I’ve started loving translation exercises when I studied Latin and especially Ancient Greek.

After less than two months of ‘proper-Italian-high school-training’ I was able to read a 10-line text in Greek with barely any difficulty.

After 3 years of random school method for modern languages in German, I was still not able to read a text at a similar level without struggling miserably.

The best coursebook I’ve ever had was about Persian, first published in 1977. It was all about grammar (proposed with a logic) and translation exercises (with useful vocabulary).

That’s why now that I’m adapting to English-speakers a minicourse of Dutch I created for French speakers, I still base myself on the same logic.

Even if it’s not trendy 🤷🏻‍♀️ It just works.