It's over five months since I started my latest language learning project: learning Japanese. This is my May update (belated due to my trip to Bratislava for the Polyglot Gathering). At the bottom of the post, you'll find my May update vlog from the YouTube channel. A recap if you're new here: my aim is to study Japanese daily, seven days a week or, over nine months to … [Read more...]
How to choose a language school abroad in 2026
Updated 27 June 2026 By Gareth Leave a Comment (Edit) How do you choose a language school abroad in 2026? That's the subject of this post, the second of a mini series of two. In this post, the focus is on the typical full-time (or part-time) group course held “in country” for any period from, say, a week or two up to a couple of months. In the first post, I weighed up … [Read more...]
Group language course abroad? For and against in 2026
Why go on an intensive, group language course abroad? If you decided to, how do you choose a foreign language school? Now that (in most places) the worst of the pandemic is past, you may be thinking of spreading your wings again later in 2026. This post, the first of two, we get to grips with the first of these two questions. The focus is on the typical full-time (or part-time) … [Read more...]
Why learning a language in retirement is a great idea
In this post, I'll show you that there's no reason why you can't get fluent in a foreign language when you're in your 60s, 70s or older and why later life can be a great time to learn. If you're looking for the ideal retirement project, look no further than learning a new language! Now, even if you're a relatively young retiree, energetic and in great health, you may … [Read more...]
Intermediate German conjunctions: joining it all up
If you're already a solid beginner in German and looking to become move into intermediate, one of the things you have to learn to do is understand and use longer, more complex sentences. To transform your German as you burst into intermediate, you're going to need conjunctions. But what exactly are conjunctions? This post explains all. Let's look at the most useful intermediate … [Read more...]