Demidov's Internalization Method

These days it’s all about video. We live in a visually oriented culture, glued to the screens of our desktops, laptops, TV sets and mobile devices. Video also features prominently in most language courses, whether online-, CD-ROM- or TV-based. But not in the Internalization Method. The Internalization Method has no use for video at all. But you would guess it from its name, wouldn’t you? (Video is external in the sense that it always needs a screen; audio can be ‘internal’ when you use, e.g., a BT in-ear earpiece , which fits snugly and invisibly into your ear and becomes a voice in your head). Neither does it have grammar or any other textbooks, formal exercises or any of that boring stuff. What it does have is audio. Audio takes centre stage in this method, be it in the form of audiobooks, podcasts, songs or live conversation. So why no video? Because video is not effective in language learning. To be sure, it is very effective when you learn your first words, using pictures, or wi

With the preliminaries out of the way, we can start discussing the Internalization Method as such. The Internalization Method is a surefire and fun way to learn foreign languages. To make it even more fun for me – and for you, hopefully – I choose to present it in the format of a detective story, a whodunit , or a quest : I am going to discuss various aspects of the Internalization Method, providing clues (some of them red herrings , to be sure, to make it more of a challenge and to follow up on and explore for pleasure and/or profit ), and you will try and figure out what the method actually is. Alternatively, you can join my students and receive instruction straight from the horse’s mouth, without working your way through the labyrinth of mystery and suspense. Let the fun begin!   Read this post in Russian here .