It’s been about two weeks now that I’ve spent a portion of each day using Spanish to answer questions about English on the Duolingo forums. English is a subject I know quite a bit about and have long held a fascination for, in all its weird, nonsensical guts and conventions, and explaining some of its … Continue reading Idiosyncrasies Between Languages
(This blog is the English translation of this week’s primary blog, which was originally written in Spanish.) A few months ago, almost a year, I wrote a blog about how difficult it is to listen to a new language instead of reading it. I’ve improved a lot since then. At that time, I watched kids … Continue reading The Two Spanish Languages
(This blog entry is written in Spanish. There will be an English translation available tomorrow morning / Esta entrada está escrito en español. Habrá una traducción de inglés disponible mañana por la mañana.) Hace unos meses, casi un año, escribí una entrada sobre cómo difícil es escuchar a un idioma nuevo en vez de leerlo. … Continue reading Los Dos Idiomas Españoles
After spending a while paying attention to the online language learning crowd, at a certain point all the advice starts repeating itself. Not everyone says exactly the same thing, as different people talking on the subject have different favored methods, but there is a sense that the amount of advice that can be given on … Continue reading The Finite Nature of Language Learning Advice
I can hardly believe that I’ve been running this blog for a full year now. A lot of the time I’ve spent has really flown on by, between real life and putting in the hours to work at improving my Spanish. I’ve come a long way in the year, from my stumbling first few steps … Continue reading Looking Back on a Year of Progress
When doing anything for a protracted period of time, it’s inevitable that some weeks are going to be good weeks, and some are going to be bad ones. You could probably manage to do something for a month, or even six months, and manage to stay consistently on top of the ball and be feeling … Continue reading Good Weeks and Bad Weeks
Repetition is a common language learning topic. It’s something that a lot of people who spend time talking on the internet about language learning are constantly arguing in favor of. Listen to or read something over and over again, keep going back to those same things over time, and keep doing that week to week. … Continue reading Repetition’s Role in Listening Comprehension
(This blog is the English translation of this week’s primary blog, which was originally written in Spanish.) There’s a thought in the United States about language learning, and that thought is that no one can learn any other language unless they live in a place where people speak it. If you live in the United … Continue reading Is Immersion Vital?
(This blog entry is written in Spanish. There will be an English translation available tomorrow morning / Esta entrada está escrito en español. Habrá una traducción de inglés disponible mañana por la mañana.) Hay un pensamiento en los estados unidos sobre el aprendizaje de idiomas, y ese pensamiento es que nadie puede aprender ningún otro … Continue reading ¿La Inmersión es Vital?
When you first start learning a new language—provided that your language learning is going to last for any real amount of time—there’s almost always something specific about that language that catches your interest. Whether that’s the people who speak it, the way it sounds, the mechanical structure of it, or something else, there’s a kernel … Continue reading The Language Honeymoon
