Remember Better with Toons and Tunes Posted by Malachi Rempen on Jan 26, 2015 in Archived Posts
The comic above was a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. When I drew it, I thought I’d just get a laugh out of imagining what different Asian scripts might look like. Since then, though, it’s actually helped me out quite a bit identifying which written language I’m looking at. For instance, thanks to this comic, I…
Transforming the Economics of Language Learning (Part 1) Posted by Transparent Language on Jan 21, 2015 in Archived Posts
Learning another language for professional purposes takes too long and costs too much. For many recreational learners, the economics, logistics and reliability of acquiring another language are not all that important. For them, the joy is in the journey, and concepts such as time to proficiency, reliability of outcome, or the availability of personnel for…
How to Create ACTFL-Aligned, Authentic Language Lessons [Webinar] Posted by Transparent Language on Jan 19, 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: advice for creating ACTFL-aligned lessons…
Updates from the Field: Preserving the Balinese Language Posted by Transparent Language on Jan 14, 2015 in Company News, For Learners, Learning Material Updates
You may recall that in 2013, Transparent Language launched the 7000 Languages Project, an initiative created to support the world’s less common, less commercial languages. One such language is Balinese, spoken on the island of Bali in Indonesia. We partnered with the folks at BASABali to help preserve this beautiful language, providing Balinese resources to…
English: Germany’s Unofficial Second Language Posted by Malachi Rempen on Jan 12, 2015 in Archived Posts
I’ve already written about the ubiquity of English around the world and what you, if you’re a native English speaker, can do about it, but I feel there’s more to say about Germany. Germany is a special case. Much like Holland, Finland, and the Scandinavian countries, Germans seem to inhale English like they do beer…
What You Really Wanted to Know about Languages in 2014 Posted by meaghan on Jan 7, 2015 in Archived Posts
We’ve wrapped up another year here on the Language News Blog, and I dare say it was our best year yet. Whether you’ve read every post or you’re just clicking through for the first time, we want to make sure we’re helping you learn your second language efficiently, balance and maintain multiple languages over time…
An Introvert’s Guide to Language Learning Posted by meaghan on Jan 5, 2015 in Archived Posts
The abundance of language-learning materials available online has made it easier than ever to learn a language by yourself from the comfort of your own home. Total win, right? Not exactly… learning a foreign language isn’t like learning algebra or world history. To really progress and maintain your language skills, you need to do more…