My name is Alex Harlequin, and I’m a writer with a love of language. I’ve spent my life wishing I could speak languages other than English, but the translation/memorisation technique never worked for me. I’ve always had memory and concentration issues, but I’ve also learned that translation is actually the hardest language skill.

During a linguistics module at university, I was first introduced to the concept of language acquisition. At the time, this was taught as something that only happens to children. In the last couple of years, I’ve discovered that adults can acquire languages too under the right circumstances.

As I write this, I’ve spent many months experimenting with comprehensible input as a tool for acquiring French. I’ve done a lot of trial and error, and although it’s been much more effective than the more traditional method, I am still at the beginner stage. However a few weeks ago I put French aside and am starting out with Ukrainian.

I am determined to be more disciplined this time, and find more effective ways of motivating myself. I’m also going to find someone to keep me accountable!