• August 2009
• LivingLanguage.com|
• Watch Your Language Blog|
• Language Games and Quizzes

When a "Rainy Day" Is a Good Thing ...

That "Aha!" Moment

Language learning can be hard work, with plenty of frustrating times when you just feel like you're not making any progress at all. But every once in a while, you have what we like to call an "aha!" moment, when something just clicks, and you know you've actually crossed some threshold, large or small.

Here are two examples:

"I studied in France as a college student, and even though I tried really hard to master the language, it was still pretty easy to peg me as an American.

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Learning the Cyrillic Alphabet

Many students of Russian find themselves immediately challenged by the Cyrillic alphabet. It's an important obstacle to overcome, so here are some tips to help make Cyrillic a little less intimidating.

First, keep in mind that there are a few letters in the alphabet that you already know from English.

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The Two Food Phrases You Should Know in China

The phrase How are you? is so boring, no? And really, who ever answers that truthfully? No, I'm terrible actually, thanks for asking. Instead, try out this common Mandarin Chinese greeting:

Nǐ chīfàn le ma?
Have you eaten (yet)?

Despite what it may sound like to English speakers, this is basically the exact same thing as How are you? in English.

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(with audio!)

Also on the blog:
One Million Words? Really?
Are there actually that many words in the English language, and what counts as a word anyway?
Yamli.
A very useful tool for typing in Arabic.

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