Published
Languages for Emerging Adults
The Language Hour
A warm, practical guide for a parent-mentor and a 15- to 18-year-old learning any world language, including ASL. The teen runs a daily Language Hour (Set the Target, Take It In, Work With It, Use It for Real, Check and Log) and builds a year that counts: honest timelines, listening at real speed, words and patterns that stay, real reading and new scripts, speaking and writing with real people, safe ways out into the world, tools and AI used under their terms, and credit, transcripts and proof a stranger can trust.
Editorial principle
Take in more than you need; use it with real people; check it honestly; own the plan.
- Chronology
- 2026
- Length
- 52,603 words
- Reading time
- ~4 hours · 135 pages
Authors
Michael Gannotti
The voices
1 figures across 2026. Each speaks in their own voice, through their own texts.
The parent-teacher
nowLanguage hour
Core question: Is your teen running the Hour, and can they show you what they can do now?
One parent-mentor and a teen who runs a daily Language Hour, with real people every week and a monthly look at the evidence.
Chapters
14 chapters. The disagreement is not resolved.
- Complete
Welcome
Welcome
Why should a teen run their own language year, and what will this book never promise?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
How to Use
How to Use This Book This Week
What does the first week look like, and how do we place our teen by evidence rather than grade?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Five Things
If You Only Remember Five Things
If we remember only five things, which five?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
The Hour
The Language Hour
What happens in a Language Hour, and how does it flex for short, full and long days?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 1
Goals, honest timelines, and your own plan
What can our teen actually do now, how long does a language really take, and what is the plan?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 2
Listening at real speed
How does a teen learn to understand the language at real speed?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 3
Words and patterns that stay
How do words and grammar patterns stay for good instead of fading after the quiz?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 4
Reading for real, including new scripts
How does a teen move from graded readers to real texts, including a brand-new script?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 5
Speaking with people
How does a teen get from a rehearsed script to real conversation, and what do they do when they get stuck?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 6
Writing that connects and argues
How does writing grow from a message to a real person into a sourced argument?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 7
Out in the world
How does a teen use the language with real people, from tutors to community to exchanges, safely?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 8
Tools and AI
When should a teen reach for an app, a translator or AI, and how do they check what it says?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 9
Credit, transcript and proof
How do we turn a year of language work into credit, a transcript and proof others will trust?
Voices: parent-teacher
- Complete
Chapter 10
Resources
Which resources fit our teen, our language and our budget, and where do we start for free?
Voices: parent-teacher