MSI Press Blog

  Imagine you’re at a wedding reception in a country where you’ve only just started learning the language. Someone hands you a glass and smiles expectantly—time for a toast. Your mind goes blank. You know some vocabulary, but forming a proper sentence in real time? That’s a different story. Now imagine instead you’d already memorized a few heartfelt toasts in that language, ready to go. You smile, raise your glass, and say something short but sincere. The people around you laugh or nod appreciatively. Suddenly, you’re not a beginner—you’re someone who belongs. This is the power of language islands , a concept developed by Russian-American language teacher and interpreter (and MSI Press author) Boris Shekhtman. These are memorized chunks of speech—phrases, sentences, or mini-speeches—that you can use in specific, often recurring situations. And for language learners, especially those still gaining confidence, islands can be lifesavers. What Exactly Are Language Islands? Languag...

  Continuing in what seems to be coming a trend -- we keep coming across videos of readers -- teachers and language learners -- who have fallen in love with     How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately  by  Boris Shekhtman . The falling in love is not surprising; this book is the darling of diplomats and international journalists, both groups of individuals that Boris spent his life teaching. What is a little more surprising is the number of people who have quietly made videos about the book and its contents -- and which we stumble across upon occasion, such as today. Here is one such video: How to Use Language Islands to Reach Fluency Faster - YouTube The book contains seven tools, one of which is "islands." While the assumption may be -- and often is -- that these tools can help improve language proficiency at intermediate and advanced levels, it can also improve proficiency at the very lowest and very highest levels. With islands (which are essentiall...

  Continuing in what seems to be coming a trend -- we keep coming across videos of readers -- teachers and language learners -- who have fallen in love with     How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately  by  Boris Shekhtman . The falling in love is not surprising; this book is the darling of diplomats and international journalists, both groups of individuals that Boris spent his life teaching. What is a little more surprising is the number of people who have quietly made videos about the book and its contents -- and which we stumble across upon occasion, such as today. Here is one such video: How to Use Language Islands to Reach Fluency Faster - YouTube The book contains seven tools, one of which is "islands." While the assumption may be -- and often is -- that these tools can help improve language proficiency at intermediate and advanced levels, it can also improve proficiency at the very lowest and very highest levels. With islands (which are essentiall...

  Language islands, a concept made clear by Boris Shekhtmna in his book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately , are presented in living color on Youtube by the Learn Your Language enterprise. You can watch it  HERE . To read more posts about Boris and his books, click HERE .                                   Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .