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...]
Joining it up: how conjunctions can transform your intermediate German
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 German … [Read more...]
Learning Japanese: Month Four update
I'm now just over four months into my current language project: learning Japanese. Here's my April update. There's a video update at the bottom of the post, too. My target minimum focussed study time is half an hour of Japanese daily, seven days a week or, over nine months. A "full house" total of 30 mins x 30 April days would be fifteen hours. My actual total was … [Read more...]
German modal verbs explained
German modal verbs are one of those welcome areas where German and English feel very close. When "ich kann" means "I can", "wir müssen" means "we must", what's not to like? Yes, here our common linguistic ancestry seems close to the surface, with English still forming questions the and negatives Germanic way. No "Do you can?" but a good, Germanic "Can you?", … [Read more...]
How to remember German noun gender: the ultimate guide
Learning the German noun gender system can be a real headache. In this post, I'm sharing some top tips on how to remember the gender of individual words. Taken together, the tricks will stack odds of getting the gender right significantly in your favour. The info below will save you time and give you confidence as you power ahead auf Deutsch. Los geht's! So what is all the … [Read more...]
Welsh to B2: certified! A successful candidate shares her story
Karen is a linguist and translator from the south of England. She's already shared her tips on how to become a successful translator with us here at Howtogetfluent and I'm delighted that she's agreed to be interviewed again to tell us how she passed the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC)'s Upper Intermediate (B2) exam in Welsh. Below, she shares not only her tips but tells … [Read more...]
Britain’s “other” languages: three creators speak (report)
"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, true Brits? 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 already 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 … [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...]