting challenges of Spanish grammar are the primary reason why Spanish is a difficult language to learn.

Consider, for example, the verb comer (to eat). In English, there are only a few ways to talk about eating. If it’s you or me, both of us, you and someone else or two other people…the verb is consistently the same;

I eat, you eat, we eat, y’all eat or they eat

The only exception is if it was one singular person (not you or me). In that case, we say eats.

He eats, she eats

If any of these people are doing it now, you say they are eating.

And if any of these people did their eating in the past, regardless of who it is, you say they ate.

Lastly, if your point is that the person no longer needs to eat, you say they have eaten.

That’s it! In the entire English language, regardless of who is eating or when they’re eating, there are only 5 variations (conjugations) of the verb.

1. eat
2. eats
3. eating
4. ate
5. eaten

Conjugation Constipation

In Spanish, there are 5 variations of the verb comer (to eat) in the present tense alone!

1. yo como (I eat)
2. tú comes (you eat)
3. él / ella come (he / she eats)
4. nosotros comemos (we eat)
5. ustedes / ellos comen (y’all / they eat)

In the past tense, comer has another 5 conjugations. In the other past tense, another 5. The future, conditional, present perfect and past perfect tenses of comer each have another 5 conjugations for you to learn. And that’s not including the conjugations of the verb in the subjunctive mood, which are critical for fluent speaking.

And if that wasn’t complicated enough, the command form of the verb (imperative) will depend on whether you have a familiar or formal relationship with the person you’re commanding. What!? Now you have some idea of why the verb conjugations of Spanish makes it one of the hardest languages to learn.

another post you may like: How to Learn a Language

Why is English one of the hardest languages to learn?

To fully understand the complexity of American English, one has to consider many aspects of American culture. Compared with other countries, everything about the US is fast. We have fast freeways, fast food, fast delivery, fast internet and instant coffee. Plus, Americans work fast and hard. Everything around the workplace is designed and arranged to make workers faster, more productive and more efficient. And one of the most important tools which facilitates this quick work is the language Americans use to communicate. It’s quick, short and to the point.

As a result, the English language has been whittled down to its bare essentials in the common vernacular of American conversations. The highs, lows and pauses of a sentence are often eliminated, replaced by a quick, even utterance of only the essential sounds. Therefore, a common, everyday questions such as “What are you going to do?” sounds more like “whatcha gonna do?”. “I’m going to go over there” sounds more like “I’m gonna go o’er there.” Or even shorter: “Ima go o’er there.”

Before an English learner has any chance of understanding these abbreviated, chopped up types of sentences, they must first learn the long and correct way of saying them. That takes time. And this is one of the reasons why English is one of the hardest languages to learn.

Inconsistent Pronunciation

Another factor which makes English a difficult language to learn is the inconsistent pronunciation of its letter combinations. A student correctly pronounces the word “dove” and “above” because he already knows how to say “love.” But then he comes across the words “move” and “prove” and must accept that the “ove” in these these words is pronounced very differently that the “ove” of “dove” and “above.”

Anyhow, he accepts that there’s simply two ways of pronouncing this letter combination and continues his studies. But then he comes across the words “cove” and “wove.” They also have “ove.” But they don’t sound like “love” nor “move.” Could there possibly be three ways of pronouncing “ove?” Yes there are!

And don’t even get me started on though, through and thought. These three words have been perplexing English learners for centuries. Again, they all include the same letter combination (ough). But that combination has a different pronunciation in each of the three words. In though, it sounds like “ooo.” In through, it sounds like “oh.” And in thought, it sounds like “ah.” That’s confusing.

Each English vowel has a long and a short pronunciation. Combined with other letters, they make a variety of sounds. This is not so in Spanish. Every letter of a Spanish word gets pronounced with the same pronunciation it has in every other word. Only the letter H is silent.

Phrasal Verbs

For those who wish to learn or teach English, you’d better get used to phrasal verbs. These verb + preposition combinations are found throughout the English language. They’re yet another example of how Americans shorten and simply language to make it quicker and easier. Consider for a moment that each of the following phrasal verbs have a different meaning;

• get up
• get down
• get in
• get out
• get by
• get away
• get away with
• get through
• get on
• get off
• get after
• get across
• get around
• get at
• get between
• get into
• get under
• get over

Not only do these phrases have different meanings. But each one has multiple meanings! And this is just a simple list of the phrasal verbs that include “get.” The same thing can be done with other common verbs like run, take or come.

Most of these phrasal verbs are used in place of a specific, less common verb. To “get after” someone is to scold them. To “get across” a point to someone is to convey a point. To “get away” is to elude. But instead of learning rare words like scold, convey and elude, Americans slap a common verb and a common preposition together. And this new, resulting phrase becomes the new way of expressing that action.

If you’re interesting in learning or teaching phrasal verbs, the most important book to use and reference is Ultimate Phrasal Verbs, by Carl Hart. It is without a doubt the most comprehensive book which explains phrasal verbs. It also includes hundreds of excellent exercises. I cannot recommend it enough. It makes a difficult language like English a little easier to learn and teach.

The post Why Are English & Spanish Among the Hardest Languages to Learn? appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

The most common question of all, however, is not so easy to answer: “How long is this going to take?”

This question comes in several different ways:

• When will I be fluent?
• How long before I can have conversations in Spanish?
• When will I understand the Spanish play-by-play in a soccer match?

I never reply to these questions with a definitive answer. And I never make any predictions about a student’s future progress. It’s not because I don’t want the burden of fulfilling the promise. But rather, it’s because the progress of a student, for the most part, depends on the student and not on the teacher. Bottom line; I can’t predict whether or not a student will put in the effort to learn a language.

This may come as a surprise to those who’ve never taught or learned a second language. The usual assumption is that a student is guaranteed to make steady progress so long as he / she has a good teacher. But that assumption, unfortunately, just isn’t true.

In my role, I’ve matched excellent teachers with students who made no real progress. And I’ve also seen students who thrived in their lessons in spite of having an average teacher. All these experiences point to the same undeniable conclusion;

The language progress of a student depends a lot more on the student than the teacher.

5 Steps to Learning a Language

With that in mind, it’s worthwhile for anyone who wishes to be fluent to understand – from a teacher’s perspective – how to learn a language. If progress is mostly based on the actions of the student, then what exactly are those actions? In this post, I’ll break down the 5 stages of learning a language and explain why the 4th step is the most critical of them all.

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Steps to Learning a Language #1: Introduction / Exposure

There’s nothing fancy about the beginning of the language-learning process. Every teacher has his or her own style. But the routine of most teachers is to introduce basic verbs, vocabulary and phrases to the student. The student then repeats the words and attempts to use them in little conversational fragments.

Before the lesson, these new words were totally foreign to the student. They had never heard them before or never knew what they meant. But now that the teacher has emphasized them in a lesson, a big first step towards familiarity has been taken.

Look at it this way; a husband and wife could be married for 50 years and know everything about each other. They even finish each other’s sentences. But before their 50 years together and before any of that familiarity could happen, they first had to meet each other. Someone had to introduce them. That was their starting point. And now they’re fluent in each other.

Similarly, this exposure to new words is the starting point of learning a new language. You had never heard those words before but now you have. This is the equivalent of learning to crawl before you can run. Before you can discuss philosophy in Spanish or argue politics in Spanish, you must first learn to say “Hola” and “Buenos días.”

Steps to Learning a Language #2: Learning / Accepting

I’ve worked with Spanish teachers whose lessons were 90% English and some whose lessons included zero English (full immersion). And before you assume that one of those styles is better than the other, I’ll just mention that I’ve seen students make effective progress with both styles and every style in-between.

But regardless of the style of a teacher, her responsibility at this point is to reconcile the two languages in the mind of her student. One way or another…with lots of explanation in English or with conversational Spanish, she must help the student to understand that this phrase in the new language is the way to express this phrase in his current language.

Sometimes, it’s a simple, word-for-word translation;

“¿Dónde está el baño?”
“Where is the bathroom?“

Other times, the literal translation doesn’t make any sense at all;

“¿Se me olvidaron las llaves.”
“The keys forgot themselves from me.“

Wait, what???

Analytical learners (like myself) often struggle when a translation doesn’t make sense. I remember one student, an engineer from India, who asked me this question;

How is it that “where” and “there” look and sound so similar in English, but “dónde” (where) and “allí” (there) don’t look or sound anything alike in Spanish?

He literally asked me that…and he seriously wanted an answer. With much sincerity, I explained to him that Spanish is not coded English.

Ask “how,” not “why”

The question of why the two languages are so dissimilar might lead to a interesting conversation. But those types of discussions don’t usually help students to make progress. Nearly every question from a student that begins with why can and should be answered with “because that’s just the way it is.”

The better question…the smarter question…is the one that starts with how. How do I say this? How do I say that? Whether it makes sense in your mind or not, learning the correct way to express yourself is the only thing that matters.

I like it  It pleases me

In several languages such as French, Romanian, Italian and Spanish, to say that you like something, you basically need to express that it pleases you. The object is doing something to you (pleasing) rather than you doing something to it (liking). The sooner you understand and accept that “liking” is expressed with “pleasing” in these other languages, the sooner you’ll move on to the next concept.

In Spanish, saber and conocer both mean “to know,” but not in the same way. We saber facts and information but we conocer people and places. That’s simple enough and that’s really all there is to it. Just accept that knowing is expressed with two different verbs and move on.

This stage is simply an attempt to get a theoretical grasp of how new words, verbs and phrases are used. As soon as these “rules” are clear in the mind of a student,  he will then understand those words and phrases when he hears them. And of course, he will more accurately use them to express himself.

Steps to Learning a Language #3: Practice / Exercise

Just like stages 1 and 2, stage 3 occurs in the classroom. Also, all 3 of these first stages are the responsibility of the teacher. It’s the teacher who creates the lessons and decides which words to introduce to the student (stage 1). It’s the teacher who explains how those words are used (stage 2). And it’s the teacher who comes up with little exercises and mini-conversations which help the student to practice those words (stage 3).

Most language textbooks are loaded with these exercises. They’re fun and challenging. They ensure that a student truly grasps the rules that he learned in stage 2. While learning Latin-based languages, half of this time is used to practice verb conjugations. Verbs have several variations…depending on who’s doing the action of the verb (me, you, us, someone else) and when they did it (past, present, future, etc). These variations are called conjugations.

Conjugations are relatively simple in English. Regardless of who spoke and regardless of when they spoke, there are only a handful of conjugations to express this verb in English; speak, speaks, spoke, spoken and speaking. That’s it, just five.

In Spanish, there are five or six conjugations of hablar (to speak) in the present tense alone. And then another six in the past tense. And another six in the other past tense. With each tense carrying six distinct conjugations, you end up with dozens of ways to express one verb. Meanwhile, in English, a grand total of five. English is hard to learn for a number of reasons, but its verb conjugations are not one of them.

Conversational Practice

The big advantage of learning in a class setting is the opportunity to try and use the new language with others. By engaging in several contrived conversations with the teacher and other students, you establish a critical confidence that your understanding and your expressions of the language are accurate and good.

Language books and software don’t facilitate this confidence. Languages are inherently social, which means they’re meant to be learned from and with other people. Textbooks and language apps are excellent for stage 2. But their effectiveness at the practice stage is limited because…you know…they’re not people. They can’t diagnose the errors you’re making nor offer a quick correction…at least, not yet.  The most important aspect of the practice and exercises of a class setting is that it trains a student for stage 4.

The Most Important Step: #4 Daily Application

Stage 4 creates fluent students. This is the stage where the real progress takes place, but it’s the most under-emphasized stage of the five. The best language teachers are not the ones who write the best lessons, nor the ones with the best explanations of grammar. The best teachers are those who train their students to apply the language between classes.

Before explaining what it means for a student to apply a new language to his daily life, let’s clarify what it doesn’t mean. Application of a foreign language is not the occasional chat with native speakers of that language. Attempting to use your new language skills in social settings is actually stage 5; Real Conversations.

Chatting with native speakers is fun and exciting. That’s the big goal, isn’t it? Understanding them and being understood by them was the motive for taking classes in the first place, wasn’t it?

Yes, that’s right. But let me emphasize here that the title of this post is How to Learn a Language, not How to Use a Language. If you have a social outlet or a workplace setting where you can use your language skills with others, awesome! Yes, that’s the goal and that will always be the goal.

Daily application of the language, however, is the stage of learning which best prepares you for those conversations.

To apply a language is to purposely vocalize thoughts and actions during your daily routine.

That’s it. Whatever it is you’re doing, you should be explaining every detail – out loud – in the foreign language that you’re learning. It doesn’t matter if anyone else is listening. In fact, it’s going to be easier for you if no one’s listening. This not only applies to your actions, but also to your thoughts. Whatever comes to mind, try to say it.

To get my Spanish-learning students in the habit of doing this, I often have them explain everything that’s happening around us. In a public place, I ask them to talk about the people who are coming and going. I ask about every detail of their transaction at the register. Sometimes they speak too generally. For example:

El barista me dio la taza de café.
The barista gave me the cup of coffee.

…so I ask them for details:

¿Cuánta leche puso en tu café?
How much milk did he put in your coffee?

¿Cómo pagaste?
How did you pay?

¿Si el total fue $6.50 y le diste $10, cuánto cambio te dio?
If the total was $6.50 and you gave him $10, how much change did he give you?

¿Esa chica en aquella mesa…qué está haciendo?
That girl at the table over there…what is she doing?

I can go on and on with these questions indefinitely because every answer leads to more questions.

There simply isn’t enough time in the classroom for all the speaking and thinking in the new language which needs to happen. The student must take it home with him and practice on his own. After completing this post, I’ll write another post which goes into detail about the process of applying a new language. It’s a very proactive, purposeful approach to learning. There’s nothing “natural” or “casual” about it. It’s a full-scale “self-immersion” which isn’t dependent on rare opportunities to chat with native speakers.

another post which goes into detail on Daily Application ↓:

How to Learn a Language Fast through Daily Application

The Last Step & the Ultimate Goal: #5 Real Conversations

Consider yourself lucky if you have a group of native speakers who will patiently chat with you in the language you’re trying to learn. Last time I checked, most people have limited patience for those who don’t already speak their language.

As I mentioned earlier, having real conversations in the target language is always the goal. To the extent that you can do it, DO IT! Join a group of people who speak that language and simply listen to them talk. Contribute to the conversation as often as you can. It’s so rewarding when the doors of new cultures are opened up to you through language.

But don’t be surprised or discouraged if these conversations become frustrating. They’re speaking to each other at Level 10 and maybe slowing it down to Level 7 when they talk to you. But if you’re still at Levels 1-4, it’s going to be more frustrating than rewarding.

This is why you cannot depend on occasional conversations to deepen your skills in the language. It’s unstructured, unpredictable and infrequent. A student who is casually learning a language with this social approach will eventually lag far behind the student who methodically applies the language to his daily life. That is why the 4th stage of Application is the language-learning step that we emphasize the most.

Those who make real progress towards their language-learning goals are those who fall in love with the process. Those who don’t have a real incentive to learn a language will eventually fall away…and that’s ok. In another post titled Maybe You Shouldn’t Learn Another Language, I explain that language learning isn’t for everyone.

But if you truly do have bilingual aspirations, these 5 stages are the way to make it happen. It cycles over and over again. When advanced students hear a new word or phrase, they must process it from Stage 1 to 5 in order to become fluent in that word. The process never ends.

Another good article about language acquistion on Babbel.com: 10 Tips To Learn Any Language From An Expert

Keywords: how to learn a language, how to learn spanish, best way to learn spanish, spanish conversation, learn a new language, steps to learning a language

The post 5 Steps to Learning a Language appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

The First Lesson Is on Us

Lots of people wish to learn Spanish or some other language. But many of them don’t know where to begin. “Should I get a book?” “Buy software?” “Hire a tutor?” This indecision usually prevents them from taking any action at all.  spanish classes austin free

For this reason, we would like to take the first step by offering a free introductory lesson to anyone who’s eager to learn Spanish. This is a great opportunity to get the personal attention of a professional teacher in a private lesson.

In your free lesson, we will:

• assess your current level and your style of learning

• discuss your Spanish-speaking goals and how to achieve them

• examine course materials

The post Free Introductory Spanish Lesson appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

The ethnic diversity of Austin is one of its strengths. Knowing English and Spanish enables Austinites to communicate with nearly everyone in town. In this post, we are going to provide an overview (below the form) of our Spanish lessons in Austin and offer you a free orientation for you and your staff. Fill out the form or call us directly at (512) 350-8757.

Be sure to mention your current Spanish level and the type of Spanish course that interests you. Tell us a convenient time for you to chat by phone so we can answer your questions and schedule your free orientation. We look forward to hearing from you!

[contact-form-7]

Professional Teachers

The secret to our engaging lessons isn’t really a secret. Our instructors bring their passion for teaching to each lesson. They make the language come alive for total beginners, for advanced learners and everyone in between. Also, each of our instructors meets the high standards of professionalism that we demand from our staff. We are native Spanish speakers and are highly experienced at guiding students towards fluency.

Conversational Spanish

Everybody has their own style of learning. Most of us are visual learners. Unfortunately, none of us are visual speakers. If you’re one of those learners who must see a word before you can say it, don’t worry … we have plenty of materials for you to read and study. However, our lessons are primarily designed to develop the skills of our students so they can informally converse in Spanish. Although we do spend time reading and writing the language, our primary emphasis is to speak and understand it.

Dynamic Lessons

We make this happen with practical, engaging lessons which keep the learners learning from one class to the next. Also, we provide plenty of structure in our lessons to help students grasp the complexity of Spanish grammar. But our lessons never become like the boring, dry Spanish classes from grade school. Instead, we challenge students at their current level by mixing new material with words and subjects they have already learned. As a result, this makes for some exciting classes where students sense their Spanish progress and are excited to use it.

How to Learn a Language Fast through Daily Application

Spanish Classes in Austin

We adapt our lessons to the levels and needs of participating students. Our emphasis is to teach students how to teach themselves so they will continue making progress outside of our classes.

• Class Schedule

• Student Levels

• Curriculum

• Pricing

• Class Schedule

Flexible Scheduling

Each of our classes is 90 minutes long. The schedule we recommend is to have two of these classes each week, although some of our clients have only one weekly class. It simply depends on your goals. Those who wish to make faster progress will schedule 3 or more classes per week in addition to their at-home studies.

• Student Levels

Maximum Participation

We keep our students in level-appropriate groups so that no student gets lost in a hard lesson nor bored in an easy one. Our minimum group size is 3 students and our maximum is 8. We ensure that each student receives an equal amount of attention from the instructor so that he or she has plenty of opportunities to speak and engage with the class.

• Curriculum

We emphasize a “first things first” approach to learning Spanish in which students start out by learning the most common words and phrases. Then, as the lessons begin to focus on subjects of secondary importance, the fundamental lessons are continually reinforced through our conversations. We use a variety of texts during our lessons, most of which were written by our instructors.

Course Itinerary

Students at the beginner level will maintain basic conversations within the first 10 classes. Within the first 30 classes, we cover a full survey of the present tense in addition to the foundations of the language. This includes 100 of the most common verbs, all the essential fundamentals of grammar and hundreds of common vocabulary words. Then, after the first block of 30 classes, the course will focus on the past tenses and other advanced concepts. Intermediate and advanced groups will rely less on textbooks and will dedicate more time to conversational exchanges in which new material is gradually introduced and reinforced.

• Pricing

Learning another language is a worthy investment. The average student will need many lessons to reach their desired goals. Therefore, it’s smart to share the cost of the lessons with others. Depending on the number of students in your group, the cost per student per class will range from $20 to $25.

The post Spanish Lessons in Austin – Private or Group Lessons appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

Well, perhaps I’m breaking new ground here, but I’m totally serious about this. I will be the first to acknowledge that I make my living by helping people to learn languages. It’s what I do and I love it. But I don’t think there’s any harm in revealing a cold, hard truth that I’ve witnessed in my language teaching career; most people don’t need to learn a foreign language.

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Why Are English & Spanish Among the Hardest Languages to Learn?

Maybe You Shouldn’t Learn Another Language

This is a conclusion I’ve come to after many years and hundreds of students. People sign up for our lessons for a variety of reasons. I’ve never had a reason to turn anyone down. I remember the first class I was teaching at one company in particular. 10 of their employees signed up for 20 classes. Within 10 minutes of that first class, I knew that none of them were going to learn Spanish…not after 20 lessons or even 50 lessons.

It quickly became clear that what they really wanted was an excuse to gather together in the conference room once a week to joke around, gossip and not work. These are the most challenging classes to teach. They clearly weren’t taking it seriously, but I still had to. I had to bring my A-game for 20 straight classes, prepared with lessons and exercises. I still had to assess each student and figure out what they knew and didn’t know. And I still had to push them and give assignments, knowing they weren’t going to do them.

But that’s my job and I’m not complaining about it. Maybe all you want is for me to teach you cliche phrases about tequila, tacos y cerveza. If that’s the case, I will gladly show up on time and teach you those phrases. You won’t be a Spanish speaker when all the lessons are done, but hey…at least you were entertained.

another post you may like:

If Mark Zuckerberg Is Learning Chinese, Maybe You Should Too

Let’s Be Honest

I have found that it’s especially important to be honest and forthright with students. I’m upfront about how much they’re going to learn and how long it’s going to take to learn it. I mean…that’s applicable beyond business isn’t it? It’s not good to give false expectations to anyone, making promises that you cannot actually keep. But as it pertains to teaching, the best way to achieve goals with your students is to set some goals that can actually be achieved. When I tell prospective students they’ll be able to maintain a basic conversation in Spanish after 20 lessons, I truly believe it. I’ve been down this road before with many students and there’s no reason I cannot make this claim with my next student.

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How to Learn a Language

This guarantee, however, is based on the assumption that I’m working with someone who has the incentive and willingness to learn. Both are essential. There are many people who have the incentive but are not willing to learn. It would benefit them greatly to learn Spanish. But they lack the mentality required to put in the time and do the work. These are the students who think “it would be cool to learn another language.” They’re enamored by the accents of native speakers and impressed by people who learned to sound like one. But when it comes to the practical steps of building their Spanish skills, due to a lack of a real desire to learn, they must be dragged forward instead of guided. We must spend half of our lesson covering what we learned in the previous lesson because they haven’t thought about it since then.

Better Uses of Your Time

Now, that is not to say that our time together will be wasted. We’ll have a good time and some great conversations. You’ll learn many words and phrases. But the thing is…you could’ve done that with anyone. You didn’t need to hire me for such a small goal. Your Spanish-speaking friends easily could’ve taught you a few words and phrases over a plate of nachos.

Just think of all the time and money you’ll save by not taking real Spanish lessons. You’ll have more time with your friends and family. You’ll have time to exercise, read a book or get things done around the house. And of course, just think about all the other things you could learn. You could learn to build a website, grow a garden or cook something delicious. There is literally an endless number of things you could do with your time. You can do things that you actually want to do, things that would greatly enhance your life.

None of what I’m writing here is sarcastic. I truly mean it. Not everyone needs to learn another language, especially if you’re not traveling or if you lack the opportunities and desire to communicate with people who speak that language. Granted, I’ll confess that I want to sit across a table from you and build a whole new world in your mind with the Spanish language. But that’s just the teacher in me…I love teaching Spanish! Nonetheless, the objective part of me can acknowledge that fluency in a foreign language takes some hard work. It’s far too long of a journey for someone who really doesn’t want to take the trip.

Too Big of a Commitment

In this opinion article at japantoday.com (link), the writer explains why shouldn’t learn Japanese:

Look, everyone thinks they can learn Japanese quickly, fueled in part, no doubt, by the number of websites claiming to help you do so if you buy their products. But honestly, when I look at the very few people I actually know who’ve succeeded, it’s clear why. They got up at 4 a.m. every morning to do speaking drills, or wrote 50,000 flash cards, or went to language school five hours a day. Myself, I can honestly say I’ve spent at least 4,000 hours actively studying, and that’s not counting watching Japanese movies, singing karaoke, having conversations all day long in Japanese, and working in Japan.

Don’t Let Anyone Shame You

You just might be better off where you are, making good use of your time, confidently speaking one language…and there’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t let anyone shame you for the language you speak or for the languages you don’t speak.

Of course, I also have to acknowledge those who do have the incentive and the willingness to learn a foreign language. I can see them coming from a mile away, mainly because of the stack of language books they carry around. When they begin to show me the work they’ve completed, the exercises they’ve done and the notes they’ve taken, that’s when I know I’m dealing with a real contender. This person has already started the process…by themselves. They’re eager to learn. And now their head is full of questions. They’re unsure about a number of things and they’re looking for help. They need someone to affirm what they’ve already learned, someone to assess their level and guide them to the next level. A student like this is a teacher’s dream-come-true, a real delight to teach.

If you are this kind of student and you truly desire to learn a new language, give us a call or send us a message. We’re looking forward to working with you.

The post Maybe You Shouldn’t Learn Another Language appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

“A man who speaks fastidiously will often lose the attention of his listener.”

The above quote was said by…no one. No one ever said it to me and I never said it to anyone else, but it’s a true statement. I begin this post with that quote to make a point – a point that may be difficult to understand – only because at this moment you’re still wondering what “fastidiously” means.

And even if you do know what it means, you’re still wondering why I chose to use that word instead of a more common word that most people know. Or perhaps you have other questions in mind. Am I trying to show off my vocabulary? Do I think I’m special because I know some fancy words? Should you also begin to learn new words in order to impress other people?

Distracted By My Words

The problem with these questions in your mind is that they have nothing to do with what I’m talking about (fastidious talkers). I have an opinion to share with you but you’re no longer thinking about it. You’re no longer listening to me. Your attention has been derailed….not by someone else’s comment…not by some noise or some shiny object behind me, but rather, you’re distracted because of a word I chose to use.

Words are mainly what we use to express ourselves and make a point, but it is often a poor choice of words that causes others to miss that point. It makes the listener think about something else or it makes them think about…words. To communicate well with others, this is a distraction we should avoid.

Keep It Simple

For example…if you need to tell someone that the chlorine in their drinking water is unhealthy, you could express this in a couple different ways. You could say that…

“drinking water with chlorine has a harmful effect on our health.”

If this is how you say it, I guarantee your listener will continue to listen. And they will still be listening when you make your next point;

“The water that comes out of our faucets has been treated with chlorine at our local water treatment plants. It kills bacteria and microbes in our tap water which would otherwise make us sick. However, chlorine itself can have a harmful effect on our bodies, especially on our skin and hair.”

This is very useful information to your listener. He’s following your point and it is now having an effect on him. He’s interested. He wants to hear more. “I always have dry skin,” he thinks to himself. “Maybe it’s because of the chlorine in my shower water.” The conversation goes forward, ideas are exchanged and we all learn something new. This is good communication.

Harmful Deleterious?

Now, imagine if you had started the conversation another way. Let’s say you began by saying that…

“drinking water with chlorine has a deleterious effect on our health.”

It’s a difference of only one word, but your choice of the word “deleterious” instead of “harmful” will more-than-likely distract your listener…at least for a moment. Is it wrong to use “deleterious?” Nope…the definition of the word is to “cause harm or damage,” so I cannot say that your statement is inaccurate. But I will tell you with confidence that it’s probably been awhile since he’s heard or read the word “deleterious.” And of course it’s also possible that he’s just a simple guy who doesn’t read much and he’s never heard of this word.

If this is the case, the conversation is already over. You’re now talking about water treatment plants and he’s just standing there feeling dumb because he doesn’t know what “deleterious” means. Whether he knows this word or not, your point is likely going to be missed because one of your words got in the way.

In no way am I dismissing the importance of a deep vocabulary. It’s extremely useful to know rare words. After all, we have no control over the words that others say to us. At various times, we’re going to hear rare words or read them in publications. In those moments, it’s only the people who are familiar with lots of words who will understand and contribute to the conversation. Through reading and exposure to rich vocabularies, they have developed a deep vocabulary of their own, enabling them to understand and process just about everything they hear.   

Communicate at the Level of Your Listener

The words that we choose to use, on the other hand, is where we can place some reasonable limits. If your goal is truly to communicate well with someone else, then that communication must be at the level of your listener. You must use words they currently know so that they can understand something they currently don’t know. Your deep knowledge of a subject is useless if you cannot communicate it to others. Your rich vocabulary doesn’t help to make your point if it’s going over our head.

The words we use with a professor are very different than the words we use with a 5-year-old. Why? Because the professor’s knowledge is very advanced whereas the child’s knowledge is very basic. A good communicator is someone who is understood by both the professor and the child. That’s a very extreme example, but it clearly makes the point. A more common scenario is when we talk to adults who may or may not be familiar with the words we’re about to say. We make split-second decisions to choose one word or another. The word we should use, in my opinion, is not the “very precise word that perfectly expresses the thought.” The perfect word for that moment, I would say, is the one that the listener is most likely to understand, the word that will keep him interested in what you have to say.

“Elusive” or “Hard to Catch?”

I recently told and retold a story about our cat which we lost for a month in a small town. When our cat wants to play, he’s impossible to capture. As I expressed this to one person, I said that our cat is “elusive.” To another person, I said that our cat is “hard to catch.” Why use a different phrase? It’s the same cat, same story. But I told the story to two different people, one who I was sure was familiar with “elusive” and the other, probably not. Nonetheless, I can assure you that both of these people fully understand that our cat is hard to catch.

It’s great that you now know what “zwieback” means, but I don’t recommend that you say it in conversation.

Fancy Words

Of course, I shouldn’t take it for granted that everyone is motivated to communicate well. I’m sure there are plenty of people who want others to be impressed with all the fancy words they know. To them, the rarer the word, the better. They’ll take advantage of any opportunity to sound more “sophisticated.” They probably have one of those desk calendars that teaches them a fancy new word everyday. And if they aspire to be an “intellectual,” you might as well skip the conversation and talk to someone else.

I recently heard a guy describing someone else as “loquacious.” Instead of continuing his description of the person, he immediately began to define the word “loquacious.” If the one word you choose to use is going to require an explanation with 20 words, then maybe there’s another word or phrase you could’ve used instead. I eventually realized that this man who was describing a loquacious man was also very loquacious (talkative). It didn’t seem to matter to him that I had already tuned out and started looking at my phone. He just kept on talking.

There are so many books about communication. So many speakers and authors are emphasizing the importance of listening to others, getting to the heart of what motivates them by asking the right questions. They also point out that it’s impossible to listen when you’re doing all the talking. This is all good advice for when you’re on the receiving end of the conversation. But when it’s your turn to talk, do everything possible to make sure that they’re listening to YOU. Use simple words, check to see if they’re still engaged and give them plenty of chances to talk again.   

Well, I could go on and on about this…but I don’t want to sound platitudinous

The post When Words Get in the Way appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

Naturally, he hears the same common words and phrases and begins to pick up their meaning. Some of these words are similar to their English equivalent, so he begins to realize there are many words in the foreign language that he can recognize and even pronounce.

This passive learning continues for a period of time, perhaps even for years, with no conscious effort on his part to actually study or learn the language. He just keeps picking up words and phrases. He even says them on occasion, especially the ones that are advantageous to him. He learns how to say “I like this” to the mother-in-law who often serves him delicious food. Shortly after, he learns how to say “I want more” and “You look beautiful.”

The language itself becomes a common topic of conversation with others…how much of it can he understand and speak. His answer to this question is a common one. It’s the inevitable result of extensively hearing a foreign language without a matching attempt to learn it. His reply:

“I can understand it more than I can speak it.”

That’s probably true. If all he’s ever done is hear another language…with no real attempt to put sentences together, it only makes sense that he’ll understand it better than he can speak it.

On a side note, to assure you that I know what I’m talking about, I’ll have you know that I’m speaking from experience on this matter. Early this year I married my wonderful Romanian wife. I’ve accepted that until I learn to speak Romanian, I will forever be asked by her legion of Romanian friends and family members about when I will learn their language. But that’s another subject for another post.

Back to the other guy who understands the foreign language more than he can speak it…all of this changes the moment he begins to study. This is when everything is flipped. Until now, he’s only experienced the occasional droplets of knowledge that fell on him during social get-togethers. Now, with a book and a teacher in front of him, he’s suddenly surrounded by a flood of information that is surging into his brain.

Find the words you want to know and speak them.

Page after page, list after list and verb after verb…the language is presented to him in a variety of contexts in which his new vocabulary is used. While sitting in a classroom, he learns how to order at a restaurant, how to book a flight at the airport and the phrases for several other hypothetical situations which may or may not actually occur.

As he listens to tapes, completes exercises and practices pronunciation, the new words circulate at the forefront of his mind. His brain is constantly repeating them. Under his breath, he begins to speak to himself in the foreign language about everything he’s doing and observing…simply for the practice: Son las ocho y media (It’s 8:30), Estoy manejando a la oficina (I’m driving to the office).

It isn’t long before the man realizes he’s now able to speak much more than he’s able to understand. He has a basic understanding of many words and he can use them, but he still hasn’t spoken or learned them in all their nuances or in other tenses. He can say that he speaks Spanish but hasn’t yet learned to say that he would’ve spoken Spanish, for example.

He’s probably heard these advanced levels of the language on many occasions but lacked the basic knowledge of the words to know what was being said. These are the in-depth conversations that he used to ignore because he didn’t have a clue. But now he has many clues. He has drawers and drawers of vocabulary in his mind because he has studied them…he was exposed to them in the many exercises he completed.

The language that was foreign to him is now familiar. He now recognizes several words in fast-paced conversations that were once meaningless to him. He begins to understand what his teacher has known all along: his increasing ability to speak the language will continue to pull forward his ability to understand it. I say “pull” because it will be behind. For as long as he actively studies and speaks the language, his ability to speak it will continually outpace his comprehension.

This imbalance is not something to be corrected…but rather, taken advantage of. Read as many articles as you can. Write stories. Complete exercises. Consume vocabulary lists and speak, speak, speak. It all contributes to your comprehension of the foreign language. It may always be trailing your ability to speak it, but if all your skills are moving forward, then what difference does it make? The only thing that matters is progress: study, speak, understand, repeat.

JG

The post Speaking Pulls Comprehension in Foreign Language Learning appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.

In 2012, the 34-year-old multi-billionaire married Priscilla Chan, the daughter of Chinese-Vietnamese refugees. Zuckerberg traveled to China with Chan before their wedding. That was undoubtedly a great opportunity to better understand the origins of his future wife. Also, the trip was an opportunity for Zuckerberg to plant the seeds for Facebook, which is still illegal in China.

Zuckerberg Demonstrates His Chinese Skills

Zuckerberg gave a speech and answered questions, entirely in Chinese, at Tsinghua University in 2014. Although his grammar and pronunciation had plenty of errors in grammar and punctuation, the effort was nonetheless impressive. Not many CEO’s would ever attempt to do this…especially the CEO of a company as successful as Facebook.

In 2016, Zuckerberg and Chan delivered a Happy Lunar  Year message with their daughter Max. Again, it was another vulnerable attempt to use his newly-learned Chinese. There were still plenty of errors, but Zuckerberg’s improvement was evident.

Maybe YOU Should Learn Chinese

Are you a multi-billionaire who’s looking to expand your wildly successful company in China? Well, perhaps not. Nonetheless, there are many reasons for you to learn Chinese. First of all, it’s the most spoken language in the world. Granted, the overwhelming majority of those people live on the other side of the world. But still, learning how to communicate with all those people could create opportunities for you that you currently can’t imagine. Many companies are specifically looking for employees who speak fluent English and communicable Chinese. And they will pay good many to hire them.

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How to Learn a Language

Another good reason to learn Chinese is the cultural depth you get from the experience. By tapping into the language of China, you become familiar with the mindset of that ancient culture. That worldly benefit cannot be overstated. The history, perspective and lifestyle of the Chinese people is endlessly fascinating. Learning their language is the gateway to adding all that culture to your intellect and worldview.

Nothing Casual About It

There are, however, some things you should know before you go after such a big goal. First of all, you’d better have a proactive approach to learning Chinese. Otherwise, it’s not going to happen and you will have wasted your time. We wrote a post on this topic; Maybe You Shouldn’t Learn Another Language.

Many people take a casual approach to learning a language. And while it’s certainly easier to approach a language casually, you shouldn’t expect anything more than casual results. One can argue that it’s possible to learn Spanish this way. That’s only because there are so many Spanish speakers in our country to practice with. With so many hispanohablantes (Spanish speakers) to talk to, you may very well improve your Spanish with occasional conversations and leisurely efforts.

Unless you have a bunch of Chinese speakers to practice with, however, you’re on your own. And perhaps it’s better that way…just you and some learning software or an online Chinese course by Duolingo. If you do this all alone, you won’t have any inhibitions about speaking foreign words. The reluctance to speak a foreign language in front of other people is often a huge stumbling block for language learners. Therefore, just learn it alone until the time is right for you to try it out with actual Chinese speakers.

If you’re currently learning Chinese or you’ve already learned to speak it well, please leave a comment below. Tell us about your experience. We’re curiously to know how you approached it. What worked and didn’t work for you?

The post If Mark Zuckerberg Is Learning Chinese, Maybe You Should Too appeared first on Prime Instruction & Language | Austin's Premier Language School.