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 readingWhy You Should Learn Chinese
Someone on Quora Français recently asked me, “why should I learn Chinese?” (This post was originally written in French for Quora. Lisez son original en français) My opinion? There are several reasons why you’ll want to choose …
Continue readingNot A Moment Wasted: Hyper-Efficient Language Learning with the Monologue Method
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sara Maria's Language Diary (@misslingdiary) on Dec 2, 2018 at 3:31pm PST Above: an example of a monologue I memorized in order to improve my ASL. Recently, I …
Continue reading10 Hawaiian Words Everyone Should Know
Going to Hawaii? One thing I found really interesting about my trip to Hawaii was that nearly every local, regardless of their heritage or proficiency in the Hawaiian language, would frequently use Hawaiian words. Even more interesting, …
Continue readingA Note About Being a “Woman in Language”
Why we women in language should stop apologizing for our abilities, and learn to love the word “polyglot”. Recently, the New Yorker published a fascinating article about hyperpolyglots. It was wonderfully researched, with great color. But …
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