Archive for August, 2014
Flawless, Impossible Fluency Posted by Malachi Rempen on Aug 27, 2014 in Archived Posts
Germans have this funny habit of downplaying how good their English is. I feel pretty confident in saying that, aside from perhaps the Scandinavians and the Dutch, Germans speak the best English in mainland Europe. And yet every time I ask a German stranger if they speak English, they either fidget and shuffle their…
Confessions of a Native English Speaker Posted by mtaulier on Aug 25, 2014 in Archived Posts
In my last post, I interviewed my wife Natalya. Natalya shared her language learning experiences as a Ukrainian native who left her country to settle in the United States. Today, I’d like to share with you the same kind of interview I conducted with my mother. My mom, born and raised in California, moved to…
Learn a Foreign Language in Your Hometown: Visit Your Local Library Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 25, 2014 in Archived Posts
Did you know the Queens Borough Public Library system is home to more than 800,000 foreign language books and employs 6 language specialists whose job it is to locate more materials for popular languages in the area? Were you aware that Seattle Public Library teaches basic and intermediate English as a Second Language (ESL) classes…
10 Problems Only a Language Lover Will Understand Posted by meaghan on Aug 20, 2014 in Archived Posts
We language lovers need to stick together, because once the language bug bites, nobody understands your struggles (or your triumphs!) quite like the language-learning community. Here are 10 situations that only your language loving friends will truly understand. Have you experienced any of these situations? 1. When you procrastinate studying a language… by studying another…
How to Blend in With Native Speakers, Even If You Don’t Sound Like One Posted by meaghan on Aug 18, 2014 in Archived Posts
Many-a-language learner dreams of being mistaken for a local. For most, that means working tirelessly to sound like a native speaker. Depending on your background with languages and the language you’re currently trying to master, that can be quite the undertaking—it may take years of hard work to perfect your accent, and even then, some locals…
You’re Dead Afraid of Speaking in a Foreign Language: Here’s How You Can Fix It Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 13, 2014 in Archived Posts
Guest Post By Sam Gendreau “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it…
Charts and Checkpoints: A Language Learner’s Friends Posted by Malachi Rempen on Aug 11, 2014 in Archived Posts
Starting to learn a new skill is great. When you begin honing a skill, whether it be chess, whittling, playing the flute, styling hair, writing Hollywood comedies, or learning to speak a new language, there’s an immediate, satisfactory sense of accomplishment. Hey, look! At first you couldn’t do something at all, and now, after ten…