By kevin | Published: March 24, 2011
Someone made me aware of a pact that the user futurianus made here: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25814&PN=1 It has to do with a few guidelines you can follow to stay motivated and learn effectively. It is written with Chinese in mind, but it applies to any language. Without further ado, here it is:
By kevin | Published: March 5, 2011
(Since this post has been a draft in my blog box for nearly a month, I decided to break it into several parts and blog little by little. Hope you’ll like the approach) A recent mistweeet by yours truly led to a suggestion that I write a blog post so that you don’t have to [...]
Also posted in Features, Fun Language Learning Tips, Language | Tagged hashtag in french, hashtag in norwegian, hashtag in spanish, hashtags, how to look up a word, language walkthrough, norsk, norwegian, search for a word in another language
By kevin | Published: February 2, 2011
Hi there! You’re now reading the first installment of Fun Language Learning Tips since November 2009′s tip on immersion! Recently, I found myself reaching a point in my French language study where it was time to make a new language my active focus. I had told myself that I would do it when I had [...]
Also posted in Features, Fun Language Learning Tips, Language | Tagged chinese, fun language learning, Fun Language Learning Tips, language immersion, language learning, language learning questions, Language Learning Tips, mandarin, meet native speakers, next language to learn
By kevin | Published: August 13, 2009
Since I have writer’s block: If you fix your mistakes, Yay! You are fluent. — Just couldn’t think of anything witty to write today, but the main point of today’s haiku is that like most skills, there’s no one way to get good, and often you only have limited control over your exposure to situations [...]
By kevin | Published: April 28, 2009
This week I wanted to have a discussion about listening comprehension. Personally, I find this one of the most difficult parts of learning a language (compared to reading, writing, and speaking). But, for some reason, it seems like it’s not the same for everyone. Some people have more trouble speaking than understanding (this seems fairly [...]
By kevin | Published: April 20, 2009
Wow, what an absence, huh? I’ve been super-busy and in Greece. But, I’m at back today at least, and I hope to publish a new haiku tomorrow. I was just thinking about something and thought I’d post it – the importance of having an actual goal when learning a language. You see, I’m learning French. [...]
By kevin | Published: March 19, 2009
Did you make it past the long title? Hi, then. Welcome to our first Double Feature. Let’s get started, shall we? Choose Your Words Carefully First, following on from Tuesday’s haiku, I’ve been thinking about how ideas translate among languages and how the best way to say something could, at first glance, seem totally different [...]
By kevin | Published: March 3, 2009
This week the normal language tip is being replaced by a language experiment because I’m curious about something. I was talking with a friend, and the friend was asking me why it was easier to pronounce foreign languages correctly when whispering. I had never thought of that. I’m still a bit undecided on the matter, [...]
By kevin | Published: February 25, 2009
Read this again: Quit studying, and listen to some music! Why do I say this? I say it mostly because learning a language involves being exposed to a variety of content AND media, just like you are every day in the language of the country you live in. Sometimes you read it (like right now), [...]
Also posted in Features, Language | Tagged foreign language, fun language learning, Language, language check, language learning, Language Learning Tips, language test, music, music test, study
By kevin | Published: February 18, 2009
So I was talking to a friend the other day, and this topic kind of came up. It made me think a bit about the role grammar plays in language, and especially in language-learning. The word “grammar” itself is sticky territory when it comes to language-learning, mostly because it’s become something of a swear word. [...]
