Author Archives: Arkady Zilberman

About Arkady Zilberman

Arkady Zilberman has developed and patented the Language Bridge method of learning a foreign language that is more effective than the leading methods of learning English. With Language Bridge, students reach the same level of fluency as those who spend four times as long learning through a conventional language program.

My Pursuit of an Efficient and Effective Method of Learning a Foreign Language – Part 3

For those who did not have the chance to read Part Two here are the main points:

  • LBT contains two major components: new methodology (no grammar, no memorization and no translation) and self-study software.
  • Blended learning: a combination of self-study software and public online or offline classes will become the major mode of operation in the next decade.
  • 3-action activity – reading, listening and speaking simultaneously with the speaker – eliminates cross-translation and solves the main problem in learning a foreign language.
  • Learning with phrases is 4-5 times faster than studying individual words.
  • The inner ear grammar acquired on a subconscious level is more efficient than grammar consciously learned as a set of grammar rules.

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My Pursuit of an Efficient and Effective Method of Learning a Foreign Language. Part Two

For those who did not have the chance to read Part One here are the main points:

  • When adults learn a foreign language and speak it fluently, they form a new language speech center in the brain that is separated from the native language center.
  • We don’t think in our native language; we think in a code language of symbols, images and associations.
  • The majority of adults (approx. 95%) loses their linguistic talent after the age of 18 and thinks the loss is irreversible.
  • A small proportion of adults (less than 5%) somehow preserve the child’s ability to learn a new language without reverting to cross-translation to the mother tongue.
  • When adults learn a new word in a foreign language, they subconsciously associate it with a similar word in their native language and not with the image or situation. This subconscious activity is called cross-translation.
  • A method that does not explicitly address the problem of cross-translation cannot succeed.
  • The advice “learn like a child” is wishful thinking: adults need to employ particular tools or techniques to switch their brains to learn like a child.

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My Pursuit of an Efficient and Effective Method of Learning a Foreign Language

Although my background is in science and I have 11 patents to my name, my real passion has always been foreign languages. I had two jobs in Russia: I worked as a Head of a Research Laboratory developing new materials for the automobile industry and I worked as a simultaneous interpreter on international seminars and congresses held in the former Soviet Union.

The work as simultaneous interpreter was demanding but exciting: the golden rule was that you were not allowed to remain silent while the presenter was speaking. That proved rather tricky when the communication system failed and you could not hear what he was saying!!!

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