Lots of people out there flirt with the idea of learning a new language, but are wary of a long-term investment of time and effort, so they want to find out what the easiest language to learn for English speakers is. Or maybe they`re just curious. In any case, what makes a language easier to learn is (a) its simplicity, and (b) its similarity to your native Continue reading
What Does “Fluency” Mean? When Can You Claim to Be Fluent in a Language?
One of the great language-learning debates that never seems to go away is the question of how well you have to know a language before you can claim to be “fluent”. Everybody wants to be “fluent” in the language they’re studying; language courses promise to make you “fluent” in the blink of an eye; and after you’ve been studying Continue reading
2 Weeks In Philippines – Experiences With Tagalog
Here I am at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport on my way home from a 2 week sojourn in Philippines (or Pilipinas as thy call it here). Before departing for this trip I had studied Tagalog (aka Filipino) for about a month, and as usual learning the basics of the language made for a richer, more Continue reading
The Trap of Searching For the Perfect Language Materials
People who love learning languages commonly suffer from a certain problem: they are distractable. Not necessarily distractable in the sense that they stop to check Facebook every 2 minutes, but distractable in the sense that they are visionary. Continue reading
Pimsleur Review: Awesome Course With Ripoff Price
I`m quite familar with Pimsleur languages courses, and feel well-qualified to share my opinion on them. In a nutshell: they`re mostly great but they cost an arm and a leg . Almost literally. Well, not really. But they cost a lot. If you buy the CD version, it costs about $350 per level. A typical course for major languages has 3 levels (some have 4 or 5), so you can easily Continue reading
