Category Archives: Languages

Have I learned anything?

I recently had a rather frustrating experience: In the middle of July, I was in Florida with a couple of people to see the last shuttle launch. While we were in Florida, we also visited Universal Studies for two days. … Continue reading

Posted in German, Language Learning, Languages | 13 Comments

Grimm Grammar for German

The Texas Language Technology Center of the University of Texas has a very nice online grammar of German, Grimm Grammar. A snippet from their about page: Welcome to Grimm Grammar, an irreverent revival and shameless exploitation of 19th-century Grimm Fairy … Continue reading

Posted in All Entries, German, Grammar, Languages, Resources | Leave a comment

Searching for Russian books online

A quick tip regarding searching for Russian books online: when you’re searching, try the transliterated spelling of the title / author as well as the original Cyrillic version. I was recently trying to find a Russian history book for learners … Continue reading

Posted in Russian | 1 Comment

First Steps with Dutch

I’ve been working with Assimil’s Dutch with Ease course the past week and a half or so, and I’m now up to lesson 21. I’ve usually been able to do a few lessons each day instead of the recommended 1 … Continue reading

Posted in dutch, Language Journal, Language Learning, Languages | 9 Comments

My Prisma Dutch-English Dictionary – Oops

The two Dutch language learning books I ordered arrived today; one’s a success, the other, not so much. The success is Assimil’s Dutch with Ease; I’ve little to say about it at this point, other than it looks as good … Continue reading

Posted in Dictionaries, dutch, Language Learning, Languages | 4 Comments

Grammar For Decoding

Geoff wrote a post a few weeks ago about the idea of learning a language without grammar, and I quite liked this bit: I personally favor the use of grammar for decoding, but am more reluctant to use it for … Continue reading

Posted in Grammar, Language Learning, Russian | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Video-Thema from Deutsche Welle

Yesterday I learned about a new offering from Deutsche Welle, Video-Thema. Every week they put up a new video complete with exercises, transcript, and glossary. Apparently, they started this up at the beginning of the year; I’ve no idea how … Continue reading

Posted in German, Languages, Resources, Videos | Leave a comment

Yabla – Foreign Language Videos With Subtitles and Translations

I recently learned about a website called Yabla, which offers Spanish and French videos complete with transcripts and translations: Only Yabla language immersion sites give you authentic television, music videos, drama, interviews, travel, and Yabla exclusive shoots from throughout the … Continue reading

Posted in All Entries, French, Resources, Spanish, Tools, Videos | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Language Juggling

I must admit defeat – but perhaps not in the way you might be expecting. I have stuck to my New Year intentions, and have been doing a bit with each of “my” languages each day. I failed, however, in … Continue reading

Posted in All Entries, Language Journal, Spanish | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Language Geek New Year Intentions

I know, I know – you expected to see “resolutions” in the title. I decided to copy Geoff’s lead, by using intentions rather than resolutions. Every New Year resolution I’ve ever made, I’ve failed miserably at; and as Einstein said, … Continue reading

Posted in All Entries, French, German, Language Journal, Russian | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments