MSI Press Blog

In How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately , Shekhtman suggests 7 tools that can take your language today to a much higher level tomorrow and the day after, without learning any new words or grammar. These tools teach you to make the most of what you have -- immediately. Here are the 7 tools: Show your stuff. Build your islands. Shift gears. Simplify. Embellish.  Break awar. Say what? Thousands of students around the world have proved that these tools work. Just Google them and see where all they have been used. (And Google contains only the tip of the iceberg.) Luca Lompiero says that this is a little book with a big bang. Are you learning a language? Try this book, recommended by leaders in the field, and see your language improve overnight -- then share your experiences with us! For more posts about Boris and his books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

  This is a series of Caturday posts on the topic of taking in  feral cats .  General information (from pervious posts): For a few decades, we have rescued feral cats. In fact, with only one exception, our "domestic" cats have been ferals that we brought inside to join other ferals, already domesticated, as part of a bonded cat family. Right now, we have five cats (alas,  Murjan , the single non-feral cat we had, died from cancer last fall), all of whom get along pretty fabulously. Of course, all of that is easier said than done, and the bonding took time -- lots of it. Here are some of the things we did to create our cat family, some of which is not at all typical of what others have done, but it has worked for us. We don't trap the feral cats at all; we win them over and invite them in. We do this by feeding them a distance from the house and walking away, then moving the dish closer and closer to the house and walking less and less far away, until they are eating at ou

Dr. Haim Omer, advocate of non-violent resistance and parenting expert, provides the following information about how to develop self-control in children. With everyone home these days, it seems like a good time to work on this -- and perhaps a necessary thing to do. Many parents said this is the best tip they received on how to develop self-control. The meaning is that the parent does not have to react immediately when the child provokes them or makes demands. On the contrary, reacting later is usually much better. The reasons are many: reacting later allows the parent to weigh their response, allows the parent to cool down and not act under pressure, and conveys a special kind of strength. It is not that you don't react immediately in some way. You do, but a central part of your reaction comes later. Of course you act immediately in order to protect your children. For instance, if there is violence between siblings, you step in between them! Some mothers say, "but

Summary of a review by Luca Lampariello, foreign language learning guru and tutor, of How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman: In a field where most books deal are colorful, well-produced, and full of information on one specific language, Boris Shekhtman’s  How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately  stands out for being almost the complete opposite—short, unassuming, and devoted to teaching the skills of language, rather than one language in itself. This unusual combination of factors leads to a book that is greater than the sum of its parts; a book that I believe every serious language learner should buy, read, and reread regularly. The book’s communicative tools shine as intuitive guidelines for improving language fluency  right now . With the advice in the book, you have everything you need to communicate your “current” level, navigate difficult conversations with natives, and  speak in a more fluid, natural way . Given the book’s short, compact f

  Excerpt from Staying Safe While Sheltering in Place (Schnuelle, Adams, & Henderson) Introduction (by Hendereson) My eyes blinked open suddenly and I was immediately filled with dread, even terror! Now wide awake and worried, I envisioned a stay-at-home order being issued when I was a child. How would I have survived? I was immediately filled with fear as I imagined what it might have been like to be unable to escape the abuses of my father. Of course, my next thought was for all the children, women, girlfriends, or anyone else who might now be stuck at home with a person who is dangerous, someone who instills fear in their victims day and night. What is happening to these children? What is happening to whole families who are in lock-down with someone who can, has, and probably will hurt them, possibly fatally? I started talking to people, starting with my sisters. The thought of it was so awful they couldn’t really discuss it, but one of them, who has worked for years in Soc

`      Rob Asby, the "Spanish Obsessed," talks about how to improve Spanish proficiency and draws from How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by MSI Press author, Boris Shekhtman, n this article . Rob says: How is your spoken Spanish? If you’re anything like me, it depends on what day you ask the question. Some days my spoken Spanish is flowing and accurate (or at least, it feels like it), other days I stumble apologetically over every sentence. Over time, however, I’ve learned what it takes to have more good days than bad, and in this post I’ll share what’s worked for me. This post focuses on the “performance” side of speaking, dealing with the psychological blocks to achieving fluency. If you feel that you struggle with fluency, and are frustrated with your spoken Spanish, you’ll find the tips in this post helpful. Read more HERE . Read posts about How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately here .                                         Sign up for the MS

  This week's book back story features How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately   by Boris Shekhtman. from the editor -- Boris died several years ago from cancer , but his book lives on because it is unique and useful. Boris himself was unique. He won awards for his teaching; more important, he made lifelong fans from his students for his teaching. As one of the few teachers capable of bringing learners to the near-native level of foreign language proficienc y, he developed a number of techniques -- or tools -- that he found to work with nearly all students quickly and effectively. They worked with his diplomat students, journalist students, students with special needs, and just everyday students. After decades of success with these tools. he elucidated seven of them in a book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately, a slim volume with powerful suggestions. RIP, Boris. Purchase the paperback 25% discount with coupon code FF25 at the  MSI Press webstore . For more

Quotes from Luca Lampariello 's review of How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman: "will immediately supercharge your speaking skills in a foreign language" "I highly recommend this book to any learner of any language at any level of skill" "In terms of actionable skills, this book provides the most bang for the buck of any language learning training book on the market." LISTEN TO THE EXCELLENT YOUTUBE VIDEO HERE . For more posts about Boris Shekhtman and his books, click HERE . 25% discount available on this book at www.msipress.con/shop with code FF25.

  Excerpt from Tucker and Me (Andrew Harvey) PLAYING WITH FIRE               My father, George, had a rather odd love-hate relationship with fire. It reminds me of an old joke about a famous monster, which stated that Frankenstein’s primary form of problem solving was strangulation. Deadly effective, but not the most subtle approach. George never strangled anyone as far as I know, but he did use fire as a key solution for vexing problems around his property.             Fire is one of those things that can be either good or bad; it all depends on the context and care in which it’s put to use. George’s judgment was never his strong suit, but he did have protocols he employed when using fire. Now you might think this would involve things like safety equipment, universal precautions, and the like. However, none of these cumbersome things were taken into account. There really was only one rule. When you used fire to solve a problem, you had to drink beer. A lot of it.             The first

  excerpt from How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman -  TOOL #5: BREAKAWAY There is a second tool which can enable us to say what we really want to say. To understand the functioning of this tool, we have to understand the dynamics of knowing two languages. There is a very interesting relationship between these two languages, determined by the extent of the foreigner’s knowledge of the second language. In fact, if the foreigner knows the second language as well as he or she knows the first, it is possible there will not be any dependency at all between the two languages. These languages can exist independently of one another. Our foreigner can turn on the first language, or the second one, at will. But the relationship between these two languages can become complicated very quickly if our foreigner does not know second language as well as the first. In this case, the foreigner, as he or she encounters deficiencies in speaking the second language, relies o