Archive by Author
Are Some Languages Harder to Learn than Others? Posted by meaghan on Mar 10, 2014 in Archived Posts
What’s the easiest language to learn? Why is Chinese harder to learn than Spanish? How hard would it be to learn Icelandic? Considering that I spend most of my day lurking through the depths of the language-learning communities on various social media networks, I see a lot of questions about the relative difficulty of learning…
Can Learning a Language Change Your Life? Posted by meaghan on Mar 3, 2014 in Archived Posts
What’s the worst excuse not to learn a new language? “I just don’t need to.” Okay, fair enough. Maybe your everyday life doesn’t require any knowledge of a foreign language at the moment. But that doesn’t mean a new language holds no value for you. And if you’re guilty of thinking so, it’s probably because…
8 of the Most Translated Stories in the World Posted by meaghan on Feb 24, 2014 in Archived Posts
Looking for a good read in your target language? Chances are one of these stories will be available, considering they are among the most translated stories in the world. Here are my top 8 picks for foreign language reading materials, from children’s books to comics to full-length classics. 1. Harry Potter Series This seven-part book…
You Know You Love Language Learning When… Posted by meaghan on Feb 19, 2014 in Archived Posts
A few weeks ago, I posted this image to our Facebook pages and asked you to fill in the blank. Here’s a few of my favorite responses: …when you stop relying on Google translate to do your homework. …your social life consists of asking others if they speak Arabic also. …you find the phrase “Il…
Heehaw or Eeyore: Onomatopoeias in Foreign Languages Posted by meaghan on Feb 3, 2014 in Archived Posts
WHAM! One of my favorite aspects of a language is onomatopoeia—the words assigned to specific sounds, like the woof woof of your childhood dog, or the vroom vroom of a new car. Part of the reason onomatopoeic words differ among languages is the availability of sounds in each language. A diving bird obviously can’t make…
5 Reasons Every Company Should Invest in the Language Skills of its Employees Posted by meaghan on Jan 8, 2014 in Archived Posts
CNN Money recently championed fluency in a foreign language as the hottest job skill for job-seekers, and for good reason. But it’s not just the folks at the CIA and huge multinational corporations who can benefit from bilingual (or multilingual!) employees. And it’s not just native-born bilinguals who are advantageous to a company. With the proper…
5 Cognitive Benefits of Bilingualism Posted by meaghan on Dec 2, 2013 in Archived Posts
Speaking more than one language certainly doesn’t hurt when job hunting or traveling, but the benefits of bilingualism go way beyond your resume or your passport. I’m talking about your brain. You’ve probably heard that bilingualism can stave off dementia or Alzheimer’s in as you age, but what is it doing for your brain right…