by Andrew | Dec 13, 2010 | General Language-Learning
Motivation is the most important factor in determining whether or not you will learn a language, how well you will learn it, and how long it will take you. Also, if you don’t have it for the language in question, you’ll never learn it, you just...
by Andrew | Dec 1, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Spanish
I just saw this via Ramses’s twitter feed and although I could’ve just retweeted it I felt compelled to at least make some short comments on it that would be too long for twitter, so I’m turning it into a short blog post. What I’m referring to...
by Andrew | Nov 18, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Miscellaneous, Spanish
So I was in the process of going through a Notes in Spanish lesson (which I highly recommend, the audio is free, start at the beginner’s level, honestly no, you don’t need the worksheets) when I came across the term “túnel” which I presumed to...
by Andrew | Nov 15, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Spanish
Spoken or written with ease That’s the primary definition in the dictionary for the word “fluent”, and you know what: that’s the only thing that the word “fluent” absolutely, definitely means regardless of who you’re talking...
by Andrew | Oct 18, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Spanish
The hardest part about learning your first language is figuring out what precisely to do, where to begin, coming up with a plan, a course of study for yourself–what to do, and what order to do it in. This is one of those personal preference things, it really is:...
by Andrew | Sep 16, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Miscellaneous
1. When you’re looking for a book on Amazon about a language that you’re currently interested in and you check out the ”Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” section and realize that you own almost every single book in those 10-15 pages :/ 2. When...
by Andrew | Sep 11, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Spanish
A Scriptorium (which literally means “a place for writing”) is a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes. I’d like to share with you a language-learning technique that is not something I would...
by Andrew | Aug 24, 2010 | General Language-Learning
There are essentially two language learning styles that people have, and it’s not necessarily black or white, but they will typically have a preference for one or the other, usually a strong preference: global or linear. Most language teachers, in schools anyway...
by Andrew | Aug 19, 2010 | General Language-Learning
One question that beginners inevitably ask is “how long should I study every day?”. I will save you a lot of my usual babbling and give you my personal opinion based on years of experience in foreign language learning right now: 30 minutes per day is the...
by Andrew | Aug 18, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Miscellaneous, Spanish
Just found this, I smiled a bit, kind of funny (“Merci beau coup!” lol), but he’s absolutely right: Most Western Europeans speak at least two languages fluently, and someone speaking 5 or 6 isn’t the least bit abnormal or special over there at...
by Andrew | Aug 17, 2010 | General Language-Learning, Spanish
Frankly? None. You can learn all the grammar you’ll ever need for anything other than passing a test on grammar via context–meaning that you’ll learn how to say things correctly simply from trial and error: speaking with native speakers, making...
by Andrew | Aug 15, 2010 | General Language-Learning
Short post, just wanted to show you guys this video I came across, it’s only about 5 minutes but there’s a lot of insights and useful info there, I’d like to especially point out to you how much he emphasizes how important speaking is when it comes...
