"A Japanese learner's first visit to Japan, linguistic aspects". That's the slant in my tenth, monthly report on my journey to Japanese. Back at the beginning of the year, I set my self the goal of studying some basic Japanese before my visit to Japan in October, to attend the Polyglot Conference in Fukuoka. My Japanese study routine took place in a daily study slot of a … [Read more...]
Russian language exams: a guide
In this overview guide to Russian language exams for foreigners, I’ll show you the Russian language exams available for adult independent learners and give you some practical information as to how to go about taking one. You may need a Russian exam as a prerequisite to matriculation at a Russian university. Maybe you want to live and work in the Russian Federation or … [Read more...]
Japan: first impressions
I’ve been posting monthly about my learning Japanese project since the beginning of the year. The immediate reason for starting to learn the language was my first ever visit to the "Land of the Rising Sun". Today, I flew out to Singapore after a week Fukuoka in the south, a day and a half travelling up through Hiroshima and Kyoto and a final five days Tokyo. I thought it would … [Read more...]
Learning Japanese: Month Nine update
I'm now nine months into my learning basic Japanese project, just a week away from my arrival in Japan for the first time, to attend the Polyglot Conference…and to explore a bit too. This is my latest monthly report. It's a brief one this time. Why? First, because, I'm on the road for a month (first Singapore and Hong Kong). Second, erm, because has been my least productive … [Read more...]
A2 Russian: the upper beginner skills, vocabulary and grammar that you need
In this post, we'll set out the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills that you need to succeed at "upper beginner" or "A2" level in Russian. We'll look at how much Russian vocabulary you need for A2 and how much Russian grammar you should know. This is the first in a series looking at the different "staging posts" on the journey to fluent Russian. But why look at … [Read more...]
Learning Japanese: Month Eight update
I'm now eight months into my learning basic Japanese project, a month away from hitting the road for Asia and six weeks from my first visit to Japan. Here's my "end of month eight" progress report. It's a brief one this time, as it's only two weeks since the last of my weekly summer diaries (covering Basque as well as Japanese). This month's "update vlog" is down at the bottom … [Read more...]
Basque/Japanese diary: Week Four
I've finished the final week of my one-month summer “language sprint”. For the last four weeks I've upped the work I'm doing on Basic Japanese Project, from 30 mins a day, seven days a week, to one hour a day, five times a week and aimed to put in another hour at my intermediate Basque. Here, then, is the final diary-style update on how this summer study of Japanese and … [Read more...]
Basque/Japanese diary: Week Three
I'm already at the end of week three of my summer “language sprint”. The "sprint" is a boost to the work on Japanese that I was already aiming to do as part of my nine-month Basic Japanese Project, plus, more time than usual on my on-going Basque learning (I'm an intermediate level learner). For a month, I'm aiming to do an hour a day on each language, five days a … [Read more...]
Basque/Japanese diary: Week Two
I'm now two weeks into my summer “language sprint”. What's it all about? First, I’ve increased the work I’m aiming to do as part of my nine-month Basic Japanese Project. My weekly commitment is up from thirty minutes a day, seven days a week, to one hour a day, five days a week. Second, I'm aiming to clock an hour each day on my intermediate Basque. I started the … [Read more...]
What is the Eisteddfod like?
I've spoken fluent Welsh (as an adult learner) for over half my life and one way I've grown into the culture is by attending the Welsh National Eisteddfod or Eisteddfod Genedlaeathol Cymru. It's held for the first week of August each summer. The location changes from year to year. The National Eisteddfod is a huge cultural and social celebration (with a dash of … [Read more...]