When Students Don’t Know What They Want — And That’s Okay

Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinLanguage. Identity. Choice. Meaning. There is a modern belief that fluency is everything. Speak fast.Speak freely.Don’t stop.Don’t think. And above all — don’t worry about accuracy. This idea sounds liberating.In reality, it is one of the most damaging myths in modern language learning. Because fluency without accuracy is not freedom.It is […]

The Language I Live — Author’s Column by Tymur LevitinLanguage. Meaning. Thinking. For more than twenty years, I have been teaching languages to people of different ages, cultures, professions, and life situations.And during all these years, one idea keeps returning — sometimes quietly, sometimes painfully clearly: Language learning is not really about language. It is […]

In this interview, Tymur Levitin — founder and director of Start Language School by Tymur Levitin and Levitin Language School — speaks about the real challenges of teaching languages to students from more than 20 countries, including those whose native languages he does not speak.He discusses the importance of understanding over imitation, confidence over perfection, […]

🤔 Do You Really Need a Native Speaker? One of the most persistent myths in language learning is this:“Only a native speaker can teach you properly.”It sounds logical. After all, who could know a language better than someone who grew up with it? But here’s the truth:Speaking a language ≠ Teaching a language.And being a native […]