MSI Press Blog

Most people assume that “study abroad” is the gold standard for language learning. And it certainly helps: immersion, exposure, and daily necessity all accelerate progress. But there is a deeper, more transformative path to near‑native proficiency — working abroad . Not visiting, not studying, but working in the language. Work changes everything. It shifts the learner from the protected bubble of the classroom into the unfiltered reality of how people actually speak, negotiate, joke, complain, and collaborate. And depending on the kind of work, the linguistic gains can be extraordinary. 1. Work forces you into the linguistic deep end Study abroad often keeps learners in a semi‑sheltered environment: international dorms, English‑friendly universities, curated cultural experiences. You can survive with “tourist fluency.” Work abroad removes the safety net. You must: understand instructions the first time read documents without translation write emails that sound professional navigate wo...

  This week's blog post is the next in the series of book back stories and is the story behind  Practices That Work , edited by Dr. Thomas  Jesús  Garza. From the publisher -  This is one story whose back story I know very well. I created it!  For years, a What Works in developing high levels of foreign language proficiency was wildly popular, especially at government language institutes where outcomes are intently monitored. It was a simple book with a powerful message, a small book with a big impact, short recipes by famous "language chefs" who had, as a team, led the now-closed Coalition of Distinguished Language Centers. It was known by many as  " the little yellow book." Over time, it became dated. Over time the publishing rights migrated to MSI Press LLC (long story for another time). Over time, the original authors ("language chefs") retired (and, in some cases, alas, died).  What to do with the book rights became a question, especiall...

  Achieving Native-Like Second Language Proficiency  (Speaking) by Betty Lou Leaver is a research-based catalogue of factors that would seem to predict ability to reach the highest level of foreign language proficiency and is based on common characteristics shared by more than 200 near-native speakers, identified by self-report, survey, and interviews by master testers. The study, following common thought, expected to find a commonality among the highly proficient language users in age of onset, i.e. that beginning as a child results in higher proficiency. However, that was not the case. Age of onset did not matter much except for naturally correct pronunciation picked up by children (though often that was affected by interlanguage contact that happens in immigrant situations) that had to be acquired with great effort by adult learners.  The important characteristic in terms of age of onset did not appear to be child vs adult but (1) whether the learner had been exposed t...

    The Call for Papers for Volume 9 of the Journal for Distinguished Language Studies has been recently updated. Check out the ways in which you can contribute to this 2023-2024 volume: From the website : To submit an article to the next issue, Volume 9, 2023-2024, download the current call for papers:  CALL FOR PAPERS . To submit a review of a book about near-native levels of language learning, please follow the  JDLS Book Review Guidelines_2021 , which reflect the Linguist List guidelines, and submit to the associate editor of the JDLS, Dr. Donna Butler, with a cc to the editor, Dr. Yalun Zhou, or to editor@msipress.com. If you have written or published a book on a topic related to the JDLS and would like to have it reviewed, please contact editor@msipress.com for guidance. Submissions should represent original work. They should not have been previously published elsewhere nor be currently submitted to another journal or collected volume.   ---- We now have a...

    We now have available for individual purchase each of the feature articles from issue 8 of the journal at a very accessible price and will make the feature articles available from other issues as time goes on. Check our webstore to see what we have at any given time. We will announce and link each of these individually in upcoming blog posts. The Journal for Distinguished Language Studies is available by subscription. JDLS is a biennial journal, and it is easy for time to slip by and miss the next issue. Subscription will take care of that. Subscribe  HERE  and never miss a copy. (Publishes typically in December of even-numbered years.) Also, don't believe Amazon's listing of previous issues of  The Journal for Distinguished Language Studies  as out of print. It is very much in print and available at the  MSI Press webstore . Subscription service available as noted above, and issues 1-6 are on sale for $5 each! Amazon is selling  issues 7 and...

We are getting ready to launch the 8th volume of the  Journal for Distinguished Language Studies . GOING TO THE PRINTER TOMORROW!! Look for it online o/a August 30.  On pre-sale at 40% discount at the  MSI Press webstore . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can!  Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .