IWTYAL 230: My strategy for learning a language from scratch

Mark asks: “How should I start learning Mongolian from scratch?”

Episode Summary:

• Get a strong foundation in the basics first
• Work your way through a textbook
• Listen to the audio
• Don't get distracted by other tools

Resources Mentioned in Today's Episode:

• Blue Snowball – A great entry-level microphone that I used for episodes 75-229
• Shure MV5 – My new mic (what you can hear on the episode today)
• French Foundations – my new book that teaches you the basics of French in two weeks

Today's Quote:

I know how to learn anything I want to learn. I absolutely know that I could learn how to fly the space shuttle because someone else knows how to fly it, and they put it in a book. Give me the book, and I do not need somebody to stand up in front of the class.

– Will Smith

Start Speaking Today:

I’d like to thank italki for supporting the show. To claim your free lesson and start speaking today, visit: https://storylearning.com//italkishownotes

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Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.