How to Learn Any Language 21

How to Learn Any Language 21

WAIT A MINUTE!

An enemy, a skeptic, even a queasy ally at this point could say, “Wait a minute. I’m trying to learn a language. I’m not sure I want to walk around with a headful of images of wives who keep moles, chickens that play polo, angry people emitting cold air, and VA hospitals you can knock over with a hoe!”
You won’t! One beauty of the system is, the association that helps you capture the word falls away and disintegrates. Once you’ve learned the words, the “crutch” obligingly disappears.
A common form of the verb “to speak” in Hebrew is medaber, pronounced meda-BEAR. There it is: you were walking through the newly planted forests of Israel and suddenly you “med” a bear who could speak!
In Indonesian, “movie screen” is lajar, pronounced almost exactly like “liar” (LI-ar). Easy. The man is rapidly winning the woman’s heart in the movie, but you don’t wish him well because he’s such a lajar!
“Horse” in Russian, transliterated into English script, is lo-shod, pronounced almost exactly like LAW-shod. You try to bring your own horse with you into the Soviet Union, but at the border the Soviet customs officer tells you Sorry, he’d like to accommodate you, but your horse doesn’t have horseshoes and, according to Soviet law, all horses must be shod.
“Horse” equals LAW-shod.
The Greek word for “grape” in English transliteration is stafilya, pronounced sta-FEEL-ya.
You’re in a Greek vineyard in the mountains near Albania. You see the most luscious grape you’ve ever laid eyes on. As you reach for it, the air is split with a squeaky voice screaming “Don’t touch me!”
“I’m sorry,” you sputter, retreating in shock and shame. “I wasn’t going to eat you. It was just to FEEL you (jus’ sta-FEEL-ya).”
Grape equals sta-FEEL-ya.
The Serbo-Croatian word for “lunch” is ru