How to teach a bird to talk?

I haven't really reared any talking birds before but one of my brothers-in-law is very good at this kind of thing. His favorite is the mynah.


He would raise it from young, handfeeding it until it can eat on its own. Then he would start by teaching it to whistle. From that, he goes on to simple phrases. However, the mynah is a good mimic so it also learned, by itself, to make noises like the passing ducks and hens. It can even imitate a crowing cock. The funniest thing it learned is the screech of the brakes on my brother-in-law's old motorbike.