Jonathan “Jony Wilkinson”, the English rugby national team captain who drove his teams to victory in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cup finals, shared some tips for learning a new language with Lauren Ward, a journalist at The Cambridge University Press. His own experience comes from transferring to Toulon in 2009, where he started learning French.

He says that his motivation for learning a new language was that “not knowing a language is an enormous limitation when expressing and sharing experiences”. He suggests to “get in amongst it and throw your best efforts” if you want to do the same. “For me, learning is not about remembering but about investing, experiencing and committing way beyond any type of fear or making mistakes. Keep hold of your excitement and passion. Don’t make it about right and wrong. It’s your energy and internal state that will create momentum”, he adds.

“From Toulon with love…”, Lauren Ward. Cambridge University Press, 5 April, 2017, P8