At first glance, Japanese letters appear intimidating. After all, there are three Japanese writing systems. Not only are there the curvy hiragana and blocky katakana alphabets, there are also the Chinese characters known as kanji. I have good news for you: hiragana is actually quite straightforward! Learning how to read Japanese begins with learning how …
Social media is flooded with any number of jokes about English spelling and pronunciation. Who hasn’t seen memes lamenting phrases like the grammatically correct “English can be understood through tough, thorough thought”? Who hasn’t noticed how baffling the pronunciations of words such as “colonel” and “phlegm” and “timbre” are? By comparison, Japanese pronunciation is a …
Japan has only grown in popularity over the years. It’s famous for being an excellent travel destination, and anime merchandise can be found all over your average mall. Consequently, the demand for accessible Japanese language tools has also grown. If you don’t know where to start and are looking for some Japanese phrases you can …
The Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State ranks the difficulty of the languages they teach by the number of hours it takes to achieve professional working proficiency. For example, they estimate 24-30 weeks to learn Spanish or French. Japanese, by comparison, has been estimated as taking an average of 88 weeks, alongside …
Spanish accent marks prove that big things come in small packages. These little lines, dots, and squiggles, also known as diacritical marks, may look ornamental and unassuming, but they can drastically change the meaning of written — and typed — Spanish. Words change meanings, verbs go from the past to the uncertain future, questions become answers, …
Over the past several years, I’ve tutored and taught Spanish to dozens of students of every age and skill level, from young campers learning their very first words to adults striving to connect to their Spanish-speaking family, friends, and communities. More recently, I’ve also been on the other side of the pedagogical equation as I’ve …
Becoming bilingual can change your life. Having a second language under your belt massively widens your field of opportunity, giving you the chance to meet new people and experience the world through a dazzling array of unique perspectives. And it’s never too late to start learning. Wherever you are in life, you can start your …
6 Language Educators Share Their Tips & Tactics On How to Become Bilingual Read More
Adverbs, or los adverbios in Spanish, are notoriously challenging compared to other parts of speech. Spanish has a few different ways to express adverbs, and they all tell how, when, how often, and where an action (a verb) takes place. Adverbs help you to be more precise when describing things in Spanish. In this article, we’ll …
When you first learn Spanish, los adjetivos (adjectives) may seem superfluous, ornamental, and just plain unimportant compared to nouns and verbs. All they accomplish is describe nouns, giving them detail and pizzazz. This couldn’t be further from the truth: adjectives are useful, versatile, and necessary to communicate effectively and circumlocute, or speak around what you …
A Crash Course in How Adjectives Work in Spanish Language Read More
If you clicked on this article, it’s safe to assume that you’re an English speaker beginning your language-learning journey. Maybe you already know English and other languages and you’re embarking on your third, fourth, or fifth language. In any case, I’m here to answer the frequently asked question “Why should I learn Spanish?” with a …
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