The Mimic Method Blog

Have you ever listened to native speakers of your target language and thought “how are they making that sound!?”

You’re not alone.

One of the most challenging parts of learning a new language is learning the sounds that don’t exist in the language(s) you already know.

That’s why we’ve created [thrive_2step id=’2519′]free pronunciation guides[/thrive_2step] and premium courses to help you master all of the sounds in Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Mandarin, and English.

But I know some of you out there will want to learn a new sound in a language we don’t offer yet.

So in this article, I’ll go behind the scenes to show you how to do it on your own.

Warning, this can get a little technical and requires some understanding of phonetics. So if you’re a beginner, stick to our [thrive_2step id=’2519′]free pronunciation guides[/thrive_2step] and premium courses.

[Read more…] about How to Learn a Sound that Doesn’t Exist in Your First Language

Language is everywhere. We hear it all the time in conversations, in the streets, on TV. We read it all the time on street signs, books, computers. We even have language going on non-stop in our heads all day.

As fish are to water, we humans are to language.

As such, there are certain myths about language that most people never take time to consider. In this post, I would like to debunk nine of these myths…
[Read more…] about The 9 Biggest Myths in Language Learning – Busted

There are two types of fear: Good Fear and Bad Fear.

You’re hiking through the woods, you turn a corner, and you stumble upon a bear. It’s drinking from a river and hasn’t noticed you yet.

In this moment, it’s the “Good Fear” that takes control of you:

“OOOOH CRAP! STOP STOP STOP! TUUUURN AROUND! WALK AWAY SLOWLY! DON’T LET IT HEAR YOU!”

You get away safely, get back to your car, and return home safely. You wake up the next day, give thanks that you’re still alive, then get ready to head to work.

Now you’re walking through the office, you turn a corner, and you stumble upon a coworker you’ve secretly loved for months but never spoke to. She’s drinking from a water fountain and hasn’t noticed you yet.

In this moment, it’s the “Bad Fear” that takes control of you:

“OOOOH CRAP! STOP STOP STOP! TUUUURN AROUND! WALK AWAY SLOWLY! DON’T LET HER HEAR YOU!”

The good fear is good, because it keeps you alive. The bad fear is bad, because it keeps you from living.

All the good things in life come when we overcome the bad fears- the fear of rejection, the fear of failure, the fear of embarrassment – and these fears are all present when we learn a foreign language.

We all know that the only way to learn a foreign language is to have lots of conversations with natives. But sometimes, approaching a native speaker for conversation can be as scary as approaching a wild bear for conversation.

So to inspire you to overcome this fear, I have a challenge for our favorite twin brothers (click here for details on this case study). They had to approach five random strangers in the streets of New York and San Francisco to try their basic Spanish skills on.

As we watch video footage of their interactions, I’ll remind us all of four important language learning truths…

[Read more…] about 4 Language Learning Truths to Fight Your Fear of Strangers

Have you ever thought to yourself, “if I could just practice 10 minutes a day, I would really start to see some progress…” but then found it surprisingly difficult to set aside those 10 minutes?

[Read more…] about 5 Language Learning Accountability Tools You’re Probably NOT Using