Thursday 26 July 2018

What Kato Lomb 'learned' me

Kato Lomb, one of world's first simultaneous translators, was born a Hungarian. She lived from 1909 until 2003.  

Although as a girl she failed German at school, she later went on to acquire 16 languages in her lifetime. She did that on her own, using grammar-light methods

Polyglot: How I learn languages is her autobiography. It may be found online, and it is well worth reading as it contains a wealth of information for anyone at all interested in the business of learning a new language. 

I'm most attracted to her core novel method (click on that link for a 4-page pdf that sums up it and her history).  You use a simple novel, not a school text, and work through it to learn your language.

Kato Lomb latched on to that approach after discovering a Russian romance left behind in her hotel room by a previous occupant.

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