Benny Lewis's Blog, page 28

How to Form Plural Nouns in Italian – An Extensive Guide [With Examples]

If you want to be fluent in Italian, or at least make people believe that you are able to speak like a native speaker would, you need to learn how to form plural nouns.

One of the things that gives away the fact that you're not able to fully speak a specific language is getting plural nouns wrong. Especially if you're speaking languages such as Italian, French, or Spanish.

In this post, I will help you learn how to form the plural forms for Italian nouns.

Why Learning to Form Plural Nouns in Your Target Language Will Make You a Better Speaker

The language we're focusing on is Italian. But first, I want to make you understand why learning how to form plural nouns is a crucial step in the learning process of your target language.

Let's say you're speaking with an Italian native speaker and you're speaking perfectly. Your accent is great and so is your grammar.

But what happens when you use a singular noun instead of the plural? You completely give away the fact that Italian is not your first language.

Making mistakes is part of the process of learning a new language. But let’s be honest. Wouldn’t you rather make as few mistakes as possible?

This is why learning how to form plural nouns is important.

Now we're going to learn how to do it in Italian. In the following paragraphs, I will give you some examples, and we'll talk about a few exceptions.

The last section will be dedicated to a few tips and tricks to make your life easier and your learning process quicker.

As you know, the main aim of Fluent in 3 Months is always to help you find the best way to learn a foreign language!

The Rules for Forming Plural Nouns in Italian

In the Italian language, plural nouns are formed by changing the variable element of the noun found at the end of each word.

Usually, the last letter of any word in Italian indicates the gender and the number of the noun. It's important to learn how to recognize the gender of the noun first.

Nouns are divided into three categories:

1. First category – Nouns ending in -o

These nouns are usually masculine and form the plural with -i.

cavallo (“horse”) → cavalli (“horses”)

There aren't many feminine nouns that end with -o in the Italian language. One of them is la mano (“hand”) whose plural is le mani.

2. Second category – Nouns ending in -a

These nouns are usually feminine and form the plural with -e.

casa (“house”) → case (“houses”)3. Third category – Nouns ending in -e

These nouns can be masculine or feminine and form the plural with -i.

masculine: ristorante (“restaurant”) → ristoranti (“restaurants”) feminine: canzone (“song”) → canzoni (“songs”)

As you can see, the standard form is easy and you just need to learn a few rules.

It might seem complicated because Italian is not your first language, but once you get the hang of it, learning how to form plural nouns will be the easiest thing you have learned so far.

It is also essential to have a basic knowledge of a few things, though: articles, gender of the noun, and so on.

As previously stated, being able to form plural nouns and using the correct noun in a sentence is that extra step that will make you sound like a native speaker, so keep practicing!

Plural Nouns in Italian: Learn the Exceptions to Speak More Confidently

We've talked about the three categories into which the plural nouns are divided, but there is another category we haven’t talked about

In the fourth category, we can find all the rebel words. They might seem like regular nouns, but they require you to not follow the rules mentioned above.

Have a look at the list of exceptions below:

1. All the words that end with the suffix -ista

These words can be masculine or feminine.

If they are masculine, the plural is formed by getting rid of the -a and adding an -i. If they are feminine, they form the plural with -e.

For instance, the word chitarrista (“guitarist”) becomes chitarristi if we refer to male guitarists, but it becomes chitarriste if we refer to female guitarists.

The same thing happens with the words batterista (“drummer”), dentista (“dentist”), artista (“artist”), and so on.

2. Singular feminine nouns that end in -si

These don’t change in the plural form. For instance, the plural form of crisi (“crisis”) is crisi (plural), the plural form of analisi (“analysis”) is analisi, and so on.

3. Singular feminine nouns that end in -o

They don’t change in the plural form either. But that’s only for the feminine nouns!

For instance, the plural form of auto (“car”) is auto, the plural form of radio (“radio”) is radio, and so on.

(Note: the word auto can also be written as automobile, and in the plural form, it becomes automobili.)

Careful though! This exception only applies to feminine nouns ending in -o. Remember that masculine nouns ending in -o form the plural with -i: cavallo → cavalli

4. Masculine nouns that end in -io

Because of the rule that we just restated, you might think that masculine words that end in -io would form their plural with -ii. However, they have the plural with -i, with just one -i.

For instance, the word giornalaio (“newsagent”) becomes giornalai, orologio (“watch, clock”) becomes orologi, and so on.

5. Some masculine nouns that end in -a

Their plural form ends in -i

You have to learn which ones they are. For instance, the word poeta (“poet”) becomes poeti, problema (“problem”) becomes problemi, and so on.

6. The nouns that end in -tà

Their plural is formed with -tà. For instance, the plural form of the word città (“city”) is città, the plural form of the word difficoltà (“difficulty”) is difficoltà, and so on.

7. The nouns that end in -tù and -sù

Similar to words that end in -tà, this group’s plural stays the same, so -tù.

For instance, the plural form of the word gioventù (“youth”) is gioventù, the plural form of the word tiramisù (tiramisu is a typical Italian dessert) is tiramisù, and so on.

8. Foreign words that end in -s, -r, or -t

These plurals end in -s, -r, or -t. For instance, the plural form of the word computer (“computer, laptop”) is computer, the plural form of the word autobus (“bus”) is autobus, and so on.

9. Feminine nouns that end in -ca

These nouns form the plural with -che. For instance, the word amica (“friend”) becomes amiche, fatica (“effort”) becomes fatiche, etc.

10. Masculine nouns that end in -co

Their plural ends in -ci. For instance, the word amico (“friend”) becomes amici, manico (“handle”) becomes manici, etc.

11. Feminine nouns that end in -ga

Their plural ends in -ghe. For instance, the word alga (“algae”) becomes alghe, piaga (“sore, wound”) becomes piaghe, and so on.

12. Masculine nouns that end in -go

Their plural ends in -ghi. For instance, the word mago (“wizard”) becomes maghi, ago (“needle”) becomes aghi, and so on.

13. Nouns that end in -cia and -gia

If preceded by a consonant, nouns that end in -cia and -gia have a plural form that ends in -ce and -ge respectively.

For instance, the word arancia (“orange”) becomes arance, scheggia (“splinter”) becomes schegge, and so on.

If preceded by a vowel, nouns that end in -cia and -gia have a plural form that ends in -cie and -gie.

For instance, the word camicia (“shirt”) becomes camicie, ciliegia (“cherry”) becomes ciliegie.

Example Sentences of How to Use Plural Nouns in Italian

Now that you know all the categories and exceptions, I’ll give you some examples with the words we covered.

Una delle mie città preferite è Londra! - “London is one of my favorite cities!”Di quanti aghi hai bisogno? - “How many needles do you need?”Quel negozio vende un sacco di orologi! - “That shop sells a lot of watches!”Tra tutte le amiche che ho, tu sei la mia migliore amica. - “Among all the friends I have, you're my best friend.”Non ci credo! Tutti i manici sono rotti! - “I can't believe it! All the handles are broken!”I batteristi hanno un certo fascino! - “Drummers are fascinating!”Ho comprato un sacco di auto negli ultimi dieci anni. - “I've bought tons of cars in the last ten years.”I poeti migliori erano quelli che parlavano d’amore. - “The best poets were those who wrote about love.”Questi problemi di matematica sono molto difficili! - “These math problems are so complicated!”Tips on How to Best Form Plural Nouns in Italian

I’ve given you the basic rules, the exceptions, and a few examples. Now, I’m going to provide you with some tips on forming the Italian plural form.

Know Your Italian Articles

The first thing you need to review is indefinite and definite articles.

To form the plural of nouns in Italian, you need to know if a singular noun is feminine or masculine. A good way to identify this is by recognising the article that precedes the noun.

Nouns in Italian are almost always preceded by an article which agree in number and gender with the noun.

In short, il and lo are the definitive articles for masculine singular nouns. La is the definitive article for feminine singular nouns.

Un and uno are the indefinite articles for masculine singular nouns. Una and un’ are the indefinite articles for feminine singular nouns.

Take It Easy With Borrowed Words

Another trick is to find out and learn which words come from another language.

Borrowed words in the Italian language usually end with a consonant. Those are more words that do not change in the plural form.

You can find a few of these words in the previous paragraphs.

Quick Hack: Spot the Accented Words

Accented words are also invariable!

In the Italian language, accents are almost everywhere: à, è, é, ì, ò, ù. When there is an accented letter at the end of a noun, the plural looks exactly like the singular form.

Just make sure that the word you're looking at is a noun and not a verb.

The Funny Plurals of Body Parts

If you’re looking for funny exceptions when forming Italian plural nouns, look for them in body parts.

Don't be tricked by the word dito (“finger”), because the plural of dito is dita, NOT diti! Braccio (“arm”) becomes braccia, NOT bracci!

Interestingly enough, their gender also changes: dito and braccio are masculine nouns, but dita and braccia are feminine nouns.

A Pronunciation Note

Be careful with how you pronounce ga/ghe and ca/che!

With ca/che: the c and ch sound the same as the "c" in the word “can”, so it's KA and KE, not CHA and CHE.

It's the same with the g and gh in ga and gheThey sound like “gate”, so it's GA and GHE, not JA and GE!

That’s It!

These are all the tips and tricks for forming plurals in Italian. You might be intimidated by all these rules but the truth is, not even Italian native speakers know all the rules! They make mistakes too, and remember that making mistakes is part of the learning process as well. Just review your articles, and you'll be fine.

If you want to discover more about the Italian language, have a look at our list of resources for learning Italian.

The post How to Form Plural Nouns in Italian – An Extensive Guide [With Examples] appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

The Best Way to Learn a Language [Scientifically Proven, Polyglot Tested]

"What's the best way to learn a language?"

"What's the quickest way to learn new words?"

"How can I sound like a native speaker?"

"Do I really have to study grammar?"

Language hackers ask themselves these kinds of questions all the time.

We all want to use effective study methods so we can learn a language fast and speak it well.

But many language teachers and programs are giving conflicting advice. How can we know if we're spending our time on the right things?

Fortunately, language learners aren't the only ones who've been puzzling over these questions.

Linguists, the people who study the science of language, have spent decades observing how people learn languages. And while they don't have all the answers yet, they have discovered a lot about what works and what doesn't.

So let's take a look at some of the most common questions in language learning and what science has to say about them. We'll also look at the scientifically proven best way to learn a language so we can become better language learners.

Table of contents1. Speak From Day One2. Create a “Home Immersion” Situation3. Use the Best Language Learning Apps to Learn a Language Fast4. Try the Science of Flashcards5. Use Context to Learn Words the Natural Way6. Read a Lot7. Take a New Approach to Grammar8. Keep the Motivation Up (With These Techniques)Find a Friend or Language Partner to Study WithBreak Down Your Big Goals into Mini-MissionsLet’s Sum Up - Frequently Asked Language Learning QuestionsThe Best Way to Learn a Language: Play Around With It!

We’ll be covering:

The fastest way to learn new words in another languageThe best way to learn a language by yourself or onlineThe best language learning apps and resourcesHow to make the most out of flashcardsHow to learn words the natural wayDo you really need to study grammar?The best way to stay motivated to learn a languageHow to find a friend to study with and set mini-goalsFAQs about pronunciation, accents, and more1. Speak From Day One

Related Learning: 5 Rituals to Help You Learn a Language Faster

What's the fastest way to learn new words in another language?

There are as many ways to learn vocabulary as there are successful language learners.

The most important debate - as far as science is concerned - is often about which approach is best. Should we memorise words using flashcards? Or should we pick them up naturally through reading and listening?

In reality, they're both a bit right. Both techniques are useful for different reasons and if you can balance the two, you'll be onto a winner.

Here at Fluent in 3 Months, the tried-and-true method is speaking from day one to help you use and remember what you learn.

Here’s a video about how to practice this approach:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM---...

You can also check out our articles about the best ways to learn a language faster in Spanish, Japanese, German, English French, Korean, and even Latin.

2. Create a “Home Immersion” Situation

Related Learning: 16 Ways to Immerse Yourself at Home

What’s the best way to learn a language by yourself or online? We can’t all get up and go travel abroad until we become fluent.

Well, one way to do that is through home immersion.

It’s possible to create an immersive environment at home. It just takes a bit of effort and patience.

For example, you can use social media to immerse yourself at home. You can also use social media to find communities to chat with.

Switching your phone’s language or watching shows in your target language will help you achieve an immersive experience, too. And of course, you’ll want as much speaking and writing practice as possible.

Online tutors are one of the best ways to get great-quality speaking practice from home, and at Fluent in 3 Months we’ve found Preply to be a good platform to find all sorts of tutors. You can check out Fi3M’s Preply review to learn how to use it.

Here’s a short video with more details about home immersion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yqGC.... Use the Best Language Learning Apps to Learn a Language Fast

Related Learning: Our Recommended Resources

If you’re learning a language by yourself at home, you’ll want to use the best language learning apps to get you going.

But there are so many of them... So how do you know which to use?

Well, it depends on the language you're learning, your goals, and your preferred learning style.

That’s why the Fluent in 3 Months team review tons of language apps and resources, like:

BabbleSpanishPod101DuoLingoLingQAnkiMondlyJapanese UncoveredStaircase Method90 Day KoreanLearning with Virtual Reality

...And so many more.

When deciding on the best language learning apps to use, pick only 1 - 3 to begin with. If you use too many at once, it’ll become repetitive and distracting.

It’s a good idea to have a vocab app you like and at least one app that teaches you the language structure. After that, you could pick one that gives you practice in the way you learn best.

So for example, if you prefer listening, try Pod101 language podcasts. If you prefer reading, try LingQ.

You use something untraditional, too, like learning through Netflix or Nintendo. Here’s a video about how to do that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rxnj.... Try the Science of Flashcards

Related Learning: How to Use a Memory Palace to Boost Your Vocabulary

Lots of learners use flashcard systems.

These days, most people use apps like Anki which leave a specific time-lapse between card reviews using a system called spaced repetition.

This technique is based on research by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus. His research showed that people learn more when they space learning out rather than cramming it in.

This means that you'll remember a word much better if you look at it once a day for five days, rather than five times in the same day.

Ebbinghaus also noticed that people tend to remember things better when they can link them to personal experiences. You can take advantage of this by using a memory technique called mnemonics.

The mnemonics technique involves linking words in the language you're learning to words and images in your own language that sound similar.

For example, to remember the Mandarin Chinese word for book, shu, you could imagine a book with a shoe on it. That helps you link the image of a book to its Chinese translation.

Using these techniques can help you balance learning new things and reviewing, as talked about in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URzYi...

Spaced repetition and mnemonics can boost your word power quickly and make your brain feel like an awesome vocabulary learning machine. But they're not the be-all and end-all of memory strategies.

In fact, overuse of these techniques can actually harm your vocabulary, and here's why.

5. Use Context to Learn Words the Natural Way

Related Learning: Contextese - The Most Useful Language You’re Already Fluent In

You may not know it, but your brain is already an awesome vocabulary learning machine. And there’s a scientifically proven best way to learn a language: it’s through context.

When you read or listen to something, your brain doesn't take each word at face value. Instead, it's taking statistics about which words appear together often so that it can anticipate what's coming next and process speech faster.

Neuroscientists have found a way to measure when your brain is doing this. Our brains emit electrical signals, which change depending on what task your brain is dealing with.

Scientists can read some of these, using a technique called electroencephalography, to study how your brain processes language (but don't worry, they can't read your mind... yet!).

One of these signals, called N400, changes depending on whether words make sense in context or not. The N400 is relatively small for expected word combinations, like coffee and cream. It increases in height for unexpected word combinations, like coffee and crap.

This means that scientists can read the N400 height to analyse the kind of expectations you have about which words usually occur together. If your N400 doesn't increase for coffee and crap, they might wonder how on earth you've been drinking your coffee.

In language learners, the N400 changes based on proficiency. The better people get at a language, the closer their N400 pattern is to a native speaker's.

So, an important part of fluency is taking statistics and building expectations about what words usually appear together, like native speakers do.

6. Read a Lot

Related Learning: Learn a Language by Reading: 5 Easy-to-Follow Steps

To get better at building expectations about word combinations, we need to flood our brains with bucket loads of natural content. So we can build a picture of which kinds of words usually appear together.

Reading is a great way to do this. And there's lots of research that shows that reading works wonders for your vocabulary skills.

Choose resources that are right for your level, though. If the percentage of unknown words is too high, it can be difficult to figure out what they mean from the context. And it's frustrating having to stop every two minutes to look up a word.

Graded readers, which adapt books to make them easier to understand at lower levels, are perfect for this.

7. Take a New Approach to Grammar

Related Learning: Learning Grammar… Do I Have To?

Do you really need to study grammar?

Grammarphobes often ask themselves whether it's necessary to learn all those grammar rules. Can't we pick it up with the natural method, that is, through reading, listening and talking?

Linguists struggle to answer this question because it's very difficult to control and measure.

Experiments usually compare one group who learn grammar rules with another who learns the natural way.

But how do we know each group has paid attention to the same grammar structure the same number of times? What if the ones who aren't taught the rules are secretly trying to figure out the rules in their heads, or running off home and learning it on their own?

How do you know if they've learned the grammar?

That's why, after decades of research, the grammar question is still a very murky one. To clear it up, linguists have started gathering all available research on learning grammar rules and seeing if there's a pattern.

The results emerging show that grammar rules do help people speak more accurately. But the results aren't nearly as drastic as you might think, especially given the attention to grammar in the majority of language classes and textbooks.

These results fit in with my experience as a language learner. Knowing the grammar does help, but spending the majority of my time memorising complicated grammar rules isn’t the most effective way to learn.

Here’s Fluent in 3 Months founder Benny Lewis’s thoughts on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtQhh.... Keep the Motivation Up (With These Techniques)

Related Learning: Why Language Learnings Quit -- and How to Beat the “Motivational Killers”

What's the best way to stay motivated in language learning?

This is probably the most important question of all.

You can know all the best ways to learn pronunciation, words, and grammar. But if you can't maintain your motivation, it's never going to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1LZu...

Luckily there's loads of cool research on motivation that'll help you get your language learning act together. Here are a couple of ways to get started:

Find a Friend or Language Partner to Study With

Studies show that people who feel like they're working as a team (even if they're not physically together) accomplish more. There are a few reasons for this:

Social: We're social animals and sharing our experiences with others makes us feel more positive about them.Accountability: Once your goals are out there for all to see, you're more likely to work towards them.Support: You get access to a lovely support network who can give you advice and encouragement.

One of the best ways to do this is by finding a language exchange partner or community of like-minded learners who can support you.

The Fluent in 3 Months Challenge is one such community with amazing support groups, language exchanges, and challenges to push you to the next level.

Break Down Your Big Goals into Mini-Missions

Research shows that people who break down big tasks into little chunks get more done in the long run.

One study used maths problems to prove this point by creating two groups of people. One group was given six pages of maths problems per session over seven sessions. The participants in the other group got the 42 pages from the start.

The first group completed the pages faster and more accurately than the second one.

Breaking down the task is essential in something like language learning, where the outcome feels big and scary.

Instead of trying to "speak German", aim for something smaller and more concrete, like having a 15-minute conversation in German. Come up with a plan to get there, like studying 30 minutes a day with your apps and resources you picked out (as we talked about earlier!).

By breaking it down this way, you're much more likely to do it. And if you keep it up day by day, you'll be speaking a language before you know it.

Let’s Sum Up - Frequently Asked Language Learning Questions

Phew! That was a lot to cover, but now you know what you need to find your own best way to learn a language.

But you may still have some questions about language learning. Like how to sound more like a native speaker and correcting pronunciation.

So here are a few more in-depth answers for your curious linguistic minds:

How Can You Sound More Like a Native Speaker?

Perhaps the first question to address is why you want to sound more like a native speaker. Lots of language learners don't worry much about pronunciation. They think that as long as people can get what they're saying, that's all that matters. And there's some truth in this: you don't need a perfect accent to communicate well with native speakers. But the more you sound like a native speaker, the easier it is for them to understand you. And the easier it is for people to understand you, the more they enjoy talking to you. This comes in handy, given that you need to talk to people to learn their language.

Here are some articles to help you with this:

How to Improve Your Spanish Pronunciation
Benny’s French Pronunciation Guide
German Pronunciation Guide
Learn Better Pronunciation While Speaking Your Native Language

But why do we have accents in the first place? And what can we do about them?

Why Do We Have Foreign Accents?

There are two main reasons language learners have foreign accents. 

First, it can be difficult to tell the difference between two sounds that don't exist in our native language. 

Second, other languages can have sounds that make us use our mouth muscles in a new way. Essentially, we need to learn how to train our mouth muscles to form these new sounds. And train our ears to hear the sounds that don’t exist in our native language.

Sound Differences That Don't Exist in Our Own Language

When I started learning Italian, I spent a few months desperately trying to avoid the word anno (“year”), for fear of accidentally saying the word ano (“ass”). I couldn't hear the difference at all.

On the flip side, I'm a native English speaker, so the difference between the “sheep” and “ship” vowels seems obvious. But lots of learners struggle with the difference, which explains why everyone's terrified of speaking English on holiday, with all those beaches and sheets and what not.
This happens because when we're born, we have super little polyglot brains. They can tell the difference between sounds in any language.

As we grow older, our brain focuses on sounds that are important for our native language and filters out sounds that are not. This is good, as it helps us understand our own language better. But it causes problems for language learners because they filter out sounds that might be in the language they're learning.

But it’s important to note that this does not mean that there’s such a thing as being “too old to learn a language”. It just means that we need to focus our attention on this area of our learning.

How to Tell Sounds Apart

Linguists have been studying this phenomenon for years. And they've found a way to help learners hear and pronounce the difference between these tricky sounds.

This method, known as minimal pair training, involves listening to a word that has the sound difference you want to learn (like ship or sheep), deciding which one you think it is, and getting immediate feedback about whether you were right or wrong.
After a few sessions, you'll hear the difference more easily and be able to pronounce them better. You set up your own minimal pair training by using forvo
to download sound files of the words you want to learn to tell apart.

Then use Anki to put the sound file on the question side and the written word on the other. Listen to the word, try to guess which one it is, then flip the flashcard over to see if you were right.

How to Train Your Mouth Muscles for Correct Pronunciation

Some sounds are difficult because they involve completely new mouth positions, like the rolled "R" in Spanish or the "U" in French. For these sounds, science has some good news. It turns out that with a little perseverance, it's absolutely possible to train your mouth muscles to pronounce sounds more like native speakers.

To do this, you need to learn a little about articulatory phonetics (which is a fancy-pants way of saying mouth positions). This helps us find out exactly where the tongue, teeth and lips should be in the sounds you want to learn. Then practice them until your mouth naturally moves to that position.
To learn more about this, try doing a quick search on YouTube. There are tons of pronunciation videos which explain the mouth positions in the language you're learning. A good example is Glossika Phonics.

The Best Way to Learn a Language: Play Around With It!

Okay, okay. That was a lot to take in. But here’s the main idea: the best way to learn a language on your own is going to depend on you. And to find your best way to learn, you’ll have to play around a bit.

So take the scientific reasoning and the tips here as evidence of what may be best for you, and run with it. Make it your own!

How do you best learn a language? Leave a comment and let us know.

Original article by Katie Harris, updated by the Fluent in 3 Months team.

The post The Best Way to Learn a Language [Scientifically Proven, Polyglot Tested] appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

How to Learn Korean Fast: The Faster Way to Speak Korean

So you want to know how to learn Korean fast? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Many people wonder, “Is Korean hard to learn?” After all, it’s listed as one of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn, right up there with Japanese and Chinese.

But if you know the best way to learn Korean, then it becomes easier to learn and speak -- fast.

And there are tons of amazing reasons to learn Korean. Korean is one of the fastest-growing languages because the Korean wave (called Hallyu) of pop culture and entertainment has been taking over the world.

So if you’re ready to know how you can learn Korean fast, read on! Here’s what we’ll be learning:

Table of contentsHow to Learn Korean Fast, Step 1: Fall in Love with KoreanHow to Learn Korean Fast, Step 2: Use Home Immersion Techniques to Create a Mini SeoulHow to Learn Korean Fast, Step 3: Speak from Day OneHow to Learn Korean Fast, Step 4: Use Language HacksHow to Learn Korean Fast, Step 5: Use Conversation Connectors and FillersHow to Learn Korean Fast, Step 6: Focus on the Easy Parts of KoreanYou’ll Be Speaking Korean in No Time!

Let’s get to it.

How to Learn Korean Fast, Step 1: Fall in Love with Korean

Lesson: Ask “Why” First -- NOT “How/What”

First things first. WHY are you learning Korean?

Maybe you’re a new KPop stan and googled, “What language does BTS speak?” and decided to learn Korean to chase after RM, Suga, or Jungkook. (I’m an RM fan myself. #namjooning forever.)

Or perhaps you recently started watching Crash Landing on You on Netflix and now you’re hooked on amazing KDramas.

Your big “why” may be you have family or a spouse who speaks the language, or you want to travel to Korea someday. So you want to know how to speak Korean to communicate and build relationships.

Those are all amazing reasons to learn Korean!

The key is you need to know why you want to study Korean so when the going gets tough, you can refocus on that passion.

Here are some other examples:

You want to find a job in Korea, so you need to know how to study Korean for business;Your goal is to read Korean literature in its original language, so you need to learn hangul (the Korean writing system);You want to make Korean friends, so you want to learn how to speak casually and talk about your interests.

Your “why” often gives you your focus of study and how to make learning Korean fun. If you get all caught up in textbooks and business speech, but your goal is to sing along at a BTS concert? Then you know you need to refocus your attention on Korean music and casual speech.

Related resources:

Practical Korean Phrases to Ace Your First Korean Conversation How to Learn The Korean Alphabet and Write in Korean 10 Must-Watch Korean Movies to Fall in Love With Korean How to Learn Korean Fast, Step 2: Use Home Immersion Techniques to Create a Mini Seoul

Lesson: Creating an Immersion Environment for Home, Work, or Play (Applies to all languages!)

Have you heard of code switching? It’s when a speaker switches back and forth between two or more languages.

Our brains do the same thing, even while learning a language. And while code switching is a helpful skill to have, it can wear out our brains while we’re learning. The constant back-and-forth between our native language and the language we’re learning can drain our brain a lot faster and make it harder to learn.

To reduce code switching, we can create a language immersive environment at home!

You don’t have to travel to Seoul to get immersed in Korean. You can learn the Korean language from home with these tips:

Switch your smartphone to Korean . This will also change most of your apps to Korean as well. If this is too hard, try downloading Korean language apps and games to help you ease in.Watch Korean TV shows. Watching TV shows is a great way to learn Korean culture while picking up new vocab and phrases.Read often in Korean. LingQ is my favorite tool to start learning to read in Korean. But there are tons of other resources to learn Korean free online.Find a Korean language exchange partner. You may be surprised to find that, even in small towns, there are Korean communities. If you have a college with a study abroad program or a Korean company nearby, then chances are there are at least a handful of Korean native speakers near you. Similarly, you can check out how I found my Japanese friends in a small town.

Related resources:

Best Korean Translator Apps for Learning Korean Korean Culture: 47 Facts about Life in Korea 90 Day Korean Inner Circle Review -- My favorite option for online Korean language classes, community, and lessons How to Learn Korean Fast, Step 3: Speak from Day One

Lesson: Speak from Day One

You may be wondering, “How can I speak Korean from day one?”

Well, Korean is actually much easier than you think. (More on that in a minute.)

But to learn how to speak Korean, you need to… you know… actually speak Korean.

So here are some ways to can start speaking Korean and get Korean language practice right now:

Find a Korean tutor on italki. I found an amazing Korean tutor on italki who’s been insanely helpful on my Korean language journey. The tutors are reasonably priced!Hop on social media to learn Korean! Social media is a great tool for language learning when applied the right way. You can use hashtags or location searches to help you find native speakers.Blog or journal in Korean. Writing practice is active output practice, too. So if you can’t find someone to speak with right away, try writing.

But to start speaking, you need to know some Korean greetings! Here are a few easy Korean words and phrases to get you started:

“Hello”: 안녕하세요 (annyeong haseyo)“Hi” and “Bye” (casual): 안녕 (annyeong)“Did you eat?”: 밥 먹었어? (bab meogeoss-eo?)“Yes”: 네 (ne) or 예 (ye)“No”: 아니요 (aniyo)“Please”: 주세요 (juseyo)“Thank you”: 감사합니다 (gamsahamnida)“Take care”: 잘가요 (jalgayo)

By the way, “did you eat?” is a super common greeting in Korea. It shows affection and concern -- everyone wants to make sure you’re well-fed!

Related resources:

10+ Ways to Say Hello in Korean How to Say Thank You in Korean How to Speak Korean -- It’s Easier Than You Think How to Learn Korean Fast, Step 4: Use Language Hacks

Lesson: Learn a Language Faster: 8 Simple Language Hacks

Language hacking is a staple here at Fluent in 3 Months. Language hacking can be anything that helps speed up your ability to learn a language and start speaking.

In fact, we have a whole category of articles about language hacking.

So if you want to know how to learn Korean fluently fast? Try these tips:

Focus on the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule means you’re learning the 20% of words and grammar that give you 80% of your results. The best way to do this is to focus on the most common words in Korean and the words you use most.Use a spaced repetition system (SRS) app, like Anki. An SRS vocab app helps you remember your new words whenever you’re about to forget them by strategically spacing them out for study. In fact, 90 Day Korean has Korean vocab decks for Anki as part of their program to study. But you could also make your own!Use mnemonics. This is how to associate Korean words with their sound or English word (or both). For example, in Korean, the word 일 (il) means “work”. Since it’s pronounced “il”, I remember it as “I’ll be heading to work now.” Boom.Use the Pomodoro technique to study in smaller chunks of time, like 25 minutes of study with a 5-minute break.

Related resources:

Take Goal Setting in Language Learning to the Next Level with the 80/20 Rule Korean Phrases for Beginners and Travelers Memory Palaces: How to Use Mnemonics to Remember New Words How to Learn Korean Fast, Step 5: Use Conversation Connectors and Fillers

Lesson: 101 Core Korean Words -- Basic Korean Words You Need to Learn First

Conversational connectors and filler words help you sound way more fluent in Korean. Why? Because we use words like “um,” “uh,” and “actually…” all the time in English.

Not only do these words give you time to think, they make your conversation flow more smoothly. Despite that, many people rarely think to learn them.

Here are some to get you started:

“But” or “by the way”: 그런데 (geureonde)“Well...:”: 저 (jeo)“Really?”: 진짜 (jinjja)“Okay” or “alright”: 그래요 (geuraeyo)“But” or “though” (to connect two sentences): 지만 (jiman)“And”: 그리고 (geurigo)“Uh…”: 어 (eo)“Um…”: 음 (eum)“Oh yeah?”, “I see”, “Yes”: 네 (ne) or 예 (ye)“Wow!”: 우와! (uwa!)“Ouch”: 아야 (aya)“Ugh”, “gosh” or “oh no”: 아이고 (aigo)“Oh my god”: 세상에 (sesang-e)“So…”: 그래서 (geuraeseo)“Therefore”: 따라서 (ttaraseo)“Still…” or “even so…”: 그래도 (geuraedo)“Actually”: 사실은 (sasil-eun) or just 사실 (sasil)

Related resources:

Conversational Connectors to Fake Your Way Through a Conversation in a New Language 150+ Conversation Starters So You Can Talk Confidently to Anyone, in Any Language Visual Memory Techniques to Build a Conversational Vocabulary How to Learn Korean Fast, Step 6: Focus on the Easy Parts of Korean

Lesson: Why Korean Is Easier Than You Think

Yes, Korean has a different writing system. And yes, Korean grammar is backward from English.

But Korean is actually way easier than you think, and you should focus on the easy parts first.

What are the easy parts you ask? Well, here are a few:

The Korean alphabet, hangul, was designed to be super easy to learn because it was invented for the sole purpose to boost reading and writing literacy.Korean is a phonetic language. It may not look like it, but hangul is made into block shapes with characters that are almost always pronounced the same way. That’s better than English!Korean doesn’t have tones, and it doesn’t have gendered words. Nice!There are thousands of Korean words imported from English into Korean. So you’ll recognize tons of words without even studying, like 컴퓨터 (keompyuteo -- “computer”!).Korean has word families, meaning there’s a logical build on words you already know. For example, 국 (guk) means “country”. 한국 (hanguk) means “Korean”, 미국 (miguk) means “American”, and 영국 (yeongguk) is “British”.

See, it’s not so bad once you realize what the easy parts are! So start with the basics, and keep these points in mind.

Related resources:

Master Your Manners in Korean Learn a Rainbow of Colors in Korean The Best Translator Apps for Korean Learners You’ll Be Speaking Korean in No Time!

Alright, those are your steps to learn Korean fast. Now it’s up to you to go out and use it!

If you use the resources and lessons here to get you started, you’ll learn how to speak Korean in no time at all. So don’t fret about it being one of the “hardest” languages! You’ve got this.

The post How to Learn Korean Fast: The Faster Way to Speak Korean appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

10 Best Chinese Online Dictionaries

If you’ve read some of my articles, you already know I’m no fan of big, heavy, expensive printed dictionaries. I’m all for online and downloadable dictionaries that I can take with me on my trips because they’re handy anytime and anywhere.

I even wrote a blog post on the best online dictionaries where you can find, among others, some of my Chinese dictionary recommendations.

Today I’ll look deeper into how online dictionaries can help you along on your Chinese learning journey and how to pick the best Chinese dictionary for your needs.

Before we dive into the sea of online dictionaries, let me explain how and why you should have an open mind when learning Mandarin -- or any language.

Bilingual and Monolingual Dictionaries and Google Image Search

When looking for an online dictionary, be sure you know exactly what features or content you’re looking for.

And before we get into my recommendations, I’d like to point out the advantages of monolingual dictionaries when learning a foreign language.

There’s a good chance that if you ask any fluent speaker of another language about bilingual dictionaries, they would encourage you to stop using them or use them as little as possible.

Now, there’s something important I don’t want to create any misunderstanding around! There’s no doubt that any new learner needs a bilingual dictionary.

But these dictionaries can make us lazy about thinking in another language.

They let us rely on the translation which might be problematic. Why? Because many languages, including Chinese, don’t offer a direct translation of words we know in English (or vice versa). I recommend you try this out. Put 慢走 (màn zǒu) into Google Translator. The translation it gives you is “walk slowly”. But what you might not know is that Chinese speakers use this as an expression to say “stay safe”, “have a nice journey” or “take it easy” depending on the context. And yes, it does literally mean to “walk slowly”.

There aren’t many online Chinese monolingual dictionaries, but I’ve included some helpful resources below. Most of the dictionaries in this list are a great help if you need to translate from Chinese to English or from English to Chinese.

Now, another thing that might come as a surprise is that I believe that Google Image Search is the best resource for language learning. The reason is the same as what I mentioned above: the meaning of a word might be easier to grasp when you simply look up an image for it.

For example, 山寨 (shānzhài) is not a “mountain village”, but fake cheap goods replicating more expensive brands. “Copycat” is a translation of this term in some dictionaries, but if you look it up and see an image, you’ll get a clear idea of the true meaning straight away. Plus, images help you create memorable associations so you don’t forget the words you’re learning and looking up.

Now with this in mind, let’s have a look at some of the best Chinese online dictionaries.

1. Pleco

Pleco is a smartphone app that translates from Mandarin to English and vice versa. Chinese is priority, which means your options with the Chinese language are more diverse. If you search for an English word, it will come up only as a part of the translations alongside various Chinese words.

Once you download Pleco on your phone, you have the option to use it to almost its full extent within the free version. You’ll get translation to English, including characters and pinyin, handwriting option and audio. With the audio option, you can record yourself saying a word you want translated. But if you’d like to hear the native pronunciation of a word, each word in the dictionary can be read to you by a native speaker.

Other features, including paid add-ons, are: OCR (optical character recognizer), flashcards, document reader, and a variety of dictionaries, such as Hanyu Da Cidian or Cheng & Tsui English-Chinese Lexicon of Business Terms.

2. Naver Dictionary (LINE)

LINE Dictionary, formerly Nciku and currently under NAVER Corp., is a nice, simple dictionary translating from English to Mandarin and vice versa, while also offering additional features for free.

As you look up a word’s translation, LINE offers a number of example sentences, too. This is helpful for understanding how native speakers use words in different contexts.

This dictionary also includes short conversations between native speakers. Each conversation has audio, as well as clickable related characters that will lead you towards a more advanced learning journey.

It goes without saying that LINE dictionary also has a handwriting option and that the translation includes characters, pinyin and English.

If you don’t like to learn a language word by word, but rather see them as a part of sentences and conversations or in context, with thousands of example phrases, LINE will be your best friend.

You can use this Chinese dictionary online or download their app on your smartphone.

3. Hanping Chinese Dictionary Lite

The free version of this dictionary for your smartphone is similar to the free version of Pleco. If you want a more advanced version of the app, Hanping has paid options, too. For your everyday translation needs, the free version is enough.

Hanping dictionary is the HSK test helper as it contains thousands of HSK words. You’ll also like its voice recorder. It can help you translate either English or Chinese words. And its camera scan function translates horizontal and vertical texts.

This smartphone dictionary has a couple of special features that separate it from other similar dictionaries. In addition to having a regular dictionary (HSK), it also includes a conversational dictionary. And you might find yourself pleasantly surprised to discover that the developers included an idiom dictionary as well. If you’re looking for a different way to learn characters, Hanping also has a character lookup feature based on the number of strokes.

4. MDBG

This is another simple Chinese dictionary. You’ll love MDBG if you like straightforward, neat and easy-to-navigate dictionaries.

MDBG lets you create your vocabulary list, look up translations either from Chinese to English or vice versa by using characters, pinyin and English words. And, it also includes what is a necessity with a character language like Chinese, a handwriting option.

This dictionary is simple-looking and might seem like it only has basic functions But you can make your language learning journey a bit more interesting by subscribing to get 10 new words a day. You can also test your knowledge with the MDBG quiz that will help you prepare for the HSK.

5. Iciba

Suitable for computer and smartphone use, this dictionary catches your attention straight away with the statement on their landing page claiming this dictionary covers 55 other dictionaries, including Oxford Dictionary and Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary.

Once you type an English word or a Chinese character, the main page suggests words you might be looking for. Then it will take you to a translation of your chosen character, including a voice recording of the correct pronunciation.

Something that’s sspecially helpful if you’re not sure about the right use of a word, are the example sentences you’ll find included below each entry. Also, you can scroll down to find words that contain your target character (or word).

Need a text in Chinese translated? Then upload your Excel or Word document to Iciba and after registering, you can get this, too. Iciba also offers additional services, such as a translation (by a human translator), different programs and lessons.

For a quick search and translation of words, the main function will do.

6. Youdao

Youdao isn’t only a dictionary, it’s also a search engine that lets you explore images, web pages, music, etc.

The Youdao dictionary is suitable for desktop, smartphone, and it works as an offline dictionary, too. It offers translations between Chinese and English, but also Japanese, Korean and French. It contains millions of words and example sentences, using well-known dictionaries, such as The 21st Century Unabridged English-Chinese Dictionary.

The handwriting function will make your life easier if you don’t want to type (or don’t have a Chinese keyboard). Similarly to the previous online/app Chinese dictionaries, Youdao also lets you scan a text and then translates it word by word.

Youdao is a Chinese website, so most of its features (such as Youdao Classroom or Native Pronunciations) are targeted at Chinese speakers who are learning English. But try it out to translate your text or to practice your Chinese by exploring it as an authentic Chinese website and search engine.

7. 5156edu

Enter your Chinese character, search by radical or pinyin and you’ll get an explanation in Chinese plus many translations, including example phrases.

On top of that, each word is broken down into characters and their meanings. This dictionary really goes into depth when it comes to translating and analyzing characters. Beneath the translation, more words and phrases are available, if you want to explore where else the characters are used.

The 5156edu dictionary is suitable (and great) for single characters and words translation, rather than whole sentences. If you need a document or whole text/sentence translation, look for a different online dictionary.

8. Yellow Bridge

Simple, intuitive online Chinese dictionary. Depending on your translation needs, you can choose to type (or copy and paste) your Chinese character, handwrite it with this dictionary’s writing tool, type pinyin or an English word. Another option is to look up characters by radicals or its components.

Why do I say it’s intuitive? Because all of this is within one window, in English and with an explanation on how to go about it underneath. Easy! Well, who has time to deal with all the extra on other websites when all you need is just a translation, anyway?

But that’s not all. Because Yellow Bridge can help you with more than just its dictionary. If you want to learn and practice Chinese, try its flashcards, animated stroke order of characters tool or memory games. Yellow Bridge is also a good place to learn a bit about Chinese culture and its literature, mysticism, and other things.

9. Ximizi Tongyici Cidian

Ximizi Tongyici Cidian is kind of like a Chinese Thesaurus. 同义词 (tóngyìcí) means “a synonym”, so it’s a different sort of Chinese dictionary. It will certainly be of help if you want to broaden your Chinese vocabulary.

In addition to its suggested lists of synonyms (and antonyms, too), you can also search for your own word and its synonyms. Not only will you get words with similar and opposite meanings, but Ximizi is also a website that you can spend quite some time browsing entertaining content.

So after you’ve found the synonyms you need, don’t close this website just yet. Go explore its poems, quizzes and other content. Or even use its free tools to convert Chinese traditional characters into simplified characters, characters to pinyin or Chinese yuan to other currencies.

10. Wikipedia

Wikipedia as an online dictionary -- what? Yes, Wikipedia is often used as a tool and dictionary for many translators because its content is available in over 200 languages.

If you need a quick translation of a Chinese word, you can start by copying it into your preferred search engine, and most likely, its Wikipedia page will come up (with immediate English translation). You can also do this the other way around. Open the Wiki page for your target word or phrase and then look over at the left side. Scroll down until you find Chinese and there it is. You can read all about it in Mandarin.

Not only will this free encyclopedia translate your word or a phrase, but it will also broaden your vocabulary if you read the whole text that accompanies it.

The post 10 Best Chinese Online Dictionaries appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

How to Learn Arabic Right the First Time

Arabic is a rich and fascinating language, and one of the most widely spoken in the world. In this article, I’ll explain why I think Arabic is a great language to learn. I’ll clear up a few myths, explain how to work out which kind of Arabic is right for you (spoiler alert: there’s more than one), and I’ll explain some basics of the language.

Table of contentsWHY LEARN ARABIC?SOME ARABIC MYTHSBUT WAIT: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “ARABIC’The difference between Modern Standard Arabic and regional Arabic dialectsStandard ArabicColloquial ArabicAn example of the difference between standard colloquial ArabicBUILD YOUR ARABIC ROADMAPFirst, ask yourself why you want to learn ArabicNext, consider the level you want to achieve and the time you have available.BEGINNER TIPS FOR LEARNING ARABICArabic scriptLearning without the Arabic scriptVowelsVerbs and patternsCREATING SENTENCES

function runSplitTest(){var randomNumber = Math.floor(Math.random() * 2) + 1console.log(randomNumber)var copy = "";if (randomNumber == 1){ copy = '<i>One thing before we get started: you can chat away in a new language for at least 15 minutes with the "Fluent in 3 Months" method. All it takes is 90 days. <a href="https://www.fluentin3months.com/other... this link to find out more.</a></i>'} else { copy = '<i>One thing before we get started: you can chat away with a native speaker for at least 15 minutes with my "Fluent in 3 Months" method. All it takes is 90 days. <a href="https://www.fluentin3months.com/other... this link to find out more.</a></i>'}var copyToChange = document.querySelector("p.copyText").innerHTML = copy;}runSplitTest();WHY LEARN ARABIC?

There are many good reasons to learn Arabic. Here are four.

Arabic is an extremely versatile language. It’s the fifth most spoken language in the world, and twenty-five countries consider Arabic an official language. There aren’t many other languages that you can use in this many different places.

Arabic will help you to access one of the world’s most historic regions. From Marrakesh to Cairo, Beirut to Damascus, Jerusalem to Muscat, Arabic will help you to navigate these ancient cities and uncover their inner secrets – much more easily than you ever could in English.

Arabic is more than just a means of communication. An understanding of the language will also help you to appreciate the rich artistic, musical, literary and religious life of Arabic-speaking countries.

You’re likely to be appreciated. Native speakers of Arabic know that foreigners are often reluctant to learn their language. This means that any ability to speak Arabic is typically received warmly, regardless of how imperfect your grammar may be!

SOME ARABIC MYTHS

Let’s clear up a few myths that can put people off learning Arabic.

Arabic is too hard unless you’re a language superstar

It’s true that Arabic is a tricky language. It ranks somewhere below Japanese, Mandarin and one or two others when ranked by difficulty for native English speakers to learn. But there’s no special talent required to learn a language, including Arabic. Often, people who feel they’re not ‘good’ at languages just weren’t motivated to learn them at school, or had some other negative experience.

Success with Arabic is mainly about knowing what you’re aiming for and finding ways to practice as much as possible. It’s also really important to know that there are different kinds of Arabic, some quite a bit easier than others – more on this later!

Reading right-to-left will make my brain hurt

Arabic script reads in the opposite direction to English and people sometimes assume that this will be difficult to manage. In fact, you hardly need to think about it. Try reading English from right to left: it simply doesn’t work. Arabic is the same. Once you’ve learnt the letters, they show you where to go.

The script is indecipherable

Any new script is confusing at first. This includes the letters you’re reading now when you first encountered them as a child. As you practise Arabic, the letters will become easier and easier to recognise, and before long you’ll be recognising whole words – in other words, reading!

The Middle East is really dangerous

It’s true that there are parts of the region that are, unfortunately, currently off-limits due to conflict. But these are limited and the Arabic-speaking world is a big place, stretching from North Africa, across the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel), through Iraq, and beyond to the Arabian Peninsula. Moreover, street crime rates are often lower than in Western cities so it can actually be safer.

BUT WAIT: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “ARABIC’

In my own journey to learn Arabic, in London, Amman and Beirut, I met dozens, probably hundreds, of Arabic students and teachers. We would often compare our experiences of learning the language. Based on these conversations and my own experience, I wrote a book to help new learners succeed with the language: ‘Thirteen Ways to Make a Plural: Preparing to Learn Arabic’.

I’ve squeezed as much of the advice from the book into this article as I can. But the single most important piece of advice I’d give anyone starting out with the language is that there is no such thing as “Arabic”. There are in fact various forms of Arabic. Before you dive into the language it is essential that you understand what they are – and work out a plan that’s right for you.

Here’s what you need to know.

The difference between Modern Standard Arabic and regional Arabic dialects

Getting this bit right could save you a whole lot of time down the line. The big division is between (1) Modern Standard Arabic, otherwise known as MSA or stan­dard Arabic, and (2) colloquial Arabic, also known as dialect.

Standard Arabic

Standard Arabic is formal, and often regarded as “proper”, Arabic. It is consistent across the Arabic-speaking world and used in news reporting, speeches, very formal settings, and almost all written material. The vocabulary is very large and the grammar is complex. For everyday, informal settings, it is cumbersome, unwieldy and sounds inappropriately formal to a native speaker’s ear. Most people will understand if you speak in standard Arabic but they will usually respond in colloquial Arabic.

Colloquial Arabic

Colloquial Arabic refers to the various local dialects found across the Arabic-speaking world. Simplifying a bit, Jor­dan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon broadly share one dialect. Iraqi, Gulf, and Egyptian Arabic are three further main dialects. The Arabic spoken in other north Afri­can countries (Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria) forms another dialect group, with some significant variations.

Colloquial Arabic has less grammar than standard Arabic, a smaller vocabulary and simpler verb conjugations. Less elegant but more practical, it is the language of daily life and used among friends, family, and colleagues in all kinds of social and work settings.

An example of the difference between standard colloquial Arabic

Here is an example of how an everyday sentence can vary between types of Arabic. To ask “would you like to sit inside because the weather is cold?” in standard Arabic, you would say:

هل تريدون ان تجلسوا في الداخل لان الطقس بارد؟
Written in Latin script, this is: hal tureeduna an tajlisu fi ad-daakhil li-anna at-taqs baarid?

In the colloquial Arabic of the Levant region this might become:

بدكم تقعدو جوّا عشان الجو بارد؟

Or: bidkum tuq‘udu juwwa ‘ashaan aj-jaww baarid?

Even without understanding the words, you can see that the colloquial version is shorter. This is mainly because the formal sentence structures of standard Arabic, which can be rather long-winded, are removed. In terms of the vocabulary, very little remains of the standard Arabic version except for the final word, baarid, which means cold. Typically, everyday topics have different vocabulary in colloquial Arabic, like in this example.

BUILD YOUR ARABIC ROADMAPFirst, ask yourself why you want to learn Arabic

Now that we’re clear on the ‘menu’ when it comes to the types of Arabic, it’s important to be clear on what you’re learning Arabic for. This will ensure you’re heading in the right direction from day one.

For example, do you want to learn Arabic as a professional skill? To smooth the way while travelling in Arab-speaking countries? To understand the Quran? To use for daily life while living in the region? To speak to your partner’s Arabic-speaking parents? Or perhaps a simple fascination with the language?

The answer will determine the kind of Arabic that you need.

In some cases, the answer is easy: if you’re going to be travelling in Egypt, for example, your best choice would be colloquial Egyptian Arabic, the language of daily conversation. If you want to be able to read a newspaper and understand al-Jazeera, you’ll need standard Arabic.

If you want to use Arabic in a professional context, it depends how you’ll be using it so you’ll need to dig a bit deeper. A journalist looking to build contacts and research local stories without a translator, for example, would need colloquial Arabic. But a researcher planning on reviewing library archives would need to be able to read, requiring standard Arabic.

Next, consider the level you want to achieve and the time you have available.

The big point here is that colloquial Arabic is much easier, making it faster to learn. You can expect to be having simple conversations in a couple of months. Modern standard will take longer – more like three to four months to reach this level.

Here’s a table of the approximate time it’s likely to take to reach different levels, based on full-time study and regular practice.

DescriptionModern StandardColloquial / Dialect
(Harder to estimate as strongly influenced by amount of practice outside classroom. These timings assume significant real-life practice and includes learning to read Arabic. )Competent professional use18 months(Dependent on extent of real-world practice, difficult to estimate)Discussion of substantial issues8-9 months4-5 monthsDiscussion of familiar topics5-6 months3-4 monthsSimple conversation3-4 months1-2 monthsBasic phrases and questions2 months< 1 month

Check that you can commit the time you’ll need to reach the level you want in the kind of Arabic that works for you. And that’s your roadmap.

BEGINNER TIPS FOR LEARNING ARABIC

Next, let’s look at the language itself. Most of what follows here will refer to Modern Standard Arabic, because that is the ‘base’ of the language from which dialects have evolved.

Arabic script

At the most basic level, Arabic is like English: letters form words, and words form sentences. This is a huge advantage compared with languages such as Japanese or Mandarin, where characters are used to represent words and must be memorised individually.

Arabic pronunciation is also very regular – meaning that if you can read it, you can say it – unlike English which is full of irregular spellings and letter combinations. The twist with Arabic is the vowels, which I’ll come to later.

First, I’ll look at Arabic sounds and the alphabet.

The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters. There are no capitals, and many are based on similar shapes which makes learning them straightforward.

Many of the letters have sounds that are also found in English. Here are some of them:

ب – ‘b’د – d’م – ‘m’ل – ‘l’ج – ‘j’س – ‘s’ت – ‘t’ر – ‘r’

Other letters represent sounds not found in English. These include:

ق – a ‘q’ sound produced half way down the throatع – sounds a bit like a momentary strangulationح – a heavy ‘h’ produced deep in the throatص – a heavy ‘s’ produced with the back of the tongue higher in the mouthخ – a rasping sound usually written in English as ‘kh’

These unfamiliar sounds can feel intimidating at first but don’t be put off. They’re not really hard, they’re just unfamiliar. With a little practice, you’ll be able to say them all. And it doesn’t matter if your pronunciation isn’t perfect. Most of the time people will still be able to understand you.

You can learn the alphabet in just a few hours. Arabic is a cursive script, meaning the letters generally join those before and after. In many cases the shape is modified to allow the join. It’ll take a few more hours to get the hang of how the letters connect with one another. By then, you’ll already have taken the first step toward reading – and Arabic will no longer be merely squiggles and dots!

Learning without the Arabic script

If you’re learning colloquial Arabic you have the option of skipping Arabic script altogether, since it can be approximated with the Latin script.

For example, “studying Arabic grammar is fun” would be written in Arabic as:

دراسة قواعد اللغة العربية ممتعة

This will take a bit of study before you can read it. But simplified into Latin script, it reads:

Daraasat quwa’aid al-lugha al-‘arabiya mumti’a

Sure, there are still a few sounds that you’ll need to learn to pronounce. But that aside, you’re already reading and speaking Arabic.

This approach can make learning Arabic vocabulary and starting to speak much faster. The downside is that the pronunciation is less precise and you won’t get that deeper understanding of the patterns and structures of the language that comes with learning the writing system.

I therefore don’t recommend Latin script for those learning Modern Standard Arabic. But if you’re learning colloquial, particularly if you’re interested in just picking up the basics and are not concerned about reading, it’s a great way to get speaking more quickly.

Vowels

You may have wondered where some of the vowels are. Here’s the catch: the short vowels in Arabic aren’t written. You’ll see the long vowels represented by ي (ee), و (oo) and ا (aa). But while the short vowel sounds can be written as symbols above or below the letters they are usually omitted, other than in religious texts and children’s books.

For example:

girl = بنت (pronounced “bint”) This consists of the letters ب (‘b’), ن (‘n’) and ت (‘t’) but you’ll notice that the “i” isn’t shown.countryside = بلد (pronounced “balad”) Here, ب (‘b’), ل (‘l’) and د (‘d’) combine to make the word. Again, the vowels are left out.

At first, this can feel confusing. But as you become more familiar with the language, it becomes easier. The vowels for frequently used words will stick through regular use. And the vowels of longer words are often predictable from the shape of the word thanks to the regular patterns of Arabic.

Verbs and patterns

Let’s look more closely at this idea of patterns. At the heart of Arabic is its remarkable verb system, whereby basic verbs are adapted to produce related words. Once you get a feel for it, it will give you a huge advantage in learning the language.

Here’s how it works.

Almost all verbs are based on three root letters. These root letters are expanded in a variety of ways, often following predictable patterns, to produce new words.

For example:

درس (darasa) is a basic verb made up of the three root letters س ,ر ,د (d, r, s). It means “to study”.

Doubling the middle letter of a basic verb (by placing a symbol known as a shadda above it) often creates the meaning of ‘doing’ the action to someone else. Here, we get درّس (darrasa), meaning “to teach” – in other words, the idea of ‘study’ directed at another person.

Verbs provide the basis for related nouns as well. Using the same example:

درس – “dars”, a lesson or class.دراسة – “daraasa”, studying or a study/survey.مدرسة – “madrasa”, a school. Adding an ‘م’, or ‘m’ to the start of a word is a frequent way of creating the place associated with the meaning.مدرّس – “mudarris”, meaning ‘teacher’. Here, the root letters have been modified according to a common pattern to produce the word for the person who ‘does’ the verb.تدريس – “tadrees”, which means ‘teaching’. Here, two letters, ت and ي (‘t’ and ‘ee’), have been added to the verb درّس, which as we saw above means “to teach”. This follows a standard pattern used to produce the equivalent of an English noun ending in ‘-ing’, or gerund.

Learning a set of similar words around a theme is much easier than memorising a bunch of disconnected words, as is the case with most languages. In Arabic, new words will often resemble one you already know, providing a memory hook. This also means that you can sometimes guess the meaning of new words from the root letters.

CREATING SENTENCES

Here’s how we can take some of the words above to make a simple sentence.

First, a little more vocabulary:

كل – every (“kul”)يوم – day (“yawm”)في – in/inside (“fee”)

We’ve already seen that درس means “to study”. To make this “she studies”, just add a ت, making تدرس (“tadrus”).

Now, you can already say:

البنت تدرس كل يوم – the girl studies every day (“al-bint tadrus kul yawm”)

Or:

البنت تدرس في المدرسة – the girl studies in the school (“al-bint tadrus fil-madrasa”)

After reading one blog, you’re already seeing how to construct sentences. Arabic may be classed as a hard language, but with the right approach, it doesn’t have to be!

The post How to Learn Arabic Right the First Time appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

French for Kids: 10 Helpful Online Resources

Looking for some French resources for kids? You’re in the right place!

You can learn a new language at any age. You don’t need to be a toddler, or a kindergartener, or some other “magic age”, to become fluent in more than one language. But there are still plenty of reasons to start your children on the path to bilingualism from an early age. And French is an excellent language to start with.

Fluent in 3 Months team member Ashley wrote about how she’s raising her daughter to be bilingual. You can do it too!

No matter what age your children are, it’s not too late (or too early!) to get them started on French. Here are a few ideas to help them on their way:

Table of contentsFrench for Kids: Infant and UpFrench Lullabies and Nursery RhymesFrench for Kids: Toddler and UpFrench CartoonsFrench Flashcard AppsFrench for Kids: Starting School (Age 5 and Up)French Games and ActivitiesFrench Kids' BooksMiscellaneous French Resources for KidsFrench for Kids: Any AgeStart a French Bilingual PlaygroupYou’re All Set to Teach French to Your Children!

These resources are also ideal for beginner French learners.

French for Kids: Infant and UpFrench Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes

It’s no secret that babies start to recognize language from a very early age. They’re also highly responsive to music.

If you have a very young child, it’s not too early to expose them to French through songs and lullabies. And older children will enjoy them as well, and will probably learn to sing them before you know it.

The easiest places to find lullabies on the internet are Spotify and YouTube.

You can download Spotify on Android and iOS. It’s one of the best free music apps in the world, and is really useful for learning languages. Among other things, it has pre-made playlists for almost every situation or mood you can imagine.

Want to lull your baby to sleep with French lullabies? There’s a playlist for that! It’s called Mes 100 Plus Jolies Berceuses (“My 100 Prettiest Lullabies”). It has, has - you guessed it - a hundred different French lullabies to play. Just enter the name of the playlist in the search field when you launch Spotify.

YouTube is full of great resources to learn French.

Comptines Pour Enfants is an absolutely brilliant set of nineteen French nursery rhyme songs in one YouTube video. It’s better than so many others: instead of just the audio, you get some simple cartoons to help your child see what the songs are about.

Plus for many of the songs the lyrics appear on screen as each line is sung. Be warned, they can be pretty catchy! If your children have reached speaking age, they could be dancing around singing Un, deux, trois, j’irai dans les bois all morning before you know it.

French for Kids: Toddler and UpFrench Cartoons

Most kids start watching cartoons (dessins animés, in French) before they can fully understand their native language. They find the moving pictures, music, and laughter of the characters very engaging even if they don’t understand every word being said.

The higher-quality cartoons are usually so good at putting the dialogue in context with the characters’ actions that it’s quite easy to understand what’s going on. It’s even easy to understand what the characters are talking about without being fluent in the language.

This means your toddlers won’t get bored with watching French cartoons. They might not even know the difference!

Caillou is a Canadian cartoon. It follows the adventures of an energetic four-year-old who loves to have fun! With over 400 episodes available on the Caillou YouTube channel, you’ll never run out of new stories to explore in French.

Radio-Canada, Canada’s public broadcasting network, puts tonnes of its television shows online free of charge. The website had a separate section just for cartoons and other kids’ shows.

Unfortunately there’s a catch: you need to be within Canada to view the content, or else use a VPN application to make your location appear to be in Canada.

French Flashcard Apps

You can find French Baby Flash Cards for Android and iOS.

This is one of the few good, free French early learning apps out there. It lets you pick a category and then scroll through the photos one at a time, listening to the French pronunciation of the object in each photo.

Categories include food, numbers, letters, colours, and more.

French for Kids: Starting School (Age 5 and Up)French Games and Activities

If your children are old enough to play games and puzzles on a tablet or computer, then they can do some self-directed learning on their own time without any help. The following apps are a good place to start.

Duolingo is an old favourite here at Fluent in 3 Months (Fi3M). Duolingo is an incredibly useful app for building basic vocabulary and grammar skills. It’s so easy to use that even a child can play.

It doesn’t only quiz you on a variety of vocabulary. It also identifies your weaker areas so you’ll know which words to practice more often.

Next up is Hello-World French Children’s Activities. Hello-World is a free project whose goal is to teach world languages to children through fun and educational immersion activities. They have succeeded phenomenally, with over 700 activities for French alone!

If your child is close to Kindergarten age, then I recommend starting with the Children’s Games section. It has some easy, basic games such as finding the object that doesn’t belong, or connecting the dots in alphabetical order.

When you click on any object in a game, you hear its pronunciation by a native French speaker. The spelling also comes up in a caption at the bottom of the screen.

For older kids, other activities include vocabulary Bingo, number matching, logic puzzles, and about 695 others!

French Kids' Books

Are you looking for books to read to your child in French? Or maybe your kids read to themselves if their level is high enough. Look no further: International Children’s Digital Library has a collection of thousands of online children’s books in dozens of languages, including nearly 60 books in French.

Miscellaneous French Resources for Kids

Monde des Titounis is an absolute gold mine, containing a little bit of all of the above suggestions.

What I love most about this site is that it has a lot of the classic children’s songs and stories that your kids probably already know in English. That includes Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood.

Hearing a story in one language that you already know well in another is a very useful way to make connections.

What’s more, this resource isn’t just stories and songs. Click the Apprentissage (“learning”) icon. It leads you to some very simple activities to help young children learn basic French vocabulary, such as the alphabet, colours, names of animals, and much more.

There isn’t much reading required to enjoy this site if your child is too young to read French. The fairy tales and other stories are actually narrated videos that let you turn the captioning on or off.

French for Kids: Any AgeStart a French Bilingual Playgroup

I bet you’re not the only parent in your area who is interested in giving their kids a head start in French. Depending where you live, there might also be some French-speaking families nearby who would love to give their children some exposure to French outside their home.

So, why not start a French playgroup?

There are resources all over the web on how to go about starting a bilingual playgroup. The website Intentional Mama has put together some very useful guidelines to help you start your own local group.

You’re All Set to Teach French to Your Children!

These resources are a great starting point to teach French to your kids. If you would like more options, here’s a list of the best online French resources on the internet.

And if you’re planning on learning alongside them (or on using these for your own learning), you should check out my tips on how to learn French faster!

Au revoir!

The post French for Kids: 10 Helpful Online Resources appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

“My Love” in Different Languages – 77 Weird and Wonderful Romantic Names

Have you ever tried calling your significant other “my love” in other languages? There is no better way to impress them than by giving them a special name from another part of the world.

Around the world and across languages, people express their love in different ways. The ways to say “my love” in other countries can be very imaginative. Sometimes even strange to non-native speakers.

You may be surprised to learn that some terms of endearment in English don't translate well into other languages. Or that some languages use creative terms that outshine our own in romance (at least in their own way).

If you want to surprise your partner, this is the post for you! You can jump to the section of the post that you’re most interested in:

Table of contentsHow to Say “My Love” in XX Different LanguagesHow to Translate “My Love” in Different Languages With Body Part EndearmentsSome Weird Versions of “My Love” in Different LanguagesSpanish: My little heaven, mi cielito - Inspirations from the Natural WorldWhat’s Your Favourite Way to Express Your Love From Around the World?

Now let’s learn how to say “my love” in different parts of the world.

How to Say “My Love” in XX Different Languages

Here’s how you say “my love” in:

Spanish - mi amorFrench - mon amourItalian - amore mioPortuguese - meu amorChinese (Mandarin) - 我的爱人 (wǒ de àirén)German - meine GeliebteKorean - 내 사랑 (nae sarang)Russian - моя любовь (moya lyubov')

Keep them all at hand with this romantic infographic:

However, these terms are not always the most popular in these languages. Many languages actually prefer (literal) pet names for significant others!

Keep reading to discover even more romantic nicknames coming from all over the world. Including the weirdest ones!

How to Translate “My Love” in Different Languages With Body Part Endearments

In Irish we say mo chuisle, which means "my pulse". This phrase was famously used in the movie Million Dollar Baby, and is the shortened form of a chuisle mo chroí ("pulse of my heart").

You can't get more romantic than telling your significant other that they're the life force keeping you on this earth. You can also use mo chroí (“my heart”).

Translations of “my heart” are popular in other languages, like mi corazón in Spanish and mon cœur in French. And the French know what they do when they talk about love.

But there are many other "lovely" body parts that people use to express their feelings. In English we might say sweet cheeks, angel eyes, or baby face. The Spanish also use “angel eyes”: ojos de Ángel.

In Greek they say Μάτια μου (matia mou) or ματάκια μου (matakia mou) for "my little eyes". This makes sense from an English perspective, since eyes are said to be the windows to the soul.

That said, there are other terms of endearment based on body parts that seem weird when you think about them. Even in English. Is baby face really appropriate for a gorgeous grown-up woman?

Perhaps the most unusual body part pet name of all, to English speakers, is the Swedish sötnos, meaning “sweet nose”.

Common Synonyms of “My Love” in Different Languages: The “Pet” Names

Humans (and their body parts) aren't the only ones who get attention in international terms of endearment. Animals also feature strongly.

Doves are a symbol of peace, so it makes sense that in Russian lovers call each other golubchik (masculine) or golubushka (femenine).

You'll find عيون غزال (ywn ghzal) for "eyes of a gazelle" in Arabic, since their eyes are said to be so hypnotic.

In Brazil a gato or gata (“cat”) is slang for a handsome or pretty person.

Germans also use animal names with their lovers. In German, you'll find Häschen (“little hare”), Bärchen (“little bear”), Mäuschen (“little mouse”), Rehlein (“little deer”), and Spätzchen (“little sparrow”). Animal-related names are so common in German that you'll even see them used as the basis of swear words. My personal favourite pet-name, though, is the hybrid Mausbär (“mouse bear”) which combines the cuteness of both a mouse and a bear for exponential snuggle-factor!

While it may seem weird to call a human a bird, hare, or mouse, the reasoning is of course that each of these are cute little things. You'll notice that the diminutive term "little" comes up a lot (as -lein or -chen in German, and more to come in other languages).

The closest we have to this in English would probably be in British English, where long established partners - or family members - use my duck, duckie or hen as terms of endearment. And of course there's hunny bunny.

The French outdo everyone though by calling their special one ma puce ("my flea"). Similarly, you have Bogárkám (“my little bug”) in Hungarian.

You can't get much smaller than that!

Some Weird Versions of “My Love” in Different Languages

In Persian, people can be so cute that they're smaller than a mouse. So small that you can lovingly say moosh bokhoradet ("may a mouse eat you").

The Flemish are somewhat more vague: Mijn Bolleke (“my little round thing”). I'm sure it's romantic in its own way. There are other countries that emphasize roundness in their affections, like in Ecuador where you would call your girlfriend gorda (“fat girl") and boyfriend gordo ("fat boy").

But can you imagine the meaning behind mijn poepie? It’s a quirky Dutch term meaning “my little poopsie”! There’s also the (hopefully ironic) Polish brzydalu… "Ugly one"! Or even better, in Tibetan you can be nyingdu-la ("most honoured poison of my heart")!

In Thai, men over 40 may call their wives แม่ยอดชู้ (mae-yod-choo), which literally means "mother with the most paramours", or แม่เนื้ออุ่น (mae-nua-oun), "mother with warm meat". Um... thanks hubby, I guess...

The cultural aspect of language is always fascinating, which is why I like that in Japanese, men call the woman they love tamago gata no kao or an "egg with eyes". While this may not sound appealing, it's a great compliment. In Japan, having an oval, egg-shaped face is seen as very attractive.

Psst… Love is a delicate topic in Japanese culture, so check out this post if you want to get it right.

The Chinese can be much less romantic on the surface, with women calling their men a 笨蛋 (bèndàn) or "dumb egg". It's said like an insult, but everyone knows that it's in jest.

For women, use 沉鱼落雁 (chényú luòyàn), which literally means "diving fish, swooping geese'. It may sound nonsensical, but it's based on the stories of the most beautiful women in Chinese history, Xi Shi and Wang Zhaojun. They were so beautiful that they made fishes and geese forget to function. That's quite a feat!

Try calling your loved one diving fish, swooping geese, and don’t forget to explain the concept!

English: Sweet Pea - and More Names from the Kitchen and Garden

Saying “my love” sometimes isn’t enough. Many languages spice it up with names inspired by food. The theme makes sense to me: you can't live without food.

In English we say sweet pea, peaches, pumpkin, muffin, cupcake, sugar and of course sweetie-pie_ and cutie-pie_...

The French like mon chou or mon petit chou. It’s not sure where the expression comes from, but it has two possible explanations. Chou is literally “cabbage” in French, but a chou a la creme is a “cream puff”. So it’s your choice: would you use it as a fun “my little cabbage” or a sweet “my little cream puff”? "My little cabbage" seems almost romantic.

Indonesians say buah hatiku ("fruit of my heart"), while Italians can be a fragolina (“little strawberry”). In Polish, you can be a kruszynko ("breadcrumb").

Brazilians say chuchuzinho. It is actually a rather bland "chayote squash", but it sounds similar to the French word for cabbage, so they rolled with it.

In Taiwan you may hear lovers calling one another 小蜜糖 (xiǎo mì táng), which means "little honey". 小甜心 (xiǎo tiánxīn), or "little sugar", is also popular. How sweet!

In Spain a media naranja is your "other half". It literally means “half of an orange”! Spanish-speaking people outdo themselves when they talk about love.

Spanish: My little heaven, mi cielito - Inspirations from the Natural World

The wonders of the world around us are another big inspiration for the stuff love poems are made of.

You'll hear mi cielito in Spanish, for "my little sky" or "my little heaven", as well as mi sol (my sun).

In Danish they have min guldklump, meaning “my gold nugget”. Meanwhile, "treasure" is skat *in Danish and *tesoro in Spanish and Italian. Tesoro is one of Italy’s favourite terms to express love.

In English, we have my sunshine, my star, my flower, and *_my petal_ *. The last one is used mainly in the UK and Ireland.

The amusing sounding German Schnuckiputzi is related to the adjectives "schnuckelig" and "putzig", which both mean "cute" and "sweet".

Cariad *is Welsh for "sweetheart" or "love", and *คนดี (kon-dee) is a heartfelt "good person" in Thai. Hungarians use drágám ("precious").

Spanish has a whole host of cutesy love-terms, like mi vida ("my life"), mi rey (“my king”) and mi reina (“my queen”), cariño (“darling”, or literally "affection"), querido/a (loved one), and corazoncito (“little heart”).

What’s Your Favourite Way to Express Your Love From Around the World?

This post offers a lot of options, but…

If you want to learn even more terms of endearment from around the globe, head to this article! It’s one of our readers' favourites.

You could even discover more by asking native speakers on italki what terms are used in their country.

Your possibilities to be romantic in several languages are endless!

The post “My Love” in Different Languages – 77 Weird and Wonderful Romantic Names appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

Is Japanese Hard to Learn? Why Japanese Is Easier Than You Think

Is Japanese hard to learn? As a Japanese teacher, I often hear statements like:

“Japanese is really freaking difficult.”

“Japanese is really freaking vague.”

“Japanese is really freaking illogical.”

These statements have three things in common:

They are widely believed by many would-be Japanese learners.They get in the way of learning the language.They are completely bogus.

To succeed in your Japanese mission, you must ignore the cynics, defeatists, killjoys, naysayers, party poopers, pessimists, sourpusses, and wet blankets.

Japanese is not nearly as challenging as the Debby Downers would have you believe, and is in fact easier in many key ways than supposedly “easy” Romance languages like Spanish. Here’s what you need to know:

Table of contentsWhy Japanese is Easier than You ThinkFamiliar Vocabulary: There Are Heaps of English Loan Words in JapaneseNo Gender Complications: There Are No Pesky Noun Genders in Japanese“Easy” Conjugation: Japanese Verbs Don’t Have to “Agree” With the Subject.Less Words Needed: You Can Leave Out Subjects & Objects if They Are Clear From the ContextSimple Syllables: Each Japanese Syllable Can Be Pronounced Only One WaySimilar Sounds: Japanese Harbors Few New Sounds for English SpeakersJapanese “Recycles” Lots of KanaJapanese Is Not a “Tonal” LanguageYou Can Learn Kanji Extremely Quickly if You Use an Adult-Friendly MethodPhonetic & Semantic Patterns Allow You to Guess the Pronunciation and Meaning of New KanjiKnowing Kanji Allows You to Guess the Meaning of New WordsThe Japanese Language is Not Vague, But Japanese Etiquette Often Requires VaguenessJapanese Is as Logical as Any Human LanguageConclusion: Don’t Create a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy!Learn Japanese With These Resources

Let’s go!

Why Japanese is Easier than You Think

Here are but a few of the many ways Japanese is comparatively easy, especially for native speakers of English:

Familiar Vocabulary: There Are Heaps of English Loan Words in Japanese

If you grew up speaking English, congratulations! You won the Linguistic Lottery!

From day one in Japanese, you will have a massive pre-existing vocabulary to draw on. That’s thanks to the thousands and thousands of English words borrowed into the Japanese language to date.

These “foreign loanwords”, or gairaigo (外来語), offer native speakers of English a massive head start. They allow you to understand and communicate a great deal of information even with shaky Japanese grammar and zero Kanji knowledge.

Here is a small taste of the Japanese arsenal English speakers already have at their disposal:

“mic” → maiku (マイク)“table” → teeburu (テーブル)“Internet” → intaanetto (インターネット)“romantic” → romanchikku (ロマンチック)“drive shaft” → doraibushafuto (ドライブシャフト)

Or for even more, check out the video that Benny Lewis, founder of Fluent in 3 Months, and some other learners made themselves. They sing entirely in gairaigo (外来語):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5c06...

You will of course need to learn the “Japanified” pronunciation of English loan words, but the phonetic patterns are highly predictable and consistent. All you need to do is learn Katakana (something you can do over the weekend), and then familiarize yourself with how English sounds are transferred into Japanese.

A few key patterns to help you get started:

English loanwords adopt the consonant-vowel, consonant-vowel pattern found in Japanese. So you can be sure that any English consonant clusters, such as the ‘dr’ in “drive” will get extra vowels added in the middle. In this case, ‘d’ becomes do.

In Japanese, no words end in a consonant (with the exceptions of n). If an English loanword has a consonant sound at the end (e.g. “mic”), you can be sure that the Japanese equivalent will have a vowel tacked on: maiku.

Once you have the phonetic patterns down, a powerful language hack is at your disposal.

When in doubt about how to say a given word in Japanese, just say the English word you know using Japanese syllables. More times than not, you will be understood. Even if a given English loanword is not actually used in Japanese, chances are good that people will have “learned” (i.e. memorized but not really acquired) the English word in high school or university.

Since most Japanese learners of English add little Katakanareading guides above English words to approximate their pronunciation, they will better recognize English words when wrapped in Japanese pronunciation. Or even more so when written out on paper.

This habit may be bad for their English, but is at least good for your ability to communicate.

Lastly, I should point out that there are occasional differences in meaning between English loanwords and their Japanese derivations. But radical semantic changes are few, and even when there are significant gaps, the comedic effect is usually enough to make the words stick on their own.

Perfect example: I loved telling all my friends back home that I lived in a “mansion” while in Japan. It was the truth! What they didn’t know is that the loanword manshon (マンション, “mansion”) actually refers to an apartment, not a palatial residence.

No Gender Complications: There Are No Pesky Noun Genders in Japanese

Unlike most Romance languages, Japanese does not have “masculine”, “feminine” or “neuter” nouns. Buddha be praised!

In Japan, you can just order your dark beer instead of trying to remember whether the noun “beer” is feminine or masculine, as you would have to in Spanish:

“Let’s see… I really want a dark beer. Cerveza is feminine I think… Or is it masculine? It seems masculine. Just think of all the dudes with beer bellies. But it ends with an ‘a’ so I think it should be a feminine noun. Okay, assuming it is indeed feminine, I need to use the feminine form of the adjective for “dark”… Hmm… I think it’s oscura…”

Meanwhile, the waiter has come and gone and you are left to wait in thirsty frustration.

Halfway around the world, the Japanese learner is already on his second round of gender-free kuro biiru (黒ビール).

“Easy” Conjugation: Japanese Verbs Don’t Have to “Agree” With the Subject.

In Japanese, there is no need to conjugate verbs to match their respective subjects. Anyone who’s learned Spanish or French should really appreciate this advantage.

Take the verb “to eat” for example. En español, you have to learn 6 different verb forms for just the present tense (one for each pronoun group), plus all the myriad tense variations.

In Japanese, you only need to learn one single verb form for each tense. No matter who does the eating, the verb taberu (食べる, “eat”) stays exactly the same!

“I eat” → Yo como → Taberu“You eat” → Tú comes → Taberu“He / She eats” → Él/Ella come → Taberu“We eat” → Nosotros comemos → Taberu“You (pl., fam.) eat” → Vosotros coméis → Taberu“You (pl.) / They eat” → Uds./Ellos comen → Taberu

You do have to learn different verb tenses in Japanese, and there are different levels of formality to consider. But hey, at least matching pronouns and verbs is one less thing to worry about when you’re starting out.

Don’t look a gifted linguistic horse in the mouth!

Less Words Needed: You Can Leave Out Subjects & Objects if They Are Clear From the Context

Japanese is what linguists call a “pro-drop” language.

In “pro-drop” languages, pronouns and objects are often left unsaid if the “who” and “what” are obvious to the listener and speaker.

For example, if someone asks you if you already ate dinner, you can simply say tabeta (食べた, “ate”), the past-tense of taberu (食べる). Both parties already know the subject (“I”) and the object (“dinner”), so all you need is the verb.

Less really is more!

Simple Syllables: Each Japanese Syllable Can Be Pronounced Only One Way

Japanese is a syllabic language, made up of 45 basic syllables. While the number 45 may sound more intimidating than the 26 letters found in English, keep in mind that each Japanese syllable can be pronounced only one way.

This is in stark contrast to English, which despite having fewer letters actually contains far more sounds. Depending on the word (and where in the word it lies), most English letters can be pronounced myriad different ways.

Take the letter ‘e’ for example:

It can be pronounced as a “short e” (ĕ or /ɛ/) like in e mpty.It can be pronounced as a “long e” (ē or /i/) like in k e y.It can be pronounced as a “long a” (ā or /ei/) like in resum é .It can be pronounced as a “schwa” (/ɘ/) like in tak e n.It can be silent (especially at the end of words) like in ax e .

Complex stuff!

Pick any Japanese Kana on the other hand, and no matter where it’s used, it will be pronounced one—and only one—way.

The Japanese ‘e’ sound (written え in Hiragana), for example, is always pronounced as a “short e” (ĕ or /ɛ/). It doesn’t change if the syllable comes at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

Similar Sounds: Japanese Harbors Few New Sounds for English Speakers

The vast majority of Japanese sounds have direct (or at least very similar) equivalents in English. This is great news for the Japanese learner, but tough times for Japanese learners of English.

Consider yourself lucky! You’ve already mastered English’s notorious ‘l’ and ‘r’ distinctions, for example, and will never have to endure the embarrassment of saying “erection” when you meant “election”! A very good thing if you practice with language tutors.

There are only two Japanese sounds you will likely struggle with in the beginning:

The Japanese ‘r’ sounds: ra (ら), ri (り), ru (る), re (れ), and ro (ろ): It sounds somewhere between an ‘r’ and ‘d’, pronounced with a quick flip of the tongue somewhat like the rolled ‘r’ in Spanish.

You can find a similar sound in American English buried in the middle of the word “water”. When sandwiched between vowels, we Yanks turn the poor little ‘t’ into what’s called a “flap”, which is precisely what the Japanese ‘r’ sound is, too.

The Japanese ‘tsu’ sound (つ): We actually have a similar sound in English (the ‘ts’ in words like “rats”), but the difference is that we never pronounce such a sound at the beginning of syllables in English as they do in Japanese.

But worry not! Your ears and mouth will eventually get the hang of these sounds with enough listening and speaking practice.

Just do your best to imitate native speakers, and make sure to record yourself to better gauge your pronunciation and monitor your progress over time. You may even want to use software like Audacity to see how the waveform of your speech compares to that of native speakers.

As Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets managed.”

Japanese “Recycles” Lots of Kana

As any good citizen knows, we should do our best to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

To fulfill its civic duty, Japanese greatly reduces the number of potential Kana you need to learn by recycling a small set of basic symbols to represent a much larger number of sounds.

The key to this linguistic efficiency is the use of little double slash marks called dakuten (濁点, “voiced marks”). As the name implies, these diacritic marks transform each of the “voiceless” sounds in Japanese into their “voiced” counterparts.

Here are a few examples (note that the only difference between the Kana on the left and right is the dakuten in the upper-right corner):

ka = か → ga = がsa = さ → za = ざta = た → da = だ

Just think: without these little marks, you would have to learn dozens of additional Kana symbols.

Thank you dakuten!

Japanese Is Not a “Tonal” Language

Unlike Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Thai, etc., Japanese is not a tonal language. Hooray!

The Japanese language does sometimes differentiate meaning using a high-low distinction (what linguists call “pitch accent”). But the good news is that you do not need to learn a specific tone for each and every syllable like you do in languages like Chinese.

And in the fairly infrequent cases when pitch is used to distinguish meaning, the context will almost always do the heavy lifting for you.

For example: Even though the word hashi can mean “chopsticks” (箸), “bridge” (橋), or “edge” (端) depending on the pitch accent (high-low, low-high, and flat in this case), you will know that somebody wants you to pass the “chopsticks” when at a restaurant, not a “bridge” or the “edge” of the table.

You Can Learn Kanji Extremely Quickly if You Use an Adult-Friendly Method

A lot of digital ink has spilled in the blogosphere bemoaning how difficult it is to learn Kanji.

Yes, the task will certainly take you time and effort. But the journey will be far shorter if you use smart, adult-friendly “imaginative memory” techniques laid out in books like James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji (RTK).

Armed with the right attitude, methods, and materials, a motivated adult learner can master the meaning and writing of all standard use Kanji in a matter of months, not years or even decades as is usually the case with traditional rote approaches.

Learning all the Kanji readings will take longer, but knowing just the basic meaning of all standard use Kanji (常用漢字) is a huge head start as Heisig argues in the introduction to RTK:

“When Chinese adult students come to the study of Japanese, they already know what the kanji mean and how to write them. They have only to learn how to read them. In fact, Chinese grammar and pronunciation have about as much to do with Japanese as English does. It is their knowledge of the meaning and writing of the kanji that gives the Chinese the decisive edge.”

For more about how to learn Kanji effectively, see my post: How to Learn 2,000 Kanji in 3 Months: Mission Possible.

Phonetic & Semantic Patterns Allow You to Guess the Pronunciation and Meaning of New Kanji

Contrary to popular belief, most Kanji are not pictographs. The vast majority are in fact “pictophonetic” compounds composed of two chunks:

a “phonetic indicator” that points to the character’s pronunciation,a “semantic indicator” relating to its meaning.

This may sound complex, but is actually very good news for language learners!

Learning the most common phonetic and semantic chunks (or “radicals”) enables you to make educated guesses about the pronunciation and meaning of new characters.

For example, all of the following Kanji share the same phonetic chunk, 工 (“craft”). It is pronounced kou (こう), and low and behold, each of the following Kanji it contains are all pronounced kou:

紅 (“crimson”)虹 (“rainbow”)江 (“creek”)攻 (“aggression”)功 (“achievement”)

Chances are good that if you come across a new Kanji that includes the 工 phonetic chunk, it too will be pronounced kou.

These chunks also give you valuable story points that can be used to craft super sticky mnemonics. This is the foundation of the “imaginative memory” approach used in RTK.

Let’s look at the Kanji 虹 (“rainbow”) as an example. On the left side, we have the semantic chunk 虫 (“insect”). On the right, we see 工, which we saw above means “craft”. So now all we have to do is create a mental story that combines “insect”, “craft”, and “rainbow”:

A massive cloud of multicolored insects (butterflies to be exact) are crafting a magnificent double rainbow across the entire sky.

Eat your heart out Double Rainbow YouTube Guy! [Benny's edit: I met him! :-P]

Knowing Kanji Allows You to Guess the Meaning of New Words

Once you know the meaning of all the standard-use Kanji, you can usually guess the meaning of compound words they combine to create. Know the character, guess the word.

An equivalent power in English would require extensive knowledge of Latin, Greek, and a host of ancient Germanic dialects.

I don’t know about you, but my West Saxon is a little rusty…

Here’s an example to show you how easy things can be:

Suppose you encounter the word 外国人 (gaikokujin) for the first time but don’t have a dictionary handy. Even the most basic knowledge of characters enables you to figure out its meaning: 外 = outside; 国 = country; 人 = person. Aha! It must mean foreigner!

The Japanese Language is Not Vague, But Japanese Etiquette Often Requires Vagueness

We can thank the Japanese themselves for helping to perpetuate the myth that Japanese is a vague language.

As Dr. Jay Rubin recounts in his excellent book Making Sense of Japanese, a member the Tokyo String Quartet once shared in an NPR interview that English allowed him and other Japanese members of the ensemble to communicate more effectively than in Japanese.

They had begun speaking in English once a non-Japanese member joined the group and were amazed how much easier it seemed to communicate in English despite not being native speakers.

Dr. Rubin points out that the problem is a matter of culture, not linguistics:

“While he [the quartet member] no doubt believes this, he is wrong. The Japanese language can express anything it needs to, but Japanese social norms often require people to express themselves indirectly or incompletely.”

Directness in communication is usually frowned upon in Japanese culture, while it is often the primary goal in most English speaking countries. (Except among politicians and lawyers of course, but they’re just meat popsicles in suits).

Anyone who has lived in Japan or done business with a Japanese company knows that this difference in communication style can be a major source of frustration and cross-cultural miscommunication.

As things go, it’s usually the cultural—not language—barrier that causes tempers to flair, negotiations to break down, and relationships to fail…

So as you learn to speak, read, and write Japanese, make sure to give just as much attention to the “language” left out of the conversation and off the page.

Realize that few Japanese people will ever say “No” outright, opting instead for statements like “It’s under consideration”, “I’ll give it some thought”, or “It’s difficult at this time”.

Know that when someone says “Chotto…” (ちょっと, “a little”) and then breathes in through their teeth as they as they rub the back of their head, that they are expressing apprehension or disapproval but are culturally forbidden to say what exactly they are “a little” (or likely, “very”) unsure about.

Japanese Is as Logical as Any Human Language

I have little patience for the ethnocentric belief that “Japanese is illogical”. It makes the false assumption that English is somehow more intuitive or well-structured by comparison, when in fact, no natural languages are “logical” per se.

With the exception of purposefully designed languages like Esperanto, languages evolve organically over great expanses of time, inevitably leading to some strange exceptions and goofy contradictions.

Look no further than English’s many fun peculiarities:

“There is no egg in eggplant, and you will find neither pine nor apple in a pineapple. Hamburgers are not made from ham, English muffins were not invented in England, and French Fries were not invented in France. Sweetmeats are confectionery, while sweetbreads, which are not sweet, are meat. And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers do not fing, humdingers do not hum, and hammers don’t ham. If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of booth be beeth?” ~Richard Lederer, Crazy English: The Ultimate Joy Ride through Our Language

And then there are incredibly weird English pronunciations, as Benny has read a poem about!

One could of course compile such a list for any language, including Japanese. My point is simply that Japanese is no less logical than English. Both have their quirks, but both also have a finite set of rules and exceptions easy enough for even a child to master.

Bottom line: it is perfectly natural to compare and contrast Japanese with English, but avoid making value judgments. Languages are the way they are; why they are that way is an interesting question for historical and comparative linguists, but has little to do with acquiring a language.

Conclusion: Don’t Create a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy!

If you believe Japanese is difficult, vague, and illogical, it will be for you. But if you focus on the easy, concrete, logical bits first, you will learn much faster, and have a hell of lot more fun along the way.

To be clear, I’m not saying the language won’t pose some unique challenges to the native speaker of English. It certainly will. But so does Spanish. And Pig Latin. And Klingon.

All languages have their particular pros and cons, and in the early stages of a language, it’s far better to focus on silver linings than dark clouds.

This isn’t blind optimism or sugar coating; it’s an intelligent way to work with—not against—human psychology. Small wins early on help build the confidence, motivation, and fortitude you will need to carry on when the path up Japanese Mountain grows steep.

Happy hiking!

Learn Japanese With These Resources

If you're looking for an online Japanese course, check out Innovative Language's Japanese Pod 101. You can also take a look at my Master Japanese guide.

Fi3M has a list of the best resources for learning Japanese and many blog posts that focus on Japanese vocabulary, grammar, and culture.

Original article by John Fotheringham, updated by the Fluent in 3 Months team.

The post Is Japanese Hard to Learn? Why Japanese Is Easier Than You Think appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

The German Alphabet – a Complete Guide

The German alphabet uses the same 26 letters as English, plus the extra character “ß”, and three vowels with umlauts, “ä”, “ü”, and “ö”. This article is the most comprehensive guide you’ll find to the German alphabet anywhere on the Internet. I’ll explain everything you need to know to read, write and pronounce the German alphabet.

Unlike English, German spelling is generally consistent. Once you’ve learned the German spelling rules, it becomes easy to spell and pronounce most German words.

First, let’s look at the 26 “normal” German letters. Just like in English, each letter has a name. The name doesn’t always hint at how the letter is pronounced, in the same way that the English “w” sound doesn’t appear in that letter’s name (“double-u”).

This table gives the name of each letter, and the international phonetic alphabet (IPA) pronunciation of each name:

Letter Name IPA A/a ah /aː/ B/b beh /beː/ C/c ceh/zeh /t͡seː/ D/d deh /deː/ E/e eh /eː/ F/f ef /ɛf/ G/g geh /ɡeː/ H/h hah /haː/ I/i ih /iː/ J/j jot /jɔt/ K/k kah /kaː/ L/l el /ɛl/ M/m em /ɛm/ N/n en /ɛn/ O/o oh /oː/ P/p peh /peː/ Q/q quh /kuː/ R/r er /ɛʁ/ S/s es /ɛs/ T/t teh /teː/ U/u uh /uː/ V/v vau /faʊ̯/ W/w weh /veː/ X/x ix /ɪks/ Y/y ypsilon /ˈʏpsilɔn/ Z/z zett /t͡sɛt/

If you don’t know how to read IPA, check out the Fluent in 3 Months guide to reading IPA.

You know how the letter “z” is called “zee” in America and “zed” in Britain? Something similar happens with a few of the German letters. The above chart gives the letter names in Germany. Austrians do things a little differently:

“j” is called “jeh” (/jeː/)“q” is called “queh” (/kveː/)“y” is still called “ypsilon”, but it’s pronounced /ʏˈpsiːlɔn/ (the difference being that the stress is on the second syllable instead of the first.)

Below we’ll also cover four “special” letters of German (“ß” and the umlauted vowels), but first, let’s look at how the above 26 letters are pronounced.

Before we start, a quick reminder: in German, all nouns are always written with the first letter capitalized.

How to Pronounce the German Alphabet

As I said earlier, German pronunciation is generally consistent. It’s usually clear how a word should be pronounced from its spelling. The catch is that some letters have more than one pronunciation depending on their position in the word. There are also a lot of special letter combinations you need to remember, much like how the “sh” in English sounds different to an “s” followed by an “h”.

German is a diverse language with a lot of different dialects, but the rules below apply in most places, most of the time.

How to Pronounce German Consonants

Let’s start with the easy stuff. ”f”, ”h”, ”k”, ”m”, ”n”, and ”p” are all pronounced the same as in English. “L” and “t” are basically the same too, with one small difference: in both cases, your tongue should be slightly further forward in the mouth, touching the upper teeth as well as the gums.

The following consonants are easy, too:

“c” rarely appears outside of letter combinations like “sch”, but when it’s on its own, it’s pronounced like a German “z” (see below) before “e”, “i”, “y”, “ä”, “ö”. Before any other vowel it’s pronounced “hard”, like a “k”. (Generally, when an English word has a “hard c” , the German cognate is spelled with a “k”, e.g. “the music” vs. “die Musik”.)“j” is pronounced like an English “y” - like in the word ja (“yes”), pronounced “ya”.“q”, like in English, is always followed by a “u”. The difference is that in English, “qu” is pronounced “kw”, but in German it’s pronounced “kv”.“v” is pronounced like an English “f”.“w” is pronounced like an English “v”. (Volkswagen in German is pronounced “folks-vagon”.)“x” is always pronounced “ks”, even at the beginning of a word.“z” is pronounced “ts”.

(Side note: it’s very stereotypical of native German speakers to pronounce “w” like a “v” when speaking English, for example “vat does Vill vant?” But if you spend time with Germans whose English is intermediate, you’ll notice they very often make the opposite mistake - pronouncing an English “v” like a “w”, e.g. “the wan is wery waluable”! This is a great example of hypercorrection; these speakers are trying so hard to not pronounce “w” in the stereotypically German way that they change “v” to “w” even when they’re not supposed to.)

Some consonants change their pronunciation depending on their position in the word:

“b” “d”, and “g” are pronounced the same as in English, except at the end of a word, where they become “p”, “t” and “k” respectively. Also note that “d” is “dentalised” in the same way as “t”; your tongue should be slightly further forward in your mouth than it is in English."s" is pronounced like an English "z" at the beginning of a word or between two vowels, and like an English "s" elsewhere. (In Austria, an "s" at the beginning of a word is pronounced like an English "s".)

The only consonant left is “r”. This has two main pronunciations depending on dialect, and both are quite tricky for a native English speaker. In “Standard German”, it’s a guttural, raspy sound from the back of your throat, like the “ch” in the Scottish “loch”. Some people pronounce it as a “uvular trill”.

In Switzerland, Australia and Bavaria, “r” is pronounced as an “alveolar trill” - the famous “rolled R” sound that’s found in many other languages, like Spanish. Check out the Fi3M guide to pronouncing the rolled R for more details on this.

How to Pronounce German Consonant Combinations

In English, certain letter combinations like “ch”, “th” and “sh” have special pronunciations that must be learned separately. German has its own set of combinations, but they aren’t really harder than the English ones.

The trickiest one for English speakers is “ch”, which has two pronunciations. After an “i”, “e”, "ä', "ü" or "ö" it’s a sound called the voiceless palatal fricative (/ç/ in IPA), which is a sort of thin, hissy sound using a tongue position close to “sh”. We actually use it in English in, for example, the “h” in “hue”. Another way to hear it: say “cute” slowly, and notice what your tongue does between the “c” and the “u”. This sound appears in lots of common German words like ich, mich and nicht (“I”, “my”, “not”) so you’ll get lots of practice with it as your German progresses.

(In some German dialects this sound is pronounced like an English “sh”, which is how JFK pronounced it in his famous line “ich bin ein Berliner”.)

After any other vowel, “ch” is pronounced like a slightly harder “h”. Say “h”, but tighten the back of your throat a little more so that the sound is darker and noisier (but not as raspy or guttural as a full-blown German “r”.) You’ll hear this in words like auch or machen.

This rule is not about the written letter but the position of your tongue. "I", "e", "eu" and the umlauted vowels all put your tongue up near the teeth, so the hissy "ch" is a closer, more natural place for the tongue to go afterwards. "A", "u" and "au" all come from the back of the mouth so the throatier "ch" is the natural sound to follow with there.

Here are the other consonant clusters:

“tsch” is pronounced like an English “ch”, as in tschüss (“bye”).“sch” is pronounced like an English “sh”.In “sp” and “st”, the “s” is pronounced like an English “sh”. So Spaniel and Student, which both have the meaning you’d expect, are pronounced “shpaniel” and “shtudent” respectively.The “-ng” suffix is pronounced the same as in English.“-ig” at the end of the word is pronounced like the German “ich”.“pf” is a weird sound we don’t have in English. As the spelling suggests, it’s like a cross between “p” and “f”. Try pronouncing both consonants at once by saying the word “cupful” quickly. Make sure you pronounce the “p” and “f” simultaneously, not like “puh-fuh”.How to Pronounce German Vowels

Most German vowel sounds exist in English, but there are a few tricky ones that take practice. Vowel sounds tend to vary more across different dialects than consonant sounds do, but the following guidelines will be fine in most places.

If you really want to master the pronunciation of vowels, I strongly recommend studying the International Phonetic Alphabet and learning the basics of vowel phonetics so you know what terms like “vowel height” and “vowel roundness” mean. You don’t need a degree in linguistics, but understanding these concepts makes it much easier to know where to put your tongue to pronounce a difficult vowel.

I’ll avoid technical phonetic stuff as much as possible in my descriptions, but I’ll include the IPA symbol for each vowel sound, written in square brackets, e.g. [a].

a is [a], like an English “a” as in “hat”. This sound is also written ah (Zahl, “number”) or aa (Staat, “state”).e. Before a double consonant as in Bett (“bed”), this is [ɛ], like the “e” in the English “get” or “bed”. Otherwise it’s usually [e], which is like the first half of the English “ay” sound in “way”. Notice that when you say the English “ay”, your tongue starts low in your mouth and moves up towards the teeth. The [e] sound is the vowel you get when you put your tongue in the position where “way” starts, then don’t move your tongue. The [e] sound can also be written eh (mehr, “more”) or ee (Armee, “army”).

At the end of a word, for example in bitte (“please”), e is a schwa, a neutral “uh” sound, like the final syllable in the English pronunciation of “Canada”.

i is usually [ɪ], the English “i” as in “sit” (or “set” if you’re from New Zealand). It can also be an [i], the English “ee” sound as in “see”. [i] can also be written ie (nie, “never”), ih (ihn, “him”), or ieh (sieht, “sees”).o is [ɔ], the vowel found in the American “thought” or British “not”.u before a double consonant, as in Mutter (“mother”), is [ʊ], the vowel in the English “put” or “wood”. Elsewhere it’s usually [u], the “oo” sound in the English “shoot” or “food”. [u] can also be written uh (Ruhe, “quiet”).y is considered a vowel. It’s normally only used in words of Greek origin like Psychologie, where it’s pronounced the same as a German umlauted “ü”. I’ll explain umlauted vowels below. You’ll also see “y” in some English loanwords like Hobby or Baby, where the pronunciation is unchanged from English.

There are three “diphthongs” (double vowels) in German:

eu, as in Deutsch, is pronounced like an English “oy” as in “boy” or “toy”... kind of. That’s the advice most German pronunciation guides will give you, and if you pronounce “eu” this way you’ll be understood, but the real German sound is subtly different. In the English “oy”, your lips start off small and rounded for the “o” but spread into a smile as you get to the “y”. To pronounce the German “eu” sound like a native, keep your lips rounded throughout the vowel. Your tongue should move, but your lips shouldn’t.ei is pronounced like the English “eye”. Just think of Einstein. This sound is also written ai, ey, or ay.au, as in auch (“also”), is similar to the English “ow” as in “wow”. The difference is that the English “ow” ends in a [u] sound (“oo” as in “shoot”), with the tongue at the very top and front of the mouth. In the German “au” your tongue doesn’t move quite so far, and stops in the [ʊ] position (“u” as in “put”).How Do You Pronounce Umlauted Letters (Ä, Ü, Ö) in German?

Three vowels in German – “A”, “U”, and “O” – can be written with an umlaut: “Ä”, “Ü” and “Ö”. (You’ll never see an umlaut on an “E” or “I” in German, except very rarely in some place names or personal names.)

Umlauted vowels represent the “fronted” versions of the non-umlauted letters, meaning that, for example, “ä” is like “a” but with the tongue further forward in the mouth. Just remember that:

ä is pronounced [ɛ] or [e] - see the description for “e” above.ö is [ø], one of the hardest German vowels for English speakers to master. Say the German eh sound, [e], feel where your tongue is, and notice that your lips are spread widely in a smile. (Remember that your tongue must stay still as you say this vowel, unlike in the English “ay!”.) To pronounce ö, put your tongue in the position for eh, but say it with your lips puckered roundly, not spread.ü is [y], another sound we don’t have in English. (It exists in French, where it’s written as u.) Just like ö is a “German e with rounded lips”, ü is the round-lips version of the English “ee” sound as in “see”. Say “ee”, but with your lips puckered up for a kiss instead of spread wide like a smile, and you’ll produce a perfect German ü.

Umlauts often indicate a grammatical change:

An umlaut often distinguishes the singular and plural forms of a noun: Apfel means “apple” and Äpfel means “apples”. (You can see echoes of this in English irregular plurals like “foot/feet”.)Some German verbs have an umlauted vowel in their second- and third-person forms. For example: ich fange an (“I start”), du fängst an (“you start”).When adding the diminutive suffixes -chen or -lein to a noun, if the final syllable of the original word is stressed then the vowel becomes umlauted, e.g. das Brot (“the bread”), das Brötchen (“the little bread”).

The umlauted diphthong äu (e.g. Fräulein) is pronounced identically to the German eu.

Sometimes “ä”, “ü” and “ö” are written as “ae”, “ue” and “oe”. For example, können (“to be able”) can be written koennen. This is the standard way to write umlauted vowels if, say, the computer you’re typing on doesn’t have a way to type umlauts.

How to Pronounce “ß” in German

The short answer: like an English “s”.

The full story: “ß”, called Eszett or scharfes S (“sharp S”), is a strange character that’s not found in any language except German. It originated as a combination of the “s” and “z” characters (actually of the archaic “long s” “ſ” and “tailed z” “ʒ”), and it looks kind of like a “B”. (Don’t confuse it with β, the Greek letter beta.) The name Eszett is a simple combination of the names of “s” and “z” – look those two letters up on the alphabet chart above and you’ll see what I mean.

“ß” isn’t used at all in Switzerland or Liechtenstein. In those countries, it’s always replaced by “ss”.

In Germany and Austria, “ß” is one of three ways to write the /s/ sound; the other two are “s” and “ss”.

The important point is that “ß” is pronounced like an “s”. Just remember which spelling is used for which word as you learn vocabulary; the pattern is more intuitive than the technical description makes it sound.

Traditionally, “ß” was not considered to have a capital form; if you wanted to capitalise it you’d write “SS”, so for example Straße (“street”) might be rendered as STRASSE. Some printers, however, would use “ẞ”, and there was a longstanding debate as to whether this was a “real” letter. But in 2017, the Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung (Council for German Orthography, the international body that regulates the German language) ruled that “ẞ” is acceptable, officially settling this pedantic issue.

The above spelling rules have only been in place since 1996. In that year, the Council signed an agreement to update and modernise German spelling, and one of the major changes was the rules around “ß”.

For example, the spelling of the word daß (“that”) was changed to dass. So you might still see the outdated spellings in older German texts.

What’s the Difference between -e and -er in German?

When a word ends in “-er”, the “r” is silent in most (but not all) dialects. In dialects where the “r” is silent, it takes a bit of practice to tell it apart from an “-e”.

Remember that “-e” at the end of a word is pronounced as a schwa. The difference between this and the “-er” sound is subtle, and it’s the difference between e.g. meine and meiner, different grammatical forms of the word for “my”.

In IPA, “-e” is [ə] and “-er” is [ɐ]. Listen to how they’re both pronounced in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_hWn... Out For Non-Silent Letters!

In English a lot of words have “silent letters”, like the “k” in “knee”. Don’t let this trip you up when speaking German, because silent letters in German are extremely rare.

In particular, remember to:

Say the “k” out loud in words that start with “kn-”, like Knie (“knee”).Say the “p” out loud in words that start with “ps-”, like Psychologie (“psychology”).Don’t drop the final “-e”; e.g. Mitte (“middle”) is pronounced “MITT-uh”, not “mitt”.Loanwords are Often Exceptions to the Rule

German, like any major world language, has a lot of loanwords - words borrowed from other languages. Often, but not always, the spelling and pronunciation don’t change when these words are borrowed, making them exceptions to the normal rules of German.

For example, the German word Office is pronounced as in English, while Ski is pronounced “shee”, like in Norwegian where it was borrowed from.

Not all loanwords are left unchanged. For example Software is pronounced “zoft-ver”. But be aware that loanwords aren’t necessarily pronounced according to the normal German rules. In our Software example, the “s” is pronounced like “z” and the “w” like “v”, as in regular German words – but the final “-e” is not pronounced as a schwa.

Compound Words in German

German is famous for its long words, like Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung, “speed limit”. These words look intimidating, but we actually do something similar in English.

In English you can combine two or more nouns to get a new noun or noun phrase. Sometimes we write the words separately (“music festival”, “flight attendant”), and sometimes we write it as a single word (“warlord”, “stockbroker”).

German does this too, but does it way more often. So for example, where we write “music festival”, Germans write “Musikfestival.” And where an English speaker would write “the Danube Steamship Navigation Company Captain”, a German would write “der Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän”. Yikes!

Sometimes compound words are written with a connecting element. So for example, the combination of Maus (“mouse”) and Falle (“trap”) is Mausefalle, with an extra “e” in the middle. See here for a list of the possible connecting elements.

A weird thing about German compounding is that it can create words that have “triple letters”, the same letter three times in a row. For example: Schifffahrt (“shipping”, literally “ship-trip”) or Brennnessel (“stinging nettle”, literally “burn-nettle”).

Quotation Marks in German

When writing quoted speech in German, the opening quotation mark should be written at the bottom of the line, not at the top like in English:

Arnold said: „Ich komme wieder”
Arnold said, “I’ll be back”.

A Final Note on Pronunciation

To help you learn the German letter names, I recommend listening to the German Alphabet song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQXE...

The word “jucchee!” in that song means “yippee!” or “hooray!”. The line zum Lernen ist es nie zu früh means “it’s never too early to learn”.

Now You Know the German Alphabet!

The information above should cover everything you need to know in order to read and write the German alphabet and pronounce its letters accurately. It’s a lot to take in, so don’t feel like you need to learn it all at once. Just use it as a reference that you can come back to anytime you need a reminder of any of the rules.

The post The German Alphabet – a Complete Guide appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.

20+ Resources for Spanish Reading Practice (Beginner to Intermediate)

Are you thinking of getting some Spanish reading practice?

One of the best ways to learn Spanish words and grammar is to read in Spanish.

The problem? Textbooks are too basic (or too boring!), while novels are difficult for beginners.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a collection of Spanish reading resources that are perfect for beginner and intermediate learners. They’re easy to read, and just as importantly, they’re fun to read. As long as you know a few basic Spanish words, you’re ready to dig in.

This post includes Spanish reading resources in many formats:

Table of contentsReading Resources for Beginner Spanish LearnersWoodward Spanish123TeachMeAmazing Children’s Books to Build Your Spanish SkillsWilbooksChildren’s Books ForeverGrimm StoriesAndersen StoriesChildren’s Books OnlineGoComicsSpanish Reading Resources with Video and AudioPractical SpanishSpanish ResourcesUniversity of Texas at AustinNews, Information and Current Events in SpanishCNN in SpanishOnline Newspapers in SpanishWikipediaApps for Spanish Reading PracticeDuolingoFluentUKindle AppPaid Resources to Help You Build Your Spanish Reading SkillsSpanish Pod 101Spanish UncoveredAmazonLangboxTeach Yourself SpanishYabla Spanish4 Hacks to Help You Speed Up Your Spanish Reading ProgressWhat Are You Waiting For? Get Reading Spanish!

I’ve included over 20 Spanish reading resources, most of which contain dozens of articles and stories.

Let’s dive in!

Reading Resources for Beginner Spanish Learners

Sometimes, you just have to start slowly.

These resources are perfect to help you master the basics of Spanish and build essential vocabulary.

Woodward Spanish

Woodward Spanish has an interesting selection of passages with vocabulary lists.

Each text is entirely written in Spanish and focuses on a specific topic. Topics range from bancos (“banks”) to viajes (“travels”).

All passages include a helpful list of related vocabulary and important verbs found in the text.

Since they all tie back to the same concept, sentences and words are easier to guess and thus learn.

123TeachMe

123TeachMe has a massive collection of over 200 Spanish passages. Each passage includes integrated quizzes so you can check you’ve fully understood what you’ve read.

Passages are sorted into levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and superior. Each level is broken down into low, mid, and high categories. No matter your level, you will find something to suit your learning!

You can’t see some of the quizzes for the superior level unless you’re a subscriber, but the material for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels is accessible to anyone.

Amazing Children’s Books to Build Your Spanish Skills

Books are one of the greatest tools out there for teaching a foreign language to children or even toddlers..

But obviously, children’s books are not only good for children; you can take advantage of them too.

Children’s books are aimed at beginner readers. They use simple everyday vocabulary and easy sentences. And they are much more entertaining than dry essays or reports!

Here are some of my favourite sources of Spanish children’s books.

Wilbooks

Wilbooks has a great collection of Spanish children’s books.

The books are divided into categories based on their reading level. Depending on the difficulty you’re aiming for, you can choose between preescolar, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade stories.

The books you can see on the website are free to access, but you can get a $1.99 monthly subscription if you need a bigger library.

Children’s Books Forever

Children’s Books Forever offers six downloadable Spanish books featuring charming illustrations.

You can open the books in PDF format and read them as you would a physical book. I particularly like the dinosaur stories!

Grimm Stories

The Brothers Grimm are known for collecting classic stories like Hansel y Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) and *El Enano Saltarín” (Rumpelstiltskin).

If you’ve ever wondered how their stories read in Spanish, you can discover it on the Grimm Stories website.

What makes this website extra special is that each story is available in many different languages. You can compare, side by side, the Spanish version with one in your native language.

Or that might not even be necessary! The Grimm Tales are quite popular, and you might have already read some of them in your native language. It will be easier for you to crack the code of some Spanish sentences if you already know the stories.

Andersen Stories

As with the Grimm stories mentioned above, here’s the same service for the stories of Hans Christian Andersen.

You can use the many languages offered by the website to make your reading easier, or you can try to read in Spanish one of the stories you already know.

One of my favourites is Los vestidos nuevos del emperador (“The Emperor’s New Clothes”).

Children’s Books Online

Children's Books Online is another brilliant selection of children’s books, many in Spanish. It includes classics like Jack and the Beanstalk and The Golden Goose.

The books are in image format, but they’re very easy to read and the website is easy to navigate.

GoComics

Comic strips are great fun for all ages. I’ve always found it easier to learn if I’m having fun.

Go Comics includes several popular comic strips such as Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes in Spanish translations.

What’s great is that you can also discover popular Hispanic comics like Gaturro and Justo y Franco.

Spanish Reading Resources with Video and Audio

Reading is a great way to discover new Spanish words, but so is listening. I often recommend making podcasts a part of your language learning strategy. By listening to your target language, you can get used to the accent and improve your articulation. For even more ways to get Spanish listening practice, check out this list of Spanish listening resources.

But even better than reading or listening alone is when you can combine them, and listen to the audio of what you’re reading, or watch the stories acted out.

Here are some places where you can do exactly that in Spanish:

Practical Spanish

Practical Spanish provides over 30 readings for absolute beginners and beginners, together with audio recordings.

The texts can vary from short to long and they focus on different topics of everyday life. The recording is clear and the narrator speaks in a slow, articulated tone.

The Absolute Beginner readings also come with a question and answer section, which is fantastic for helping you understand how to use the vocabulary from the text.

Spanish Resources

You can listen and read Spanish at Spanish Resources. The readings with audio have a built-in quiz system, so you can double check what you’ve learned.

Browse the website a little, and thank me after! There are many bite-sized activities and content to cover all your bases.

University of Texas at Austin

Check out these amazing Spanish Proficiency Exercises from UT Austin!

This fantastic resource features videos of native Spanish speakers from many different regions. It focuses on 15 main language skills such as describing basic objects, counting, and talking about your family.

And as your Spanish progresses to intermediate or advanced, there are tabs at the top of the page with videos at these levels.

News, Information and Current Events in Spanish

Understanding the news can be one of the trickiest things to do in your target language. But it can help you improve a lot, precisely because it’s not easy!

I love reading newspapers and magazines to learn Spanish. I find out what’s going on in the world and improve my reading skills!

Here are some places on the Internet where you can keep up with the news in Spanish:

CNN in Spanish

CNN’s Spanish-language website is not just for beginners. In fact, it is CNN providing all the latest headlines, so the vocabulary can be intense.

To make your experience easier, you can look for an article on the same topic in your native language. Some of the vocabulary will feature on both, so you’ll be able to understand the Spanish article more easily.

Online Newspapers in Spanish

M.I.T. has put together a comprehensive list of online Spanish language newspapers. You’re sure to find a newspaper you like.

This site has everything from Peruvian magazines to regional Mexican news. You can even check out what’s happening in the Canary Islands, Aruba or Paraguay!

If it’s news from Spain you’re after, look no further than Online Newspapers, which features news from nearly every city and region in the country.

Wikipedia

There is a treasure trove of free Spanish reading material on Wikipedia.

Search for any topic in your native language, then click “Español” on the left to be taken to the Spanish language version of that article. This is a great way to build topic-specific vocabulary.

I often use this setting when I am looking for more information on a Spanish book or movie. There always tends to be more information in the language in which the book was published or the movie released.

Apps for Spanish Reading Practice

Apps are a great way to squeeze a few minutes of language learning into your day. They are so handy and quick, and they provide bite-sized content.

There are lots of apps that can help you practice your Spanish reading skills. Here are a few of the best.

Duolingo

Duolingo is a fun language learning app for iOS and Android. It provides a guided, gentle introduction to Spanish, with quizzes and reading exercises.

FluentU

FluentU curates the best Spanish videos on the web and provides reading tools to help you study them effectively. You can try it free for 14-days.

Kindle App

The Kindle App, available for Android and iOS, is a good place to get free Spanish reading.

If you look up “free spanish books” on your Amazon account, you might be able to download more than ten books on any given day. Depending on where you live, you’ll find novels, textbooks, and children’s books.

You don’t even have to sign up for Kindle Unlimited, some books are simply free on Kindle. There is also a section of more free books if you have an Amazon Prime account.

Paid Resources to Help You Build Your Spanish Reading Skills

All the resources I’ve shared so far have been free. But for more tailored, comprehensive material, you might consider investing in paid products.

Spanish Pod 101

I’m a big fan of Innovative Language podcasts. What you might not realise is that all their materials include downloadable transcripts so you can practise your reading right alongside your listening.

Spanish Pod 101 has a 7-day free trial that you can enjoy to explore its content.

Spanish Uncovered

Spanish Uncovered is one of our favourite Spanish courses at Fluent in 3 Months.

The entire course uses storytelling as a teaching strategy. Since it is built around a story, it’s very entertaining and engaging!

Amazon

Amazon’s Spanish Children’s Books has a selection of the best selling Spanish language children’s books. It is ideal for beginner Spanish learners.

You can also research “Spanish novels” and find some more advanced reading.

Langbox

Langbox features a selection of Spanish stories that you can find on Amazon, with pros and cons listed for each to help you decide which ones are best for you.

Some are study books and others are novels or short stories. They also recommend a dual Spanish-English book for beginners.

Teach Yourself Spanish

Teach Yourself Spanish includes plenty of opportunities for reading practice.

It’s a course organised in 25 units that aims to take students to intermediate Spanish level.

Yabla Spanish

I love Yabla. They’ve curated the best video content they can find online over a range of fun topics, and they host the videos on their site with precisely timed subtitles in both English and Spanish. A great way to practise your reading!

You can enjoy a 15-day free trial to make sure it’s a good fit for your language learning strategy.

4 Hacks to Help You Speed Up Your Spanish Reading Progress

Here are my top tips to help you cut hours off your study time, so you can become a Spanish reader faster than you ever thought possible.

Improve Your Recall with Spaced Repetition Systems SRS is the best way I know to quickly learn new words. SRS prompts you to recall new words when you’re on the verge of forgetting them. This makes them stick in your long-term memory. My favourite SRS tool is the Anki flashcard app (for iOS and Android).

Use Mnemonics for Better Memory Retention Mnemonics provide “hooks” for your brain to attach information, which makes them harder to forget. One of the best (and free) apps for setting up mnemonic devices is Memrise.

Increase Your Reading Speed Using Learning With Texts This open-source, cloud-based foreign language reading app will help you absorb Spanish vocabulary at an accelerated rate. Best of all, it’s free!

Pomodoro Your Productivity The Pomodoro Technique is a way of breaking up your study sessions into short segments with a break in between each one. This helps you study faster and smarter without feeling overwhelmed.

What Are You Waiting For? Get Reading Spanish!

Reading in Spanish is important. It’s a tool to help you learn new words and it exposes you to grammar and culture. With this list of reading resources for beginner Spanish learners, you can level up your Spanish language skills faster than ever!

You can combine it with what I know is the best way to learn Spanish fast: speak from day one! Spanish is Easy if you summon your courage and decide to throw yourself into it.

The post 20+ Resources for Spanish Reading Practice (Beginner to Intermediate) appeared first on Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips.