
How to Learn a Language for Travel: The Dos and Don’ts
Picture this: You’re in a bustling café in Istanbul, ordering a cup of Turkish tea. The waiter asks you a question, but instead of panicking or reaching for Google Translate, you actually…
Picture this: You’re in a bustling café in Istanbul, ordering a cup of Turkish tea. The waiter asks you a question, but instead of panicking or reaching for Google Translate, you actually…
My journey with German didn’t start in a classroom. My parents were born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in a community that later became part of Czechoslovakia. My parents spoke both German and…
Language learners often ask: What’s the best way to increase your vocabulary? The answer is simple—reading. Listening and speaking help reinforce words you already know, but reading is where real vocabulary growth…
Korean, Japanese, and Chinese—what are the similarities and differences between these three languages? How should we approach learning them? To what extent does knowing one help with the others? Based on my…
Many language learners and teachers cling to the idea that rules are the foundation of language learning. Memorize the rules, understand the structure, and fluency will follow—right? Wrong. The truth is, our…
What is meant by comprehensible input in language learning? Stephen Krashen uses this term, as well as the term compelling input, to refer to the kind of language exposure we need in order to learn a language. The term CI, in language learning, can apply to both. What do they mean?
Comprehension questions are a staple of traditional language learning. You read a passage, listen to some audio, and then you answer questions to prove that you’ve understood. Sounds logical, right? Well, I…
When it comes to learning a new language, some learners like dictionaries. They read them. They treasure them. They worry about getting the best possible dictionary. I don’t like using dictionaries. Using them is like one-way love.
Of course, we want to speak, we eventually want to speak a lot. Our goal is to speak. We want to speak well, but the emphasis should be on listening and reading because it’s something we can do whenever we want, on our own and it really does help our brain become familiar with the language.
Everywhere you look, people are selling the dream of instant progress in a new language. There are plenty of videos out there claiming that fluency can be achieved in three to six…