Is Teaching English Abroad Right for You? A List of Pros and Cons Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 11, 2015 in Archived Posts
It’s something that has crossed the mind of every language lover: what if you quit your day job, packed your bags, and spent a year (or two) teaching English abroad? Indeed, the notion is a romantic one: in addition to satisfying your wanderlust, working abroad allows you to connect with an entirely new culture, and…
Falling off the Horse Posted by bnelson on Feb 9, 2015 in Archived Posts
As of right now, my 2015 could use a complete reset. Anyone remember playing Atari? I was the ‘reset’ master of Atari. I wanted the perfect game. Unfortunately, no such button exists in the real world. Let me explain how this year, begun with such high expectations turned into one huge failure in execution. Last…
Transforming the Economics of Language Learning (Part 2) Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 4, 2015 in Archived Posts, Company News
Software that delivers just one course in a language is virtually useless for professional purposes. It’s like a delivery van that can only go to one address. In Part 1, we talked about how combining technology with human instruction can transform the economics and logistics of professional language training and maintenance. But it needs to…
Hacking Pronunciation in Any Language with the IPA, Part 1: Consonants Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 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. One of the biggest hurdles to jump in learning a new language is getting control of new speech sounds you’ve never made before…
Days of Deutsch: Learning a Language through Labeling Posted by Transparent Language on Jan 28, 2015 in Archived Posts
They say that when you learn a new language you should label your day to day objects, stick a post-it on the fridge, on the oven, on your shelves. Then every time you’re in the kitchen you’ll start to memorise everything around you. My labelling obsession has gone into overdrive. Not satisfied with post-it notes…
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…