How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins

How to learn a foreign language. Methods, matrials and stories to help you maximise your effectiveness on the road to fluency

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In-depth explorations, actionable tips and inspiring conversations for language learners who REALLY want to get fluent…..plus a little bit of fun along the way.

Learning minority languages: overcoming negative attitudes

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The off-putting attitudes of others don't help us language learners at the best of times. What are the particular negative attitudes you might encounter as a learner of a minority, lesser-used or endangered language and how can you overcome them? This is the latest in our learning minority languages series. Now, I'm not suggesting for a moment that the discouraging … [Read more...]

Minority language dialects: a challenge for learners?

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If you've heard that your minority language has a variety of dialects, which one should you learn? How should you respond if you hear that there are lots of dialects and that "some native speakers can't even understand each other"? What does the "standardisation" of a language even mean? In this, the fourth post in the series on learning minority languages, let's … [Read more...]

Minority language resources: a guide

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When you're learning a language, good resources can make all the difference. But what about resources for learning a minority language? That's the focus of this first post in a new series on learning a "minority languages”. Just how different is it? Here you'll find the low-down and actionable tips drawn from my own and what I've learned from many other learners and linguists … [Read more...]

The visibility of Scottish Gaelic: a signage safari

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Scottish Gaelic bilingual road sign

In this post I want to share some photos I took of bilingual Scottish Gaelic - English signage from a recent trip I made to the Highlands of Scotland.  It was my first visit to areas where Gaelic still hangs on, in pockets, as a minority language.  I vlogged the trip in a series of five videos (from Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye, Inverness, Culloden, the Cairngorms National Park … [Read more...]

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