Tokyo is quite likely the world’s ultimate dining destination. Tourists flood in from every which direction, often expecting something refined, elevated, if not Michelin-starred. Sure, those options are here (230 of them, in fact) and not hard to find. But…
Politeness is an essential part of Japanese culture. You’ll see reflected in every facet of life, including the Japanese language. The use of Japanese honorifics reflects respect and certain suffixes are used in formal situations, while others are more appropriate…
The process of learning a second language, sometimes referred to as second language acquisition or SLA, can be a challenging one. You’ll often hear that children are best suited to take on learning a second language because their brains are…
We’ve entered the age of the podcast and as this method of media has risen in popularity, so has the use of podcasts as a way to learn a language. From Spanish to Russian to Chinese, there is a plethora…
They say that you shouldn’t ever start out any sort of conversation or extended monologue with negative vibes, and I agree, which is why I’m bringing this up at the top of this entry. See, I’m about to talk about something I hate, and I didn’t want to offend the rules of order by starting this whole thing off negatively. I think the above is a smart maxim, and also, just to start off on an unrelated positive note, I think Townes Van Zandt’s song, “Nothin’” is a hauntingly beautiful masterpiece. Okay, on to the negative stuff.
A common misconception about learning a new language is that you have to master the language before you can start speaking it. Actually, testing out your skills in the real world is one of the best ways to learn. Below,…
You’ve probably seen umlauts at some point—those mysterious little dots hovering over letters in languages. And while they may seem intimidating or unfamiliar to English speakers, umlauts and other diacritic marks guide pronunciation and can be extremely helpful for language…
Welcome to Madrid! I am so excited to take you on a free walking tour of my hometown—it’s an absolutely mesmerizing city that is full of history, culture, spectacular architecture, and mouthwatering meals. One of the things I love most…
Are y’all familiar with the idea of “avoidance behavior?” Clearly, even if you’re not, it doesn’t take a brain scientist to figure out the gist of what it is, but for those of you who would rather not think, it’s a theory that posits that many, many facets of behaviors that we tend to lump in with the notion of addiction are really just ‘avoidance behavior,’ that is, something you train yourself compulsively to do rather than deal with the less savory parts of being a sentient human and all the messy frustrating crap that goes along with that.
Idioms can make a conversation pop. Depending on the situation, they can often better help you communicate warmth, show passion, or inspire laughter than a more literal statement. And when you’re learning a new language like German, they can help…
So you find yourself at a Biergartenーwunderbar! Below, find a few tips to get the most out of the experience. First things first, you’ll want to know how to order a drink. Typically, you’ll be able to spot a central…
In my most recent Italian lesson, the Rosetta Stone in-app police stringently discouraged me from moving on and told me to go back and retake the last lesson, which, well shit, I kinda thought we were past that, so I skipped ahead and oh mercy goodness was I not ready for that. I will say this though: up to now I’ve been sober as a judge when I’ve done these things and this time I kinda let my natural proclivities towards being a wild and crazy individual fly and decided to do this one with two drinks in me.