French

Best French Words to Practice as Beginner: The Definitive List

As mentioned in a previous article on Speechling How to Speak French - The Ultimate Guide to French Pronunciation, the French language comes from a diversity of its vowels, the right balance between vowels and consonants, and the monotony of its rhythm. In this article, I will focus on the

Spanish

5 Games and Activities to Help You Learn Spanish Faster

As I started to learn Spanish, I found that studying Spanish was great, and it had any benefits, but I needed something else to reinforce the learning. I got to the point where I could read and write Spanish pretty well, but if I were to engage in conversation on

Mandarin

The Best Chinese TV Shows for Learners Who Want to Understand China

Learning a language isn't all about picking up vocabulary and being able to construct grammatically correct sentences. There's a whole other side to language which is too often forgotten. That side is culture. TV shows and movies can be two of the best means by which to access that culture,

Mandarin

The Best Chinese Words to Practice as a Beginner: The Definitive List Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of the Best Chinese Words to Practice as a Beginner: The Definitive List. Whilst previously we covered initial sounds, now we're going to make a start on finals. If you missed The Definitive List: Part 1, be sure to take a look and add those words

French

How Reading French Can Improve Your Speaking Skills

It’s true, learning to speak another language is a difficult and often awkward experience. However, when language learners are asked which of the four basic skills they find the most intimidating (speaking, listening, reading or writing), the answer is often ‘reading’. As a completely solo exercise, it’s hard

Spanish

The Pronunciation Mistakes That Make You Sound Like a Gringo

The Spanish language is a beautiful thing. Travel is also a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, too many travelers in both Latin America and Spain find several ways to combine the two in ways that should never be combined. Although you may have taken two or three years of Spanish in high

English

How to Improve Your English with Only 20 Minutes per Day

Whether it is grammar, reading, pronunciation or vocabulary, mastering the English language can take its toll on any learner. In essence, finding ways to constantly improve on current language knowledge is what separates the advanced learners from the beginners and, ultimately, their learning outcomes and how close they are to

Mandarin

The Best Chinese Words to Practice as a Beginner: The Definitive List Part 1

When it comes to learning a new language, one thing always comes up almost immediately: vocabulary. Students often wonder which words they should learn and how they can learn them in the best (read: the fastest) way possible. What Chinese words are the easiest? What Chinese words are the most

Spanish

11 Useful Phrases for Spanish-Speaking Countries

With over 400 million speakers, Spanish is the second-most widely spoken language in the world (only Mandarin-Chinese has more speakers), and 21 countries count Spanish as their official language. With that kind of influence, it’s highly likely that you’re going to run into some Spanish speakers at some

English

Conditionals: An English Learner's Worst Nightmare

If one were to conduct a survey about the aspects of the English language that are the hardest for learners to master, I am certain that conditionals would be at the top of almost every single person’s list. I can say this from personal experience, being that students in

Mandarin

The Three Levels of Chinese Reading Materials for Learners

So you’re ready to give Mandarin Chinese writing and reading a go. It's a hard path you've set yourself on, but once you've made it, you'll really feel like you've accomplished something great. This article is all about helping you get there. We're going to introduce the 3 levels

French

6 Ways to Learn French for Free

Learning a foreign language is a commitment that involves three major resources: time, energy and money. While the first two are fairly obvious, money is a factor people often neglect when it comes to picking up a new language. Apart from expensive language classes, the real cost of learning a

Spanish

The One Spanish Word That Took 3 Weeks To Learn Correctly

The seed was planted for me to move to Spain in 2014. I was envisioning my future. Where would I like to live, what would I like to do, what kind of relationship would I like to have. I dreamed of having the type of life where I could just

English

Why Did I Say That?! 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Conversational English

I am sure you have found yourself in a situation where you were uncertain of whether something you wanted to say was going to sound correct or appropriate enough plenty of times. I know I have. Even to this day, I still do. It is inherent for the human mind

Mandarin

Using Chinglish to Learn Mandarin Chinese: The Power of Literal Translation

Big family good! That right there is the literal translation of a Mandarin Chinese sentence into English. Some might know this as Chinglish. What am I saying? I'm saying Hello Everybody, or 大家好 (dàjiā hǎo). At this point, you might be asking why I am starting an article in such

French

Qui, Quoi, Comment - The Curious World of French Question Words

Qui - Quoi - Comment? The Curious World of French Question Words Asking questions is the key to holding a conversation - otherwise you're delivering a long (and probably boring) monologue. But how to achieve this supposedly simple feat? Find the answers to all your question needs below. Back to

Spanish

5 Things You Didn’t Know About the Spanish Language

When I tell people that I’m learning Spanish, I get a wide variety of reactions. Some say it’s a romantic language, while others say it is pragmatic, because there are so many Spanish speakers in the world today. In fact, Instituto Cervantes, a non-profit organization dedicated to growing

English

Learn to Level Up Your English with Video Games

Learning English can be a stressful endeavor. All languages have exceptions to the rules, but in English it often feels like there are more exceptions than actual rules. (Seriously. Don’t even get me started on the weirdness of ‘i before e, except after c’, or making sense of the

Mandarin

6 of the Most Common Mandarin Chinese Words Influenced by Dialect

Dialect can be the bane of any language learner’s existence. Sometimes it feels like the language you’re learning just isn’t what’s in the textbook. It’s as though what you think is correct, is actually only correct in the classroom, or on a whiteboard, or during

French

Reading French: 5 French Easy Books to Start with

Now that you are learning French and have come to terms with some of the basic grammar and vocabulary, it is time for the next step... reading your first French book! In this article, I share my list of my personal favourites with you to get started. This list is

Spanish

The Most Important Business Phrases You Need to Learn in Spanish

With the global reach of organizations, companies are closer and closer than ever before. It’s common for there to be multi-national organizations that send employees all over the world. It seems there’s always someone I know traveling for business. Why learn Spanish for business? Most emerging markets are

English

5 Best TV Shows for Learning to Speak English

Let's face it. It's 2017 and we all have cell phones, PCs, tablets, etc. – you name it! But, apart from all of that, we all share one particular guilty pleasure – devoting too much of our free time and productivity to watching TV shows, whether it be on television or online.

Mandarin

Chinese Internet Slang 101

Whoever said technology doesn’t affect language? It wasn't us, that's for sure! The fact is that technology and language are about as linked as a painter's canvas is to any artwork he creates. Just because the artist might remain the same, doesn’t mean their canvas always will. It's

French

How to Speak French - The Ultimate Guide to French Pronunciation

French is is often thought of as the language of love and romance. I don't know if that is true, but one may say that the beauty of the French language comes from the diversity of its vowels, the right balance between vowels and consonants, and the monotony of its

Spanish

Learn Spanish in 90 Days Challenge: Day #1

This is a challenge to speak conversational Spanish in 90 days starting from a beginner level, using Speechling and other resources on the internet. When I tell people that I’ve been living in Spain for a few months, people always ask for advice. How are you going about it?