Nose Papers, Christmas Blankets and Why Small Mistakes Make a Big Difference Posted by Malachi Rempen on Mar 7, 2016 in Archived Posts
My wife has started to say “tissues” now, and it breaks my heart. I always loved “nose papers,” even if she didn’t. From her perspective, I’m allowing her to speak the language incorrectly because it amuses me. I understand that. I get the same feeling when I say coperta instead of tovaglia in Italian, basically mixing up…
Introducing Teen Voices: Spanish Course Posted by Transparent Language on Mar 2, 2016 in For Educators, For Learners, For Libraries, Learning Material Updates
Each year during the second week of March, the Young Adult Library Services Association sponsors Teen Tech Week. The national initiative focuses on building teens’ digital literacy, particularly by encouraging them to take advantage of educational and recreation technology at their local libraries. To celebrate the impending Teen Tech Week, we’re launching our Teen Voices Spanish…
How to “Change the Air” and Keep Things Fresh Posted by Malachi Rempen on Feb 29, 2016 in Archived Posts
The reason the comic above was written as taking place “in Switzerland” was that I had heard of this curious practice of opening all the windows of the house to “change the air” from a friend, who at the time was studying abroad in a small town near Zurich. Apparently the mother of his host family would…
How Language Learning Makes You Want to Try New Things Posted by Malachi Rempen on Feb 24, 2016 in Archived Posts
Language and culture are hard to separate. You can’t really take one without the other – you can’t fully understand a language without understanding some of the culture in which it thrives, and you certainly can’t understand a culture without fully understanding its language. But to me, that relationship between language and culture actually has…
3 Languages With Surprising Origins Posted by Malachi Rempen on Feb 17, 2016 in Archived Posts
I like to imagine that languages branch off one another like leaves on a tree, growing and growing and then, when the time is right, sprouting new languages of their own. This is an attractive and popular visual metaphor, but we all know that languages don’t evolve along straight paths from singular roots. More accurate would…
Celebrate Digital Learning Day! Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 15, 2016 in Archived Posts
Technology is revolutionizing the way we do, well, just about everything. From communicating to shopping to learning, “there’s an app for that.” Tech has turned the academic world upside down, and we’re not just talking about flipped classrooms. Digital learning can differentiate learning, speed up instruction, and remove time and place restrictions: “Digital learning…
Putting Your Languages to Work: How Languages Can Fund Your Travels Around the World Posted by Jakob Gibbons on Feb 10, 2016 in Archived Posts
Proficiency in a foreign language is more than a line on your resume or an impressive party trick—it’s a ticket to self-funded world travel. Most people think that you need to be a translator or language teacher to make a living off your languages, but the opportunities hardly end there. While those are both great…