Observations of a Linguaphile OK, I guess I can’t speak for all language nerds so this is actually a list of thoughts I have on a fairly regular basis. Do you have them too? (How many language lovers have to agree before the post title is accurate?) 1. I wonder how many language
Do Accents Matter? While listening to a radio interview of Vancouver mayoral candidate Meena Wong the other day, an acquaintance commented that her accent was going to be a problem for her during the campaign. Meena was born in China but came to Canada as a young girl and speaks perfe
Podcasts are Great… Especially for Language Learners A guest post by fellow language educator, Adam Samuel. Podcasts are audio files, mainly consisting of spoken word content on numerous topics that can be downloaded directly onto a computer or transportable media device, such as an i
Authentic videos for learning Chinese What is it? Yabla Chinese is a site aimed at helping learners of Mandarin improve their listening proficiency through watching “authentic” videos. Often, listening comprehension tools are based on scripts that sound unnatural and contrived, and th
A Great Strategy for Private Language Teachers There are many different approaches to language teaching, and especially to private language teaching. Each student is unique and will respond differently to different activities and teaching styles. I’ve written before about the im
Hip-hop and Social Justice I first heard French-Chilean hip hop artist Ana / Anita Tijoux rapping on Julieta Venegas‘ 2007 #1 song “Eres Para Mí” (You are for Me) when she first broke into the world of latin pop after ten years as the female MC of the Chilean hip-hop
A website and podcast focused on Turkish listening Last week I wrote about my poor listening skills in Turkish. It prompted me to look for some online materials. Only after sifting through a dozen confusing websites with bad layouts and ancient recordings did I remember that someone h
I can speak Turkish. Why can’t I understand anything? These past few weeks I feel I can’t understand anything in Turkish. Meals are ordered, pleasantries are exchanged, buses are located, but as soon as someone speaks beyond a close range of familiarity, I become lost in a
Multilingual Musicians Before I met my wife she already had pretty good conversational English which she learned from English music and through working in the service industry in a town with a lot of foreign visitors. She is also a musician – a very talented singer and now also
