Kató Lomb was a professional Hungarian translator who spoke many languages. For anyone learning a foreign language, she formulated these 10 commandments:
- Study the language daily. If you have absolutely no time, then at least for ten minutes. It’s especially good to study in the morning.
- If your desire to study fades too quickly, don’t force it, but don’t quit either. Invent some other form: put the book aside and listen to the radio, leave the textbook exercises and browse the dictionary, etc.
- Never cram or memorize anything in isolation, separate from context.
- Write down and memorize “ready-made phrases” out of sequence that can be used in the maximum number of situations.
- Try to mentally translate everything possible: a fleeting billboard, a sign on a poster, snippets of overheard conversations. This is always a rest, even for a tired mind.
- Only learn thoroughly what has been corrected by a teacher. Don’t reread your own uncorrected exercises: with repeated reading, the text is memorized involuntarily with all its possible errors. If you study alone, only learn what is definitely correct.
- Write down and memorize ready-made phrases and idiomatic expressions in the first person singular. For example: “I am only pulling your leg” or “Il m’a posé un lapin” (He stood me up).
- A foreign language is a fortress that must be stormed from all sides simultaneously: by reading newspapers, listening to the radio, watching undubbed films, attending lectures in the foreign language, working through a textbook, corresponding, meeting and conversing with native-speaking friends.
- Don’t be afraid to speak, don’t be afraid of possible mistakes, and ask to be corrected. And most importantly, don’t get upset or offended if they actually start correcting you.
- Be firmly convinced that you will achieve your goal no matter what, that you have an unwavering will and extraordinary language abilities.
Kató Lomb proposed a simple formula that determines the result of language acquisition. Here it is: Time invested + interest = result or, if refined slightly: (Time invested + interest) / Inhibition (fear of making a mistake) = result