The Reykjavik Grapevine is a great online & physical newspaper about life in Reykjavik! Mainly in English (I’d like to read more in Icelandic, but I’m not at the level of reading the newspaper yet haha), but there is lots of cultural & current events information to read about. They have also been reporting on the recent volcano that has erupted & fissured in the … Continue reading Language Links 3
People often ask me if I’m essentially giving myself homework when I study languages…yes and no. They say it like it’s a bad thing- and I was one of the kids that enjoyed school and usually liked doing my homework. So yes, you do have to study and put in the work to learn a language. But also no, since you can make your studying … Continue reading Wait, if you learn languages for fun, does this mean you give yourself homework?
March 2021 seemed long while I was working through the month (probably because February was nice and short), but now that it’s over it seems like it flew by! Here’s what I’ve been up to with my language learning for the month. In general: I’ve really been cranking through my youtube queue, so I’m grateful that I made it a point to take advantage of … Continue reading Month in Review- March 2021
You’re able to see more clearly from their point of view. You’re able to meet them in the middle. You actually learn the cultural significance of certain things, without having to go through the lens of translation. I’m a big proponent of translation- and that’s a discussion for another day- but when you have the option, learning at least the basics of a language for … Continue reading To speak someone else’s native language, is like walking a mile in someone else’s shoes…
Japanese has also been on my languages-to-learn wishlist! I don’t have as much of a story with it as I do with German, but here goes. I always thought it was a cool language as a kid- Japan and Tokyo seemed like exotic, faraway places. Sushi wasn’t particularly popular when I was growing up, and my family weren’t adventurous eaters, so I wasn’t exposed to … Continue reading がんばります!
The short answer is… when you want to! Because you want to! Here’s my long answer about why/when to add new languages: In general, once you’ve learned 1 or 2 languages, you probably know how you like to learn. What your daily schedule is like, how long it takes you, what your learning style is, and what resources work best. So when you want to … Continue reading Adding new languages to learn… Why? When?
I shared my language goals for 2021 in a previous post. As I was writing it, I thought about what I achieved in 2020! French: I actually read 9 books in French this year! 5 manga books, 2 short novels, and 1 classic book. I didn’t watch as many French movies as I wanted to, but I watched a few early in the year. This … Continue reading Language wins from 2020
I’ve been using the Drops Language App since November 2018. (Wait, it’s been that long now?!) I started with the free version, and I’ve been using the premium version for the last 3 months (October- December 2020). I figured I would share my thoughts- I’m always interested in reading reviews about language learning programs, so someone might be into mine. I mainly use it to … Continue reading When to drop a language app…
Lucrezia from Learn Italian with Lucrezia posted a video about Risorse gratuite online per studenti di italiano (A1-C1). Here are the links for the individual resources, I’ve already taken a look and they seem helpful: Alma Edizione, Italiano Per Stranieri, Liber Liber, and Virgilio Sapere. I came across this online literary magazine called Latin American Literature Today, and they have this interesting article about translating … Continue reading Language Links 2
Why not? You learn so much more than the language, by experiencing it in person with native speakers. When I went to Rome in October 2019, I had been learning Italian on and off for the previous 4 years. In the year running up to my trip, I was intensively learning Italian. I even took online lessons via italki with a tutor for the last … Continue reading If you can travel to a country where your target language is spoken, why wouldn’t you?
