"Indigenous: Welsh, Gaelic, Scots, Cornish and More" was an evening event recently held at the British Library here in London. Three creators who work in some of Britain's "other" languages took part. Is it realistic to redefine "Britishness" to include some of the oldest Brits of all? What does it mean to create in these languages? What are the challenges and rewards if you … [Read more...]
Motivation for intermediate (B1) German: enjoying the highs and getting through the lows
After the initial excitement of starting to learn German, you'll alreaday have found that your motivation goes up and down. That's true at all levels. But what are the specific highs and lows that you're likely to encounter as a lower intermediate (B1) German learner? In this post, let's look at the good bits (things to look forward to) and the not so good bits (and how you can … [Read more...]
Learning all six Celtic languages (with Simon Ager)
If you've ever googled just about any question about languages, the chances are you'll have hit on Omniglot.com, the "Online Encyclopedia of Writing Systems & Lanugages". Like me, though, you might not have immediately known who the self-effacing, yet immensely talented, language expert behind the site actually is. I finally met Simon Ager at the first Polyglot Gathering … [Read more...]
Learning Japanese: Month Two update
How to start learning Japanese? I decided to find out first hand. As I announced at the beginning of the year, my new language learning prooject is to be able to function at a basic level in the language when I visit Japan for the first time for the Polyglot Conference in October. This is the second of my monthly update posts: a review of how study went in February and … [Read more...]
Intermediate B1 German vocabulary and grammar: what and how?
What new vocabulary and grammar do you need to move from upper beginner (A2) to lower intermediate (B1) German? Maybe you want to improve your German for work or pleasure. You may even need to pass a German B1 exam. If so, you're in the right place for some actionable information on the B1 German vocabulary and grammar that you need and how to master it. We've already done a … [Read more...]