MSI Press Blog

  Boris Shekhtman has been considered a national authority on teaching students to use foreign languages effectively in communication with native speakers. He has developed a unique set of tools designed to enhance an individual’s communication in a foreign language environment, which he describes in  How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately . Boris Shekhtman presented his communication rules at numerous seminars for a number of U.S. Government agencies including the Library of Congress, the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture and Air Force. His clients included correspondents of major news organizations such as ABC News, CBS News, BBC, NBC News, New York Times , Washington Post , Los Angeles Times , Chicago Tribune , Time Magazine , and Associated Press. The content of the seminars is well described in his books. The most popular of them are:  Developing

Luca Lampariello explains how to use Shekhtman's islands ( How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately ) in this short, well-explained, captivating  Youtube video . 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.

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

  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. The latest we have found is yet another one by Luca Lampariello, who has made several other videos about this book, illustrating the principles in video. "Want to speak with greater fluency?" he asks. "Create your own language islands," he suggests and gives practical applications of one of the most compelling and effective principles in Boris's book. You can listen to it  HERE . For more po

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. The latest we have found is an entertaining as well as informative video by an English teacher, Charles Wood and editor of Language Tutor Online, who talks about applying the every simple and very effective principles in the books. You can listen to it HERE . For more posts about Boris Shekhtman and his books, click HERE .

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 Achieving Native-Like Second Language Proficiency PREFACE Contrary to popular thought in some quarters, learning languages to very high levels of proficiency, i.e. those very close to those of native speakers, is, indeed, possible. Not only is it possible, it is done on a routine basis by a number of learners, not only in other countries, but in the United States , as well. True, the numbers in the United States are not large, but they are sufficient enough to show that it can be done here, as well as in countries of Europe , Eurasia , Latin America , and elsewhere. Further, there are some very skilled teachers quietly producing these levels of proficiency also on a regular basis.       The problem is not the ability to teach to native-like levels of proficiency in direct instruction programs or the ability to learn to native-like levels of proficiency, given the appropriate help and experience. Rather, the problem lies in the all-too-pervasive mindset that high leve

  Released yesterday: the hard cover of edition of How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman.  Read all about the book HERE .                                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  MSI Press has added to its collection of affiliated books, a self-published book edited by Boris Shekhtman, a prolific author of MSI Press books and books published by Cambridge University Press. Contributing authors include Dina Kupchanka (Specialized Language Training Center), Natalia Lord (Foreign Service Institute), and Svetlana Sibrina (Specialized Language Training Center).   To purchase this book on Amazon. click HERE . For more posts and Boris Shekhtman and his books, click HERE . For more posts about Dina Kupchanka, click HERE . For more posts on language learning, click HERE . To see more affiliated books and learn about affiliated status, click HRE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

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.

For those who have been enjoying various videos produced by a range of users of Boris Shekhtman's book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately , beloved by foreign language learners on four continents and in two dozen countries, here is yet another video: Anthony Lauder discussing the book . For mores posts on this book, click HERE . For more posts on Boris Shekhtman and his books (yes, several others), click HERE .

  Well, that title is a mouthful, but it says it all. Dr. Harold Goodman not only has analyzed and reviewed Boris Shekhtman's book, How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately, but also he studied Russian with Boris for more than 300 hours. Rather than regurgitate his words, here is the link to them. To read more about Boris and his books, click HERE .                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

Reissued -- two beloved oldies in the language teaching world. These books have been published continuously since we first published them years back. We transferred them shortly after publication to Villa Magna LLC. Recently, Villa Magna made the decision to focus on the works of Omar Imady (also one of our authors, whose works we will eventually be transferring to Villa Magna) and recently transferred their language books to us. Both books are unique -- and likely foretell the future of language teaching though the focus they suggest is only slowly starting to become part of the profession, on the periphery. We are confident, however, that, in time, they will represent the mainstream of teaching approaches. Communicative Focus   describes in detail the theory and nature of the principles and practices used in his approach to language teaching. He is not afraid to talk about some aspects of language learning and teaching, such as the development of lexical and grammatical accuracy, as

  Poliplumas writes:  Shekhtman gives some excellent advice on learning a foreign language, focusing on conversational techniques to improve learning and confidence. I find his approach helpful for any foreign language student at any level.  Read more here . For more posts on Boris and his book, click HERE .                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter.

  To the Reader from the Author The book which you, dear reader, have picked up was written approximately twenty years ago. However, the reasons that brought it to the light of day then remain as important today as ever. The first of these reasons is the survival of foreigners who are living entirely surrounded by native speakers of the foreign language. I came to the United States with a decent level of English, but, naturally, I did not feel myself to be on a par with Americans. I am certain that a great many people are suffering and have suffered from this feeling of “linguistic inferiority.” Some people come to accept this feeling. Others try to improve their foreign language. Still others--and I belong to this group--try to find a set of strategies to help them to use the language that they have acquired more effectively. Back then I had already begun to realize the strategic significance of simplifying thoughts in order to be understood; after all, it is better to expr

  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today, we step away from our weekly format to tell a couple of stories that might be revealing and helpful to authors who think that the only ways to get a book published are through the help of a literary agent, direct contact with a publisher, or self-publishing. Likely, very few authors think they might be contacted by a publisher and asked to write a book. But it does happen. How it happens, though, tends to be an "oh, by the way" that comes up as a publisher's need or as a publisher's insight about opportunity. Thre examples come from our publishing house.  When the pandemic broke out, there seemed