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...]
The 50 most common French verbs
Learning the most frequent French words is makes tactical sense when you're starting to learn the language. The most common French verbs - words expressing an action like “to eat” or state like “to be” or an experience like "to happen" - should be at the top of your list. After all, beyond pointing at objects and naming them, you won’t get far in French without some "action"! … [Read more...]
How to learn Russian fast
So, you want to learn Russian fast? There’s no hiding it, getting really good at Russian is a big undertaking that takes a lot of time: maybe 300 hours study for a basic, functional “working knowledge” at the “lower intermediate” level (sometimes called “B1”). It also takes a shedload of commitment. But here’s the thing! If you’re motivated, you can achieve specific goals … [Read more...]
German future tense (Futur I): top dos and don’ts
Das Futur I is the German future tense. You’ll usually first meet die Zukunft, as it’s also known, as you move into the intermediate or B1 level. But how do you form the Futur I correctly and where does it go in the sentence? In this post, you’ll discover all you need to know about the German future tense including common pitfalls you need to avoid to get it … [Read more...]
Japanese update: November to February
I started learning Japanese at the beginning of 2019. The language fascinatingly different from any language I've studied before. I visited Japan for the first time in October 2019. The trip was wonderful, a source of yet more inspiration to continue with the language. It's several months since my last progress report and here's an update on how it's been going, my methods, … [Read more...]
Learn the Russian alphabet in an afternoon: three tricks
Non-Russian learners imagine it must be difficult to learn the Russian alphabet. Actual Russian learners know that it's easily done….and that the real challenges of the language lie elsewhere. In this post, you'll find three great tricks to help you learn the Russian alphabet in as little as an afternoon and we'll apply them together to each letter. If you’re going to … [Read more...]
German listening practice on steroids (neglected technique)
Getting good German listening practice is essential if you want to get fluent. Even if you “know” lots of words and grammar, can read, write and even say quite a lot, listening often seems to lag behind. It’s really frustrating when you still can’t understand your favourite shows or movies. How embarrassing in a live conversation when you can’t catch the responses … [Read more...]