When you're reading for pleasure, you're focussed on narrative, atmosphere, character, action. The individual details (and words) may not be as important as the pervading message. This post is about how to smooth the flow of such "extensive" reading in your foreign language. In the first post in this series on reading in your foreign language, we saw how important reading is … [Read more...]
Russian Easter in London – the blessing of the food ceremony (with vlog)
Христос Воскрес! Christ is risen! Khristos Voskress! That's the salutation used at Russian Easter. Last Sunday I was up in Yorkshire celebrating the Western Easter with a slice of traditional English simnel cake. Today, I got to celebrate all over again. The flavours this time were Russian...and I've captured them all in a short, impromptu vlog (link at the bottom of … [Read more...]
Ten brilliant ways to beat exam nerves
You've put a huge amount of effort into preparing for your exam. It would be so unfair if it all fell apart on the day. So, check out these ten brilliant ways to beat exam nerves. This is the final post in a series of three on foreign language exams but the tips here should help you with any kind of exam. Of course, some people suffer from anxiety which needs professional … [Read more...]
Ten ways to support Welsh, even if you don’t speak the language
You may not speak Welsh yourself, but you want to support Welsh speakers. Maybe you have a child or grandchild in a Welsh-medium school, maybe you feel Welsh and the language matters as part of your family's history or your personal identity. Maybe you're not Welsh but you've moved to Wales and want to show support. Maybe you simply love Wales and its unique culture from … [Read more...]
How to improve your written Russian: sounds, spelling and word formation
My experience preparing for the writing paper of an advanced Russian exam was a comedy of errors. It threw up a lot of mistakes connected with the differences between how Russian sounds and how it's written. They're the mistakes of somebody who has spoken and listened to vast amounts of the Russian over the years, but hasn't had nearly as much experience writing Russian. You … [Read more...]