I hear this a lot: “I’m not good with languages.” I hate it when people say that, because most of the time, they’re using this as justification not […]

The very first article I wrote here gave several reasons not to take a class. It set the tone for the website. I wanted to focus on strategies […]

When you’re studying a foreign language, do you learn a lot of new words by reading? I do. Even though I’m a big proponent of a listening-based approach, […]

A language exchange is a session–usually over Skype but sometimes in person–in which two people practice speaking each other’s language. It’s been popularized in recent years by the […]

Yeah, Facebook is dying–at least that’s what the news keeps saying. But I spend a lot of time on there, and many of my friends do too. So […]

Man, that’s an ambitious title, right? Well, I’m about to give it to you, the secret to learning any language. It doesn’t matter which language, what your language […]

If you’re trying to learn vocabulary, should you study individual words or chunks of words? What I do: Study both! (By the way, some people say you shouldn’t […]

Thinking about signing up for a class or plopping down a couple hundred dollars on an expensive piece of software? That’s cool–those are effective tools for any language […]

Adjectives modify a sentence’s meaning, sometimes significantly. Take the sentence “My husband put a sock in the dishwasher,” for example. If you say, “My funny husband put a sock […]

A woman I once worked with in Germany was committed to learning the local language. She estimated that after a couple years of paying for books, class tuition, […]

On this site, I tend to focus on the enjoyment and excitement of language learning. I like to promote being easy on yourself and freeing yourself up to […]

Learn a new language People’s comfort zones vary greatly but one thing a majority of people feel uncomfortable about is starting up a conversation with a stranger. By […]