Sep 5, 2007 - I was in Hong Kong recently and met Chris Lonsdale, the author of The Third Ear, a fascinating book which is all about language learning. Check out my review - then check out the 200 Words a Day! Style Chinese Language Memory Triggers that I put together while reading his book. My Chinese has gone.

Tens of thousands of 'apps' -- individual programmes that can be downloaded to the phone and do everything from recognising music playing in a bar to guiding tourists around a city -- have been developed for the since it was launched in early 2007. The ability to combine audio, video, text and data files with an Internet connection to a central website has helped create a much-improved language learning device, says entrepreneur Chris Lonsdale. 'The technology allows you to have all the elements in one place and gives you new insights (into how you can learn languages),' said Lonsdale, whose app is a six-month course for Chinese people to learn English. Corel Draw 11 Free Download Rar. Lonsdale describes himself as 'expert in human performance' rather than a teacher and has given advice to clients ranging from golfers to investment bankers trying to make the best use of their abilities. In recent years, Lonsdale -- a fluent Mandarin and Cantonese speaker -- has begun tackling how people learn languages, and developed new techniques to counter the grammar-obsessed method that puts so many people off learning.

His work resulted in a course that he says could get you to a reasonable standard of Chinese in just two weeks, and a book, The Third Ear, which combines anecdotes and philosophy with unconventional language-learning techniques. He also developed a range of CDs that combined language learning with music, based on the idea that words can stick in the brain with little effort if they are associated with a catchy tune. But it was when Lonsdale and his team of 12, based mainly in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, realised the potential of the new iPhone that he was able to put his methods into a single 'learning machine' app, called Third Ear Kungfu English. Lonsdale hopes it will help people shatter the preconception that language learning is about innate talent. 'Learning languages is not about talent, it is about method,' said the 50-year-old. 'If you spend two years investing in learning a language and you are still at a low level there is something wrong with the way you are doing it,' added Lonsdale, who learned mandarin in six months.

The new product, which his team have been working on for eight months, will target the estimated 20 million middle-managers in China, in particular those working for multinational companies. 'You have this big group of people aged between 25 and 50 who really would like to have English, who need English, but think it is too difficult,' he said.