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You can learn a new language in 7 days. Challenge, accepted.

 

It would be so great to be able to speak another language, to be able to converse with locals competently when we travel or just show off to friends at dinner parties.

It’s never been easier to learn a new language thanks to audio books and apps, except none of us have time or our motivation wanes due to perpetual busy-ness.

Matthew and Michael Youlden have the solution. Known online as the Superpolyglot Twins, they claim anyone can learn a new language in just seven days and they say they’ve even done it.

The Superpolyglot Twins learned to speak Turkish in seven days, using seven steps.

Kolay! That’s “easy, in Turkish.

Matthew and Michael Youlden, known as the Superpolyglot Twins, learned Turkish in 7 days. Image: YouTube

Step One:

Figure out why you want to learn a new language, for what purpose, and then set yourself a goal.

Step Two:

Map your environment by buying lots of sticky labels and marking everything in your chosen language and start to learn them as you go about your day.

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Step Three:

Find a buddy who will learn the language with you so you can practice, motivate and converse.

Step Four:

Come up with some mini-goals such as putting yourself in situations where you'll have to communicate in your new language in certain scenarios. You may phone the country in question to make a simple inquiry, for example, or visit a local community populated by people who speak your chosen language.

Step Five:

Learn about the culture surrounding the language you have chosen, how they live, what they eat, what's important to them in order to learn even more and keep yourself motivated.

In the movie Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert learns Italian by immersing herself in the culture and observing the hand gestures. Article continues after this video.

Video by Columbia Pictures

Step Six:

Take phrases you already use and translate them into your new language so you can start to repeat common phrases and become familiar with them, allowing you to bridge together the words you have learned.

Step Seven:

Find other ways to learn your language by listening to radio in your chosen language, watching movies using that language and even picking up simple books in your language of choice and trying to recognise words in them.

Taman! That's "completed" in Turkish.