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THE
MORE-WITH-LESS
METHOD
A simple system for learning any language fast,
teaching you to speak in real sentences from day one

By:
Jan van der Aa
& Lucas Bighetti

[Link]
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Hi, my name is Jan van der Aa. Together with my friend Lucas Bighetti, we run LanguageBoost.
On our website and YouTube channel we help people like you to pick up a new foreign language
quickly.

We do so by teaching you how to say more with less.

Our online courses are based on language learning techniques we have discovered over the
last decade, through studying the world’s top language learners and reaching fluency in a large
number of languages ourselves.

We’ve spoken at various language events all over Europe and have also hosted workshops in
different regions of Russia. Our YouTube videos have been watched over 3 million times and
we have helped students from over 30 countries to speak a new language through our training
programmes.

People often ask us what the secret is to quickly learning a new language.

We believe that the most important thing is motivation. Becoming fluent in a foreign language
takes time and practice. If you’re motivated, it’s easier to make time and to go outside of your
comfort zone to practice your speaking skills.

But you’re already motivated, that’s why you’re here, right?

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So, what’s the best way to get started?

We don’t believe that there is a single ‘best method’.

Different people have different interests and ambitions. Some people like learning a language
through reading, watching movies, or by listening to music. These methods can help, but if you
don’t have a good foundation in your target language, progress will be slow.

With our method, we specialize in helping you get to a level where you can enjoy holding
conversations with native speakers.

In this guide we’ll show you how it works.

If you want to learn more about picking up a new language quickly, you’re in the right place.

Let’s get started!

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MASTER THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS

In order to speak a language well, you need to know thousands and thousands of words. The thing
is, in order to hold basic conversations, knowing just a few hundred words is often enough.

This principle is called the Pareto principle - also known as the 80/20 rule. It basically states that
you get 80% of the results from only 20% of your work. This principle can be applied in language
learning as well.

In Spanish, for example, it’s said that you only need to know 2.5% of the vocabulary to speak 95%
of the daily language.

That’s why in our courses, we only focus on the 2.5% of the vocabulary that you really need for
your first conversations as a beginner.

Most traditional language courses and even popular apps teach you words you don’t need as a
beginner. Think about the parts of the body, names of clothing, professions, and all that kind of
stuff.

Memorizing these word lists may give you a sense of satisfaction, but the reality is that you don’t
need words like ‘armpit’, ‘underwear’ and ‘plumber’ for your first conversations with locals.

So instead, we teach what you really need in order to get started in speaking a new language.
Think about things like:

➤ Pronouns such as I, you, he/she/it.

➤ Basic verbs such as to be, to have, to learn, to live, to want, to go, to come.
➤ Basic grammar such as word order, basis verb conjugations.
➤ Time indicators such as now, today, tomorrow, yesterday, later.
➤ Nouns that you need all the time.
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If you focus on the right words, knowing a few hundred of them is actually enough to start
practicing your speaking skills. Once you get to that level, you can further improve by getting
more speaking practice, and consuming content in your target language.

If you want to reach a conversational level quickly, learning the most important words (in order of
relevance) is a must!

BUILD SENTENCES

Unfortunately, simply learning important vocabulary won’t help you to become fluent. There is
something else you need to become very good at, in order to become fluent.

Can you guess what?

Learning grammar, maybe?

Mm, not necessarily.

Let me give you an example:

Most of us learned a foreign language at school for many years, yet we didn’t become fluent. We
had learned lots of words and grammar, so why did we fail?

Here’s the thing; at school, we learned a lot about the language. We learned lots of words, we
learned the grammar, and we had to read a lot of texts.

Now, if you want to become fluent in a language, it doesn’t really matter how much you know
about the language. What matters most is your ability to use what you know.
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Most people know the words, have studied the grammar, but yet freeze up when they have to
reply to a native speaker.

Sound familiar?

So how can you become better at speaking without having to study for years?

The answer is by making combinations with the words you know.

We call this ‘sentence building’.

Every time we teach you a new word, we let you make multiple sentences with that word. We start
with super easy sentences, but they gradually become more tricky as the course continues.

This ‘sentence building’ technique will enable you to pick up new words faster, learn grammar
naturally, and create a strong feel for the language.

These exercises will help you create strong connections and activate the new language in your
brain, so that you can easily express yourself during an encounter with a native speaker.

TRAIN YOUR FLUENCY

Now that you can create sentences in your new language, it’s time to learn to speak naturally and
fluently, without hesitation and having to translate in your head.

How?

Repetition is key.
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When the sentence building exercises we mentioned on the previous page are repeated over
time, your brain will create so-called muscle memory.

This muscle memory means that you will have done certain exercises so often that you can speak
your new language almost without having to think.

So what is the best way to revise and retain what you have learned?

We’re big fans of using a spaced repetition system.

This is how it works:

After we absorb new information, we usually quickly forget it. If we study the information for a
second time, we’re still likely to forget it, but we’ll forget it a little bit slower.

The more often you revise your exercises, the less likely it is that you’re going to forget what
you’ve learned and the quicker you will be able to retrieve it.

The quicker you can retrieve the words and structure you have learned, the more fluently you will
speak. Of course, practicing your speaking skills with real people is also a great way to improve
your speaking skills and to learn to speak more fluently.
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So what do you think?

Could this More-with-Less Method work for you?

The next step…

Want to know how you can learn your dream language with our more-with-less method?

Our Jumpstart courses are based on the three principles we mentioned in this guide and will
enable you to start speaking a new language from the very beginning.

Click on the language that you want to learn to see how Jumpstart can help you.

Is Jumpstart not available for the language that you want to learn?

In that case, you might want to check out our VocaBooster study materials. In VocaBooster we
teach you the 500 most important words in your target language.

VocaBooster is available for: Mandarin / Cantonese / Thai / Portuguese / Catalan / Ukrainian /

Estonian / Dutch / Scots / Indonesian / Croatian / Serbian / Vietnamese

Click here to see how VocaBooster can help you pick up a new language.