Announcing the 2nd Annual Multilingual Madness Tournament Posted by Transparent Language on Mar 16, 2015 in Archived Posts
Edit: The tournament is now closed. The competition was fierce, but mighty Bulgarian has come out on top in 2015! Congratulations to our contest MVP Marit Ombudstvedt! It’s that time again… Transparent Language’s 2nd Annual Multilingual Madness Tournament is here! Reigning 2014 champion Italian is ready to defend the title, but we’re switching things up this year. If…
You’re Just Too Polite for Your Own Good Posted by Malachi Rempen on Mar 11, 2015 in Archived Posts
I have a bad habit that I often fall into when I speak a foreign language: I try to please the listener, at my own expense. Come to think of it, this might just be a bad habit of mine in general, in any language. Who doesn’t want to be seen a good light by the person…
French Wine and Quality Language Learning Posted by Malachi Rempen on Mar 9, 2015 in Archived Posts
Everyone knows the French love their wine. When I lived in Lyon back in 2011, I was constantly surprised by the incredible care that even the tiniest corner store took to stock their shelves full to burst with the widest possible wine selection. In some places, I’d be willing to bet my baguette that over…
When are Language-Learning Products Worth the Investment? Posted by Transparent Language on Mar 4, 2015 in Archived Posts
As a language-learning company, we at Transparent Language interact with language learners from all walks of life. Sometimes, we meet at conferences. Other times, we communicate on social media websites. Every now and then we also meet a school instructor or librarian with a passion for language learning in our daily jaunts travelling back and…
Hacking Pronunciation in Any Language with the IPA, Part 2: Vowels Posted by Transparent Language on Mar 2, 2015 in Archived Posts
Jakob Gibbons writes about language and travel on his blog Globalect. He often shares his experiences with learning languages on the road, and teaching and learning new speech sounds is his specialty. Learning words and how to put them into sentences is certainly the first step in learning a new language. But once you’re ready to…
How to Teach Grammar Through Technology [Webinar] Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 25, 2015 in For Educators
At Transparent Language, we don’t just support learners of a foreign language, we support teachers, too! That’s why we started our Education Webinar series earlier this year. We’ve received so much positive feedback from attendees—and requests from educators unable to attend—that we’re repeating the series in early 2015! Up next: how to teach grammar through…
A Flurry of Snow Day Language Thoughts Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 23, 2015 in Archived Posts
You’ve probably heard the old claim that “Eskimos have dozens (or hundreds) of words for snow”… it was on my mind this morning as I looked out at the white stuff threatening to bury my driveway. Never having studied Inuit, Yupik, or any other Native Alaskan language, I’m not going to wade into that particular…