The Linguist - Page 2 of 74 - For people who love languages, or would but were discouraged...

24Mar

24 Mar 2021

How to Build a Step By Step Language Study Plan

The biggest thing in a study plan is that you want to develop new habits. I've said many times that language learning is a matter of attitude and spending the time with the language. So we want to have habits that reinforce a positive attitude that give us a sense of success.

18Mar

18 Mar 2021

Ser Vs Estar in Spanish

Learning Spanish

Every language has some issues, often grammar issues, that cause learners difficulty. In the case of Spanish, one thing that gives people special trouble is the existence of two forms of the verb “to be”. Both ser and estar translate into English as “to be”. Ser vs estar, here’s how to get them straight. […]

09Mar

9 Mar 2021

Is It Hard to Learn Japanese?

Learning Japanese

Japanese, simply in terms of the vocabulary, the structure being very different from say English, if you're an English speaker, is going to be more difficult. However, there are a number of things that make Japanese easier, in my opinion.

02Mar

2 Mar 2021

The Definition of a Polyglot

Motivation

As people who speak multiple languages, polyglots like to use those languages; we like to see how we do. But there is an element of performance. Are you better than me? Am I better than you? For some people that’s fine. I think a lot of us are very happy, in fact, when we hear somebody speak better than we do.

23Feb

23 Feb 2021

The Best Way to Learn New Vocabulary

Techniques

*** This post is a transcript of a video on my YouTube channel. Studying English? Here’s the transcript as a lesson to study on LingQ. Hi there, Steve Kaufmann here. Today I’m going to talk about vocabulary, words, the most important thing in language learning. Remember if you enjoy these videos, please […]

16Feb

16 Feb 2021

Google Translate Doesn’t Work?

Techniques

I hear all the time that Google Translate doesn’t work. It’s not accurate. It’s this and that. I think Google Translate is a tremendous resource and not only for language learners. It’s not 100% and it’s better for some languages than others, but I find it extremely useful.

09Feb

9 Feb 2021

How to Improve Your English Speaking Skills

Learning English

People learning all kinds of languages find them selves in a situation where they feel frustrated that they aren't able to say more. And they feel that their comprehension is better than their ability to speak. So I want to talk a little bit about what we can do to improve our speaking skills with specific reference to English.

02Feb

2 Feb 2021

How Long Does It Take to Learn Spanish?

Learning Spanish

How long does it take to learn Spanish? How long does it take to learn any language? I hear these questions quite often. There is no simple answer. It is really up to you. The US Foreign Service Language institute published some numbers about how many hours required to learn different languages. For Spanish […]

26Jan

26 Jan 2021

How to Learn a Language On Your Own

Techniques

*** This post is a transcript of a video on my YouTube channel. Studying English? Here’s the transcript as a lesson to study on LingQ. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re at a school or entirely on your own, to my mind, to be a successful language learner you have to be […]

19Jan

19 Jan 2021

Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese

Learning Chinese, Learning Japanese, Learning Korean

Korean vs Japanese vs Chinese, ever wonder what the similarities and differences are between these three languages and how should we go about learning them? To what extent can learning one help you with the others? Let me share my experience in learning these three Asian languages. How I Learned Mandarin, Japanese and Korean […]

I speak 20 languages