The ULAT (Universal Language Acquisition Tool) is composed of 3-year Spanish and French program that Steve Nesbitt developed, starting during his 30 years as a classroom Spanish, French and English teacher in the United States and in Europe, and then completed in 2023. The basic thrust of the ULAT is to train students to speak a second language in a manner that replicates the natural means by which they acquired their native language. This means first laying a strong foundation of listening and speaking skills before ever exposing the students to the printed word and doing so without any recourse to the student’s native language in the instruction they receive. For a more extensive explanation regarding the principles on which the ULAT is based, please click HERE.

Whereas Mr. Nesbitt’s work on the ULAT actually dates back to 1980, the NewLAT is a comparative newcomer, but it harkens back to his original vision of designing language curriculum that could rapidly be modified to teach any number of new languages, even ones which he himself does not speak. Practically speaking, the biggest differences between the ULAT program and the NewLAT, under which construction has just begun, are as follows:

1) The NewLAT does away with the ULAT’s lengthy instructional videos, replacing them with GIF’s which display moving images of the gestures used in the ULAT’s videos to convey and reinforce the meaning of words without one being obliged to tie instruction to the student’s native language

2) The NewLAT uses AI voices that accurately portray authentic pronunciation of the language being studied

3) The NewLAT benefits from decades of experience acquired while creating the ULAT and therefore is more varied in its learning activities.
4) The ULAT is obviously far more complete, as the NewLAT’s construction has only just begun. It is hoped that an entire first-year program in Spanish, French, English and German will be ready for use by August of 2025. In the meantime, as they are not password-protected, anyone is free to try out the NewLAT’s German and English lessons, links to which are found under the “Languages” heading on the ULAT’s homepage.

Use Google Chrome. / Utilice Google Chrome. / Utilisez Google Chrome. / Utilizza Google Chrome. / Verwenden Sie Google Chrome. / Tumia Google Chrome. / ??????????? Google Chrome. / ?????? ???? ????. / ????? ????? ????. / ???? ????? ?? ?????? ????. / ?? ??? ?????. / ???????? / Google Chrome??????????

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

1.10

1.11

1.12

1.13

1.14

1.15

1.16

1.17

1.18

1.19

1.20

1.21

Contractions with “to be”