Let’s talk listening skills. Do you remember how you felt the first time you heard someone speak your target language? Bamboozled? Personally, I’ve always found listening to be the most difficult language learning skill. Maybe you feel the same way? In this post, we’ll look at the key to improving your listening and I’ll share […]MORE
Sometimes, when you’re surrounded by a new language it can overwhelm your capacity to pick up new things. It’s almost too much newness, and you just draw a line. Everything from the toothpaste to the billboards to the TV is filled by the unrecognizable. You end up looking at words and noting that you’ve seen […]MORE
This is my story of how I found an online language buddy for a conversation exchange, which took me from feeling terrified of speaking a new language to having real conversations in that language. My heart was pounding when I received the call. Would they be offering me a job in the Middle East? Yes! […]MORE
“Did I really just say that?” That’s the question I was asking myself as I was chatting to my future Italian mother-in-law over dinner. I had meant to say è palese, “it’s obvious”, but I actually said è palloso, which means “it’s effing boring”. If you’ve been learning a language for long enough, you’ve probably […]MORE
Learning Korean doesn’t have to empty your pockets. But it can be tricky to find the right resources that work for you on a budget. There are countless resources online that teach you Korean. The only problem is how do you know which are good quality, without wasting hours weeding through them? The good news […]MORE
This is a very detailed and frank review of the latest version of Rosetta Stone: version 4 TOTALe Rosetta Stone is one of the biggest brands in language learning in the English speaking world (not to be confused with the Rosetta Stone that helped us decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics, which it is named after). The problem is that it is out of the budget o...MORE
Learning how to speak Spanish? It can be tricky to find high quality online lessons that don’t cost a fortune. You want to learn Spanish, and you’re willing to put in the time, but where can you go to learn? With this question in mind, I’ve put together a list of online Spanish lessons that won’t cost you a single cent. While some of these programmes ...MORE
Today's guest post is from Zack, (@zackjsimon) who is a long-term reader of the blog and has sent me this guest post idea for a concept that you all know I like to write about for as many languages as I can! Considering French is considered by some to be among the world's "hardest languages" (yes, seriously, Parisians will insist on this; luckily, you...MORE
The rolled r comes up in so many languages. I've heard it in various forms in Czech, Thai, Hungarian, Tagalog and of course in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. And yet it seems to be something that evades native English speakers. The laziest of them will just give up entirely and use the bullshit excuse of "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". [Desp...MORE
Napoleon Hill wrote in his bestselling book Think and Grow Rich, "There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge." Do you say to yourself, "I am too old/young/fat/skinny/rich/poor/educated/uneducated/white/black/gay/straight/hairy/hairless/sheep/goat to be learning a new language [or insert any formidable-sounding thing]." Realize this...MORE
Have you ever wanted to woo a lover with your prowess in languages? What better way than by giving them a very special name from another part of the world. Around the world and across languages, people express their love in different, imaginative and sometimes - to our English speaking minds - strange ways. You may be surprised to learn that some term...MORE
“Japanese is really freaking difficult.” “Japanese is really freaking vague.” “Japanese is really freaking illogical.” These statements have three things in common.MORE
