Archive for August, 2010
Aug
Aug
Descriptive words in Lithuanian
As I’m learning about my Lithuanian heritage, I am also learning about the language. So far I have looked at Lithuanian greetings, some common courtesies, how to ask questions, numbers, directions, and basic verbs. This week, let’s learn some descriptive words.…
Aug
Aug
Learning a new language is like learning to walk again
When you’re learning a new language, it can be very frustrating. In the beginning, the first thing you become aware of isn’t how fun it is, or how much potential there is… The first thing you become aware of when learning a new language is exactly how much you can not do.…
Sure, you know
Aug
Aug
Why I don’t pinch my travel pennies
I just returned from my week in Barcelona, and the trip was quite enjoyable. However it was also a very interesting lesson in contrasts. Different carriers provide a very different experience.…
Aug
Aug
Impressions of Catalan
A few weeks ago, I wrote a basic introduction to Catalan, having never heard it spoken before. Now, after spending a week immersed in it, I have a few new impressions.
As I mentioned before, it’s common to think of Catalan as a dialect of Spanish. In fact, I’ve though that myself. But I can…
Aug
Aug
More Italian patterns
Staying on a recent theme, I intend to continue focusing on useful word patterns in Italian. While one should never stop learning vocabulary, my attention during the second half of my year of Italian will be focused more on learning words as part of common phrases, rather than simply as vocabulary words without any context.…
Aug
Aug
Everyone should stand for something!
When I look back at all the people in life who have inspired me, or who still do inspire me, there is one thing that’s true about all of them: they all stand for something. Interestingly, this can be a great language learning tool.…
Aug
Aug
Lithuanian body parts
As I’m learning about my Lithuanian heritage, I am also learning about the language. So far I have looked at Lithuanian greetings, some common courtesies, how to ask questions, numbers, directions, basic verbs, and descriptive words. This week, I’ll talk about parts of the body.…
Aug
Aug
Moving abroad: the small print
This is a guest post written by Natacha Cullinan. Natacha is an author at Third Year Abroad. ThirdYearAbroad is a website for students, by students, giving information about spending some time away, from short to long term stays abroad – whether you’re working, studying or volunteering!…
Moving abroad can be some tricky business; once you’ve
Aug
Aug
Don’t think grammar is important? Think again!
I’m noticing a troubling theme in the language-learning and language-blogging community: people who are looked to as subject matter experts, time and time again, encouraging their readers and followers to forego grammar.
I’m deeply troubled by this.…
