Learning languages can be an exciting, thrilling process. But it also takes a lot of time and, if you're "in" for the long haul, you'll have your ups and downs. Here are three encouraging truths to buck you up a bit next time you're starting to flag. Why you're good enough to get fluent, even if others are better If you're anything like me, you may sometimes look at … [Read more...]
The 50 most common German adjectives
Learning the most frequent German words is makes tactical sense when you're starting to learn the language. Below, you'll find a full list of the fifty most common German adjectives. Adjectives are words that describe what somebody or something is like, for example old, young, intelligent, red, tired. For example “Der Mann ist alt” (the man is old), "Das Buch ist neu" (The book … [Read more...]
How to learn Spanish fast
So, you want to learn Spanish fast? Follow the advice in this post and you can get yourself ready to use your Spanish in the sorts of basic everyday contexts that we all need or in highly specialised contexts that are personal to you. This post is addressed to you if you're a beginner, a false beginner or rusty. That said, much of what you'll read will also help … [Read more...]
Language Learner’s Year Compass 2026
The end of the old year is a natural time to reflect on the past twelve months. It's also a time when many of us want to make a fresh start and do some looking ahead. In the last week, two friends have separately drawn my attention to a free tool to help with this. It's called Year Compass. I'm late to the party with this one, as it turns out that it's been … [Read more...]
How to learn French fast
So, you want to learn French fast? Follow the advice in this post and you can get yourself ready to use your French in the sorts of basic everyday contexts that we all need or in highly specialised contexts that are personal to you. This post is addressed to you if you're a beginner, a false beginner or rusty. That said, much of what you'll read will also help … [Read more...]
Four language learning mini habits for big results in 2026
In this post you'll discover four mini language learning habits that are easy to take up and that you'll find fun to do every day. There's a habit for each of the four language skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. New Year's resolutions don't all have to be big and dramatic and, if you stick to your new tiny language learning habit, it could compound over the … [Read more...]
German Christmas words you need for Christmas traditions you’ll love
Christmas is big in the German-speaking lands and here's your cultural crash course in some wonderful Christmas traditions, many of which have spread throughout the world. Read on and you’ll also kit yourself out with the German Christmas words and phrases you need to throw yourself into the celebrations as a German learner. There's a video lesson to go with this post too … [Read more...]
Japanese update: March to July
Here's a quick update on my learning Japanese project which began at the beginning of 2019. In October that year I got to pay my first visit to Japan. Little did I know that would be the last foreign travel I got to do to date. (There's also an update vid at the end of this post). Language learning log: March through July Since returning from my trip to Japan in autumn … [Read more...]
Welsh football words
Wales supporters celebrated the Wales men's team qualification for the Fifa World Cup only a few years after the national squad did so well in the 2016 and 2020 EUROs. The national team, like the language, put Wales on the map. To bring them both together I've put together this list of Welsh football words specially for the occasion. If you're a Welsh learner or thinking of … [Read more...]
Get Russian verb aspects right every time
Russian verb aspects can feel like the bane of a learner’s life. Just when you’ve learned some common Russian verbs, you discover that you have to learn a second set. For most verbs in English, Russian has a pair: an imperfective and a perfective. For “to say”, we have govorit’ and skazat’, for “to see” videt’ and uvidet’. But what’s the difference between the imperfective and … [Read more...]