Tagged

Grammar

A collection of 22 posts

French

French Partitive Articles: When to Use Du, De La, and Des

No matter how motivated, most language learners don’t look forward to grammar lessons. Grammar can often be confusing or frustrating, and if you’re learning French on your own, it can be hard to know where to turn when you have questions. Unfortunately, grammar is a necessary evil when

French

How to Master the Dreaded Subjunctive in French

When it comes to learning a language, everyone has different favorite subjects and preferences. Some people love vocab lists and hate listening comprehension; some love studying new grammar aspects and hate speaking. There are so many different things that come into play when learning a language that it's hard not

French

French Negation Made Easy

When you start your language learning journey, there are a lot of things you learn right away and a lot of things that are saved until later. Negation is one of the things that gets saved until later. It just isn't necessary when you first begin and it can confuse

French

The Ultimate Guide to Gender in French

Unlike English, French is what is known as a gendered language. This means that nouns have a gender and you need to know it in order to properly speak and understand the language. Many languages are gendered languages, but if you don't already know a gendered language, the concept can

French

French Pronouns: How Does it All Work?

When you learn a language, there will always be some aspects that are harder than others. While every language learner will have their own difficulties with the language, just about every French learner has difficulties with French pronouns. French pronouns really aren't that hard, but when you're learning the language,

French

Vous vs. Tu: When to Use Which French ‘You’?

If your native language doesn't distinguish between a formal and informal 'you' form (and even if it does), mastering the French 'you' can feel like Mission Impossible. In English, there's no distinction between the 'you' used when speaking to a friend and the 'you' used when speaking to a stranger,

Mandarin

Chinese Grammar: What’s the Difference Between De Particles 的, 地, and 得?

Homophones can be one of the trickiest things for language learners to master, whether you’re studying Chinese, English, or any other language. When those homophones are some of the most common words in that language and function as crucial grammatical components, it becomes even more important to use them

Mandarin

Agreeing in Chinese: 8 Ways to Say Yes in Mandarin

You might be surprised to learn that in Chinese, there is no single word that translates directly to the English word "Yes". Instead, Chinese has multiple ways of confirming, approving, and agreeing that vary with context. Speakers of many Romance and other languages can answer a wide variety

Russian

A Guide to Using Russian Verbal Aspects

There are many difficult things about learning Russian regardless of which languages you already know. From an English speaker’s perspective however, one of the most difficult aspects (pun very much intended) of learning Russian is verbal aspect.

English

The Ultimate Guide to Learning English Verb Tenses

Most of you can agree with me when I say: English has confusing verb tenses! For example, saying “I play the guitar” has a much different meaning than “I’m playing the guitar.” The English language requires you to not only conjugate verbs into the past, present, or future, but

German

The 10 Key Differences Between English and German

One of the best ways to learn about a language is to compare it to your own. When it comes to German and English, there are far more similarities than there are differences because German was the root language for English. While there are certainly a lot of similarities between

German

The 7 Best Apps for Learning German

Learning another language can be challenging, especially since it requires daily practice to make any real progress. Total immersion by going to a country that speaks the target language is not an option for most people. However, there are ways to have a partial immersive experience, including the use of

German

A Quick Guide to German Articles

English has made dealing with articles incredibly easy – just choose the, a, or an, and you are done. Using the right article gender proves to be one of the most challenging aspects of learning a Germanic (or even Romance) language. Instead of choosing the, a, or an, you have to

English

4 Must-Know Grammar Rules for Any English Speaker

"Grammar is important but big biceps are importanter." Ugh! Did someone just hear the sound of extreme tire screeching while reading this? If you did, then that's good - for two reasons. One: you can obviously recognize bad grammar when you hear it, and two: you care about

Spanish

The Best 6 Books to Learn Spanish

What are the best books to learn Spanish? There are countless ways to learn Spanish. You can play games, watch TV or listen to podcasts. Some people swear by drilling grammar and vocabulary flashcards for hours on end. The truth is, there’s not a right way or a wrong

Spanish

5 Ways to Learn Spanish by Yourself

Have you ever wondered what it takes to learn Spanish by yourself? Click here to find out how you can speed up your learning.

Spanish

Learning Spanish in 90 Days: Day #90

Today was the last day of my 90-day challenge to learn Spanish. In early August, I was inspired by the story of how Speechling was started. A few guys made a bet to learn French in 90 days. I thought it was a funny story and I wondered if I

French

5 Grammar Mistakes in French And How to Avoid Them

French has a lot of rules which can easily lead to mistakes. If you're frustrated with making grammar mistakes in French, this article provides a checklist of common mistakes and tips on how to solve them.

Spanish

Tips to Speak Spanish in any Emergency Situation

When I moved to Spain, I moved here with my partner, who was born and raised in Marbella, on the southern coast of Spain. She’s fluent in Spanish and English. When we first got here, she did a lot of the talking and translating for me as I learn

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?

French

Should You Join a French Class? 6 Pros and Cons of Language Classes

Learning French is challenging and can easily be overwhelming. For this reason, a lot of beginners choose to join a language class. Is it really the right choice? Some people swear by it, others hate it. Who should you listen to? In this article, we will review the pros and

Spanish

5 Ways for Adults to Learn Spanish Quickly

Human beings can be very impatient. It’s not our fault, it’s just our nature. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know we’re especially impatient when it comes to learning new things. We expect to know everything immediately. We want that instant gratification. Instant gratification is nice