See, he said, they always teach language the wrong way in school. Every language's got the same things, the same patterns. Once you learn alla the patterns, y'just need the words to go into that pattern.

English: "(noun) is better than (noun)."
German: "(noun) ist besser als (noun)."
Mandarin: "(noun) bi (noun) hao."

English: "Rum is better than beer."
German: "Rum ist besser als Bier."
Mandarin: "Rum bi beer hao."

Once y'have the patterns down, you need only learn the vocabulary that goes into the patterns.

Believe, truly believe, that language isn't the words you read/write. It's the words you hear/say.

Take the word Knife.

We say, nigh-feh but it's supposed to sound like, ka-ni-fee - cause that's how it's spelled. Put it another way, the letters k-n-i-f-e just makes a picture that prompts us to say nigh-feh.

More eloquently, the written word is merely the symbolic representation of the language - it is not the language itself.

So stop learning how to read/write and concentrate on learning how to communicate.

I'm illiterate in Chinese, German, and, if y'read this blog, English. Doesn't matter. Y'understand what I'm trying to say. Which brings me to...

Part Three - From me/NLP

Language isn't what y'say. It's what the listener hears.

If y'wanna learn a language, pick up the Pimsleur series and supplement it with the Living Language series six months after you've started the Pimsleur series.