Is it ok to learn a language from a non-native speaker tutor? Lately, I’ve been working on reviving my Indonesian language abilities, so I called up an old tutor.
Continue readingLinguistics
How to Pronounce the Names of Indian Languages (If You Don’t Speak Any)
Ready to learn, once and for all, how to pronounce the names of the Indian languages we hear so much about? After all, 7 of the top 20 most spoken languages in the world are Indian languages …
Continue reading
Mandarin Tones Are Not As Hard As You Think
Mandarin tones do take some getting used to, but they are not as complicated as you might think! I have noticed that language learners often decide not to try learning Mandarin because they are daunted by the …
Continue reading
Shadowing: This Exercise Will Make You Sound Like a Native
Since I posted my blog post on the importance of prosody, many of you wrote to ask for more explanation of how my shadowing exercise works. It is a very powerful exercise and has helped me immeasurably. …
Continue reading
Linguistics 101 Series: Why You Need to Master Prosody to Speak a Foreign Language
When you learn a foreign language, you usually study pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Maybe even a new alphabet. But how many of your language teachers have ever mentioned prosody? Prosody is the “music” of language. In spoken …
Continue reading
Learn Like a Linguist: Using Swadesh Lists for Rare or Minority Languages
The United Nations has declared 2019 the Year of Indigenous Languages. I know a lot of you are taking that as your cue to try your hand at learning a minority language, from Occitan to Teochew …
Continue reading
You Might Want to Learn These Languages
If you’re reading this blog, there is a good chance that you’re a hopeless language addict, suggestible to any new language recommendation, and forever putting languages aside to try out the new hot thing. So maybe I …
Continue reading
