Category: Languages

When we think of language learning, we most often imagine the two most common options: Learning with others, in a classroom or other study group. Learning independently, either at home or abroad. If you partake in the second option, it’s easy to feel alone. After all, the loneliness is encoded right there in the vocabulary […]

In the age of books, online courses, classes, and apps all dedicated to language learning, it’s become easy to assume that spending extra money is a natural and necessary part of the process. To learn, you have to invest money in learning resources. That can be true. It often is true. But it doesn’t have […]

Languages vary. Sometimes a little. Sometimes a lot. As explained in our article What is a Language? What is a Dialect?, all languages vary across multiple spectra. These spectra encompass natural linguistic variation, including regional dialects, social dialects (sociolects), registers, styles, and personal dialects (idiolects). For social and political purposes, however, such variation is inconvenient, […]

When choosing a language, you may not only have to focus on what language you would like to learn, but what variety of that language (known as a “dialect”) you wish to acquire. While all languages vary over distance, time, and social strata, most languages have a “standard” variety. This is the specific dialect of […]

Do you know what a dialect is? Most people think they do. If you’re a descendant of immigrants, you may have heard that your grandparents spoke a dialect of the language of their home country. If you live in a country where your home or social language is different from the language you speak in […]

When choosing which language to learn, it is often interesting and valuable to ask: What are the most popular languages in the world? Though your personal reasons for learning a language will be the ultimate factors in deciding your language of study, looking around to see what languages others are learning can provide some helpful […]

The experience of learning a language is often likened to going on a journey to a far-off land. As a learner, you have a destination you would like to reach, with various milestones dotting the landscape along the way. There will be obstacles. In some places you will have to struggle climbing uphill, while in […]

What do you want to be when you grow up? As a child, I used to get that question a lot. I’m sure you did, too. My answer? An actor. I wanted to star in blockbuster movies. I imagined my face emblazoned across movie posters, my name getting top-billing on the marquee. What was your […]

When you hear that a friend or acquaintance knows a foreign language, what’s the first thing you ask them? If you’re like most people, you probably ask “Can you speak it?” There’s something about seeing someone speak a language you don’t know that’s a bit like magic. It’s just so mysterious, and cool! I’m sure […]

So you’ve chosen which language you’d like to learn. Perhaps your sights are set on the more popular languages, like Spanish, French, or Mandarin Chinese. Perhaps you’ve gone the lesser-traveled route, and decided on a language like Danish, Swahili or Korean. Whatever the case, you should pat yourself on the back. You’ve taken an important […]