Søren The Language Adventurer

  Having a moment of frustration that’s driving you mad? Did you fall off the language learning bandwagon? Do you need some extra motivation? Let’s explore options for those of use who really need to get back into the swing of learning languages again. Why Are You Learning Your Target Language? Let’s start by taking it back to your original reasons for learning your target language.  What did you want to get out of it? What was the main purpose you were trying to get out it? Did you actually really want to learn your target language? If not, why are you still learning? What do you still hope to achieve from learning this language? (or these languages).  Discover your why. Is your target language apart of your cultural identity and thus, incredibly important for you to learn? Do you plan on travelling to a country or countries that speak your target language natively? What makes the language fascinating to you? Example: Many learners of Japanese want to be able to read man...

  Who doesn’t love discovering a new song that’s catchy, speaks to you on an emotional level and something that you can listen to multiple times.  Especially if you happen to be a lyricist, poet, writer, artist, etc.  They express the feelings of the author in an eloquent manner. One cannot help but be either enchanted or repulsed by the combination of words strung together. I find that lyrics help uncover ways for us to create our own poetry or lyrics in our new language(s).  Wouldn’t that be fantastic to be able express ourselves fluidly without having to worry about whether what we said was correct or not. That’s where I feel you can get away with breaking the rules a bit.  But should we break the rules of our target language to do? Absolutely! How else are we going to discover how your target language(s) work(s)? How Useful Can Vocabulary Be From Lyrics It depends on the song itself. Some lyrics have very useful vocabulary that you can use in your everyday l...

  We have all gotten some sort of feedback when people find out we’re interested in learning languages. Sometimes, it’s really positive and encouraging and other times it can be incredibly frustrating and off-putting. The following are things people have said to polyglots, hyper-polyglots, people learning a new language and people who are already bi- or multi-lingual: Say something in (insert target language(s) here)! This is probably the most irritating thing people say to not only polyglots but multilingual people who aren’t interested in learning languages.  Why do you feel the need to make us prove to you that we speak our target language(s)? Do you instantly assume we’re absolutely fluent to the point where we can say anything we want and pass for a native speaker? Admit it, you have made this assumption to at least some degree. Especially, if the person didn’t mention to you whether or not they are fluent in it! I have had this question asked to me several times before a...

There’s something about fascinating about learning languages that has gotten me thinking about different ways we can motivate each other to learn languages. You have an objective with learning a new language or multiple languages but there will be times when hit plateaus in our learning where are not making speedy progress like we did in the beginner’s stages of learning a foreign language. I remember a while back on a language forum, someone mentioned that B1 (Lower Intermediate) was the most difficult level to progress forward on from. It seems like that this stage you can have basic conversations and get the gist of what you read or what others are trying to tell you.  But there is something standing in your way of achieving your language learning goals. Why Are You Learning Your Target Language In The First Place? Remind yourself why you’re making the journey to learn your new language. Is it to be able to understand your favourite TV series or animé(fellow Japanese learners I’...

  This is something that’s been on my mind lately(seeing as   NaNoWriMo   is   just around corner).  I realise that it becomes an after-thought for it.  Even though, I have been doing a series of blogs called: 「日本語でブログを書くシリーズ」for my Japanese.  I still wonder how I can incorporate it into my regular language learning routine.  Here are some ideas I will be using the next month. Writing Prompts I find it easier to write about a specific topic (preferably one that interests me or that is useful to my fluency or what have you when using the language.) Even if it’s just a question of “What do you think of X?” and then writing your thoughts on that particular theme.  Thus, improving the way you express your opinions in your target language. What’s Something You Like To Discuss On A Regular Basis? Make a list of topics that you personally discuss on a regular basis. Try expressing them in your target language in a similar way as you would in your na...

If you’ve been following language learning related news through social media, you probably noticed  articles such as this one:   America Has A New Language   or   Should Students Be Able To Take Coding Classes For Language Credits ?   There are has been some discussion about the importance of coding as technology advances, but can we really rely on   online translators  to communicate with others who don’t speak our native language? The answer is no . Which begs the question: Are Programming Languages Really Languages? (What did Siri just call me?) They are a set of codes used by programmers to create instructions in order to enable a device (ex: A computer, iPhone App, Website, etc.) to execute what the programmer or computer user wants. One could define these as languages for your computer but these are not something you communicate with each other with.  Electronic devices such as the  iPhone or the  Amazon Kindle Fire  are ...

Let’s talk about phrasebooks and the role they’ve played for both language learners and travellers alike. I’m sure many of you have probably used a phrasebook or two to use for either convenience or conquering the basics of your target language(s).  Depending on whether you’ve used Berlitz,  Lonely Planet or even Barron’s you’ve probably noticed a few phrases didn’t quite  sound right. Now, not every phrasebook going to be exactly the same depending on which language(s) you’ve chosen to learn. Some phrasebooks are unbearably disorganised,  have extremely poor romanisation (ie: Teach Yourself Russian Conversation),  or lack on essential words or phrases you  actually need  to get by in everyday situations. Ridiculous Phrasebook Phrases SYZYGYCC goes over phrases that come across as rude or something that you wouldn’t necessarily need to say any more.  Some examples he mentioned were:  “I would like a room with a TV” and “Does this room have a ...