In this post you'll find all you need to know about how to form and use the German imperfect tense (also called the simple past tense or the preterite) or, in German, das Präteritum or das Imperfekt. The imperfect or preterite is one of the three tenses used to talk about the past in German. The others are the perfect and the pluperfect (the "past in the past"). In English, … [Read more...]
Learning Japanese: Month 15 update
For over a year now, I've been sharing my no-hype, "no magic method" account of my attempts at learning Japanese through self study. Although I haven't reported back since I got back from my first visit to Japan, I've been keeping going with my study routine. This post marks the long-overdue resumption of my monthly language learning updates here on the site. There's a "Month … [Read more...]
How to learn a language at home in the crisis
How can we learn a language when we're stuck at home in the crisis? This week's post begins with a quick catch-up on my life here in "semi-lockdown" London. Then, let's think about how to learn languages at home during the coronavirus crisis. I'll give you some top tips from time management and across all four language learning skills. If you want it visual, the vid embedded at … [Read more...]
At the Language Event: Edinburgh
I'm recently back from the Language Event: Edinburgh. It was a two-day conference in celebration of languages and language learning. The head organiser was Richard Simcott of the Polyglot Conference. Here's my review (with three vlogs at the bottom of the post). The "Event" has grown out of last year's less formal Edinburgh language meet-up (staged at short notice by … [Read more...]
Why learn a minority language?
Why learn a minority language? In the final post in the series on learning minority, lessor used or endangered languages, let's look at the rewards on offer. Throughout the series, I've drawn heavily on my own experience as a learner of Welsh and Basque but I'm talking to you, dear minority language learner or would-be learner, whatever the lingo! In the first … [Read more...]