While the concept of “a word” is surprisingly difficult to define with any accuracy, it still makes sense to divide that nebulous idea into more concrete and manageable categories. One way of doing that is to split words into content and function words. The category names themselves already provide a bit of insight into what […]
Perfect pronunciation is one of the last major challenges that stands between you and fluent spoken English. It can also be one of the hardest, with many students taking years to master it. Some simply don’t bother or fool themselves into thinking it’s not as important as perfect grammar – but don’t forget, a grammatically […]
Ask any non-native speaker and, chances are that they’ll swear their language skills improve once they’ve had a couple of drinks. Sure, one might be willing to believe that just for the great excuse to combine beer with your language practice sessions, but is there any science behind it? We decided to take a look […]
Starting anything new can be daunting. And whether you’re just starting on your first foreign language or seventh, it’s important to take the correct first steps to make the whole process easier for yourself in the long run. You’ll need to set your learning goals and keep them in focus, get yourself an excellent teacher, […]
Every learner, who is not born into a tonal language, knows and dreads the difficulty of trying to learn a language that distinguishes meaning based on tone. The most famous examples of such languages are Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese languages (for example, Mandarin and Cantonese). Not surprisingly, they are all considered extremely difficult for English […]
English has a very distinct sound. When it is spoken as a second language, sometimes the speaker will sound very foreign to him or herself. When we think we sound silly, it’s uncomfortable and can hinder or even stop learners from speaking freely. It’s important to remember that the goal of English study is not […]
So, you’ve decided to learn Italian? I mean, who can blame you? It is just an amazing language, so passionate and beautiful. Italian is the language of melody and music. After all, the most beautiful opera masterpieces are sung in Italian and the music itself is written in the language. But you already know all […]
Everyone wants to sound more like a native and, if you want to fit in with native speakers, or advance your career, then doing so will definitely help you in the long run. You don’t even have to be a fluent speaker to start improving your pronunciation. But, it is important that you know the […]
This is the second part of our advice article on how to start getting rid of your accent and become more like a native speaker. The first part of this advice article dealt with the more general problem of heavy accents and gave a short introduction to how to start solving this issue. You can […]
The first goal to focus on when learning any new language should be to understand and be understood in your target language. Everything else is second-place. Once you’ve reached that level and feel comfortable in your new skills, however, it can be a good idea to take a step back and try to analyse how […]
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