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Language Learning

A collection of 109 posts

English

The 3 Levels of English Pronunciation Mistakes

Let's address the elephant in the room real quick... Yes, there is always a big possibility you'll make pronunciation mistakes when speaking English, regardless of your proficiency level. The best thing is: you don't have to worry about it! Making pronunciation mistakes is a common part of the language learning

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

English

Top 20 English Idioms That Will Make You Sound Like a Native

In all of my years of studying and teaching the English language, there has not been a single feature of it that has amazed be as much as words that make sense even when they don't. Sorry, let me rephrase... the English language has this tendency to provide its speakers

French

Top French Pronunciation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

French is a tricky language when it comes to pronunciation. All kinds of mistakes are possible when not applying the spelling rules. These rules are numerous and difficult to memorize in one shot. This article is not for beginners. If you happen to be one, I wrote this reference guide

English

The 5 Stages of Becoming a Native-Like English Speaker

Acquiring native-like fluency in any language is hard in itself if you're only focused on the end game. However, if you break the entire process of reaching the highest level of English language mastery into multiple stages, then it's suddenly a much easier picture to paint. Nobody can go form

French

Top 6 Books To Help You Learn French

Parlez-vous Français? Not really, but would you like and also need to learn how to? What if we told you that you will master this language? Oh, Mon Dieu! As a former French learner, I must say that one of the most efficient methods that helped me break the barriers

Spanish

Learning Spanish in 90 Days: Day 17

When I decided to take on the 90 Day challenge, I did so with the clear goal of becoming B2 proficient. I made a clear goal and a clear commitment to spend an hour a day learning and studying Spanish. How do you prepare to integrate a new habit to

English

Top 5 Podcasts to Help You Learn English

Someone had asked me this question before: "Is there an effective way to learn English without hitting the books?" Of course, the one thing that popped right into my mind was the usage of language learning apps on a smartphone. However, the person who asked wasn't quite fond

Mandarin

How to Create a Chinese Language Environment - Even If You’re Not in China

You don’t have to join a Chinese immersion program in China to immerse yourself in the Chinese language. In fact, you don’t even have to join a Chinese immersion program in the US. It’s more than possible to immerse yourself in Chinese from the comfort of your

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,

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

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

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

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

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?

English

5 Best Music Genres for Learning to Speak English

As language learners, we are often oblivious to the extraordinary nature of the world that surrounds us, particularly due to seeing mundane, everyday things which supersede our education as exactly such – mundane and everyday type of things; when, in fact, we should attribute our highest attention and admiration to their

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