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Language Is Music: 0ver 100 Fun & Easy Tips to Learn Foreign Languages Paperback – Illustrated, January 1, 2014
bySusanna Zaraysky(Author)
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Language is Music focuses on making learning foreign languages fun, easy and affordable for anyone with a desire to communicate effectively with people around the world. By applying over 100 simple tips to things you already do, such as listening to music or surfing the Web, you can experience the joy of "fluency" in any language without having to study abroad or spend money on private tutors. In Language is Music, Susanna Zaraysky masterfully shares her listening methods so that anyone can have fun learning any language. With over 100 tips and 100 free or low-cost Internet resources, you will learn how to use daily activities, such as watching T.V. or listening to music; conversation partners; and attendance at cultural events to become a masterful speaker of any tongue. "Learning foreign languages is like learning to sing a song or play music," says self-made linguist Susanna Zaraysky and author of Language is Music. Zaraysky has what you might call "an ear" for languages, having used music to successfully learn English, Russian, French, Spanish, Ladino, Italian, Portuguese, and Serbo-Croatian-all with excellent accents. (Third Edition published in January 2014.)
Advance Praise for Language is Music Language is Music is music for the mind! Susanna Zaraysky has crammed this little book with big ideas about how to learn a language, including a multitude of extremely practical tips and applications. As one who has dabbled in many languages and speaks a couple fluently, I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to speak another language. -John Perkins, New York Times Bestselling Author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man "I love it! I think it will help people who want to learn, and those who are curious about additional language learning. Many people want to learn a language but are frightened, or disappointed by the courses they have taken. Reading Language is Music will encourage them to try again, on their own and with friendly supporters." -Dr. Elba Maldonado-Colon, Professor Department of Elementary Education Bilingual Program, San Jose State University "LET IT JUST ROLL OFF YOUR TONGUE. With lyrical insight and solid experience, Susanna Zaraysky, author of Language is Music, provides easy steps for learning a language. Gone are the boring, disconnected strategies that most of us remember from school. You've never learned a language this quickly and easily. Zaraysky's methods embody fun, connection, rhythm, and above all...music." -Suzanne Lettrick, M.Ed Educator and Founder of The Global Education and Action Network "Forget dictionaries and phrase books . . . Susanna Zaraysky's easy-to-use guide to language learning is indispensable for any serious language learner wanting to become fluent--not just conversationally proficient--in another language. Language is Music will teach you how to make language acquisition a part of your daily life, and to recreate the kind of total-immersion environment necessary for fluency. Highly recommended reading for aspiring polyglots. Pick up this book and you too will be all ears!" -Justin Liang, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Marshallese, intermediate Spanish "Back in France, I spent many years learning "academic" English in school. But I progressed much faster when I forced myself to listen to the BBC or not look at the subtitles when watching an American movie. I wish I had Susanna's book with me then. It's full of creative ideas and practical tips that are indispensable complements to the traditional methods of learning foreign languages -- and it's coming from someone you can trust, she speaks so many of them!" -Philippe Levy, French native speaker
Advance Praise for Language is Music Language is Music is music for the mind! Susanna Zaraysky has crammed this little book with big ideas about how to learn a language, including a multitude of extremely practical tips and applications. As one who has dabbled in many languages and speaks a couple fluently, I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to speak another language. -John Perkins, New York Times Bestselling Author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man "I love it! I think it will help people who want to learn, and those who are curious about additional language learning. Many people want to learn a language but are frightened, or disappointed by the courses they have taken. Reading Language is Music will encourage them to try again, on their own and with friendly supporters." -Dr. Elba Maldonado-Colon, Professor Department of Elementary Education Bilingual Program, San Jose State University "LET IT JUST ROLL OFF YOUR TONGUE. With lyrical insight and solid experience, Susanna Zaraysky, author of Language is Music, provides easy steps for learning a language. Gone are the boring, disconnected strategies that most of us remember from school. You've never learned a language this quickly and easily. Zaraysky's methods embody fun, connection, rhythm, and above all...music." -Suzanne Lettrick, M.Ed Educator and Founder of The Global Education and Action Network "Forget dictionaries and phrase books . . . Susanna Zaraysky's easy-to-use guide to language learning is indispensable for any serious language learner wanting to become fluent--not just conversationally proficient--in another language. Language is Music will teach you how to make language acquisition a part of your daily life, and to recreate the kind of total-immersion environment necessary for fluency. Highly recommended reading for aspiring polyglots. Pick up this book and you too will be all ears!" -Justin Liang, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Marshallese, intermediate Spanish "Back in France, I spent many years learning "academic" English in school. But I progressed much faster when I forced myself to listen to the BBC or not look at the subtitles when watching an American movie. I wish I had Susanna's book with me then. It's full of creative ideas and practical tips that are indispensable complements to the traditional methods of learning foreign languages -- and it's coming from someone you can trust, she speaks so many of them!" -Philippe Levy, French native speaker
- Print length120 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherKaleidomundi
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2014
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.25 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-100982018991
- ISBN-13978-0982018996
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Product details
- Publisher : Kaleidomundi
- Publication date : January 1, 2014
- Edition : 2nd Revised and Enlarged ed.
- Language : English
- Print length : 120 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0982018991
- ISBN-13 : 978-0982018996
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.25 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,387,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9,641 inForeign Language Instruction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author
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Susanna Zaraysky is a world traveler and polyglot whose goal is to empower people to be global citizens who are knowledgeable about world events and are confident international travelers and communicators.
She has studied eleven languages (English, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Ladino, Hebrew, Arabic, and Hungarian) and speaks eight of them. Susanna wrote the book Language is Music to share her fun language learning tips. After traveling to over 50 countries, she wrote "Travel Happy, Budget Low" with over 200 money saving travel tips to assist others in becoming world travelers. She is co-producing the documentary, Saved by Language.
Susanna has been featured on MTV, the Filipino Channel, Fox Business News and MSNBC. She has given presentations about Language is Music at the US State Department, to audiences in Thailand and Qatar, at Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of San Francisco and San Jose State University.
Customer reviews
4 out of 5 stars
31 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2009Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseLanguage is Music explains the correlation between music and language learning. Through personal experience, I know that musicians are much better at languages than the rest of us. The late Dr. Paul Pimsleur said that language is mostly auditory (hearing). Dr. Steven Krashen's "input/output" theory is a reality. The Dutch people learn to speak great English by using the radio and television. And we all know that the Grammar-Translation method does not work. What Susanna Zaraysky has done in her book is to explain and give tips on how to use the only method that really works in learning languages: the oral learning method. It's entertaining because you can use radio, music, movies and television, and the Internet! Jerry Bauer, Staten Island, NY
- Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2012Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseHow to best learn new languages is a subject that's been debated for decades, and there've been a lot of fashions in language learning come and go. And if you check out polyglots on Youtube you can listen to them argue about it. If even people who have learned ten or more languages can't agree on the best way to do it, what are the rest of us to do?
One expert says it's volume of input pure and simple. Some say it can be conscious or unconscious. Since this author believes listening to radio ads in Portuguese while driving home from work helped her better speak that language, she apparently falls into that category.
I've come to believe it's a matter of both input and output, of practicing in the language in many different ways.
That's the strength of this book, suggesting many different ways to listen to and practice the language you're learning, especially ways that are a lot more fun than the traditional drills and readings I encountered in high school French.
That said, if you're looking for some kind of magic quick fix to becoming fluent in a language, I don't think you'll ever find it. You can use some tricks to learn some basics, but to fluently read, write, understand and speak a language, will take lots of hard work. Sorry. - Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2012Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI came upon this book through the website Everyday Language Learner, [...]. After living in China for 18 months and studying Mandarin, I had reached a plateau in my learning and motivation. I downloaded the book on my Kindle and immediately got a jolt of new ideas and renewed motivation. Great little book!
- Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2014Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseI bought this for my wife after the many requests for it and she seems to enjoy it so much I can even pry it out of her hands. I think that says enough.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2011Format: PaperbackI have to confess, I had high expectations for this book.
I loved the premise, and the concept. Language is music... become a musician... Wow!
I'm a classical musician and foreign language teacher, so I bought the book wanting to learn how I can further help my students.
Sadly, there is absolutely nothing new. Just another author claiming to have found the perfect formula for learning languages.
This book is only a compilation of tips well known by experienced language teachers. 69 tips from the author, and 7 more from other readers.
Tips like "Write down the lyrics as you listen", "Draw pictures of the story", "Relax when speaking", "Sing", "Record yourself singing", "Flash Cards", "Listen to language learning CDs", or listen to the radio, watch TV, read newspapers, are too obvious recommendations. The book contains less than 65 pages of concrete information. But, many of these pages contain lots of "Personal Stories", illustrations, and popular URLs.
Furthermore, this book is saturated with egocentric and annoying phrases such as "Created by a self-made expert", "My mystery", "I was so dexterous in learning foreign languages...", "My life was a rainbow with various linguistic colors", "It was not just my navigation of grammar and language structure that amazed people, it was my accent and ability to copy sounds perfectly or almost perfectly." , "I was getting lonely being one of the few polyglots around!".
I tried not to get annoyed by the constant remarks of superiority, which didn't go very well, and at the end I wished I had watched The Simpsons instead. - Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2011Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseThe method in this book is in my opinion the best way to go about language learning but the book doesn't need to be bought in order to know the way. The whole book could be summed up in two words: total immersion. Immerse yourself in tv, music, reading, etc.
If you've been learning a language you already know this. If you're starting from point zero, the tips in this book might be helpful, but you are going to have to read through the author bragging about how "gifted" she is, going on and on about how it is a blessing and a curse. Give me a break and lets just learn some languages.
Top reviews from other countries
- AndreaReviewed in Italy on May 9, 2020
4.0 out of 5 starsLettura molto interessante
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseConsegna puntuale. Bel libro che tratta svariati argomenti e rende anche più stimolante lo studio di una lingua straniera. - Dr KevinReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 28, 2010
1.0 out of 5 starsA poor read
Format: PaperbackVerified PurchaseA slim volume running to some 97 pages. The author is by all accounts an accomplished linguist. The book is well set out, printed to a high quality and has a soft cover. There the praise ends. You can read the whole book in an hour or so and there is nothing of substance in it that is not really commom sense. The author is explaining that in order to improve your language learning you should have some exposure to the language, on the radio, television etc.
I was very dissapointed and have seen better quality material in free pdf documents on some web sites.
