Shannon L. Kennedy's Blog: http://eurolinguiste.com/feed/, page 2

Learn Persian with Our Resident Polyglot, Shannon Kennedy

This post originally appeared on the Drops blog.

Hey there, Shannon here, the Resident Polyglot at Drops. I’m excited to share I’m about to embark on my latest language learning project with Drops. 

In the past, I’ve learned Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, and Hungarian with Drops and now I’m ready to take on another new language. 

It’ll be my fourteenth language and I’ve learned a few things about language learning along the way, so I’ve asked you what you’d like to see as you follow along on my latest language project. 

Here’s what you asked: 

What language are you starting?

Of course, I had to start with the question you are all probably asking–what language do I plan on learning? It’s…

Persian! Woot! And I’m very excited to learn it.

If you had 3 months to learn a new language from scratch, what would be your game plan?

That’s precisely what my plan is in learning Persian–to focus on it for three months. Several of my language projects, including when I learned Japanese, Hebrew, and Hindi, had three-month time frames. So to make a long story short, three-month language projects are something I have experience doing. 

The first thing I do when taking on a new language is to set a goal I’d like to reach by the end of the three months. For my second Japanese project, it was to have a 15-minute conversation about the Legend of Zelda (I’m kind of a big fan). For Hungarian, it was to learn enough Hungarian that I’d be able to surprise the founders at Drops–native Hungarian speakers. For Russian, I set a weekly goal I aimed to sustain over a three-month period to read and discuss Game of Thrones in Russian with my tutor. 

And for Persian, I’m once again going for the element of surprise. At the end of the three months, I plan to surprise family friends with my ability to speak Persian. 

With this goal in mind, there are several clear tasks I need to focus on. One is that I need to learn tons of vocabulary (I’ll be using Drops for this). Another is that I need to learn basic conversation skills–both speaking and listening. To accomplish this, I’ll work with a tutor once a week to practice conversing and build my skill in the language, do lots of listening, and daily vocabulary study. 

To be more specific, I’m aiming to do at least one Pimsleur lesson a day, 5-15 minutes of vocabulary study a day, and one lesson per week. For each lesson, I’ll pick a topic I’d like to work on. And between lessons, I’ll independently build a script I’ll bring to my lessons to practice and get corrections on. I’ll also study these scripts so that by the end of the three months, I won’t need to rely on them anymore. 

I also intend to learn to read and write in the language.

Finally, I’ll make use of any opportunities I have to use the language outside of lessons and independent study. Thankfully I live in an area where there is a community of Persian speakers, so even visiting one of the local grocery stores can offer me the chance to practice the language by reading labels and making small talk with the staff. 

There will likely be other things I do, but that’s the core of it. And, of course, I plan on documenting what I do and sharing bi-weekly updates on my methods and progress here.

Are you planning on learning this language differently than your other ones? If so, how?

This will be the first “local” language I’ve aimed to learn with the intent of using it locally. Many of the other languages I learned (recently) were prior to a trip, so I had a very clear deadline ahead of me–the date of my departure.

With this language, the deadline is a little vaguer. I could technically end the project whenever I’m ready, but we all know how that goes. It’s easy to never feel ready. So in this respect, learning this language will be a little different for me.  

As far as methods, I’ll continue to do much of what I’ve done in the past because I know it works. 

One thing I will be doing differently, however, is which tutoring platform I’ll use. Historically, I’ve used italki to find my language tutors, but after seeing Nelson’s success with his Dutch tutor on Preply, I decided to give this new-to-me platform a try. 

What should one keep in mind when learning a new script? / What is your first step in learning a language with a different alphabet than English?

Whether or not I spend time learning a new script when I first start studying a language depends on the complexity of the script. For example:

When I started learning Chinese, I initially focused on using pinyin until my lack of knowledge of Chinese characters began to inhibit my comprehension (about a month in).When I started learning Japanese, I only learned Hiragana at first. My tutor exclusively wrote notes from our lessons in Hiragana so I could read them and I was also able to find several resources that used just Hiragana (or introduced the other two systems slowly). I had the advantage of already being able to read Chinese characters, so I understood a lot of Kanji even if I didn’t know how to pronounce them. When I started learning Russian and Korean, I learned the alphabets right away. They’re both relatively simple writing systems, so they can be learned within a few hours. Plus, knowing how to read and write in Russian and Korean helped me immensely with pronunciation. For these languages, romanization often just doesn’t cut it.When I started Hindi, I didn’t spend any time learning Devanagari because my focus was on speaking and listening comprehension. I still haven’t learned this writing system despite having a basic conversational ability in Hindi.When I started learning Hebrew, I waited until I studied the language for a few weeks before I focused on the writing system.

For Persian, I plan on learning the writing system in advance. Here’s how I’ll do it:

First, I would usually familiarize myself with the alphabet with Scripts, my favorite app for learning a new writing system. At this time, however, the Persian alphabet isn’t included as a part of the app. Instead, I’ll use a video like this to get acquainted with the system. 

I’ll then practice writing each of the letters, begin writing basic words, and practice reading simple words in Drops. From there, it’s just a matter of practice and patience.

Any good ways to approach new grammar? Resources for learning grammar?

I answered this question in one of my first Ask the Polyglot videos on Instagram. But I’ll also touch on this here as well as make recommendations for my favorite grammar resources. 

I learn grammar on an as-needs basis. 

This means when I realize that I’m missing a particular grammar structure to continue improving my communication skills, I’ll set aside time to work on it. Prior to that, you can get by in a lot of situations with set phrases and questions. 

How do you know when you need to know grammar? What you need to learn grammar-wise is usually pretty obvious. For example, if I wanted to talk about something in the past, but don’t know the past tense, I need to learn how to use the past tense. To do this, I usually purchase a grammar reference book (which I’ll–reference–below). I’ll look up the grammar, practice a few sentences on my own with it, and then, I bring it to a lesson with a tutor, letting them know I want to talk about an event in the past, like what I did over the weekend, then ask them to pay particular attention to how well I’m using the past tense. 

Here are the grammar books I’ve found success with:

RoutledgeSchaum’sHow long would it take to learn a new language?

There are a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration when determining how long it takes to learn a language. How close is it to your native language? How motivated are you to learn it? Exactly how are you using your study time? What do you consider having “learned” a language to be? Fluency? An ability to speak and understand it? To pass an exam? 

To answer this question, I typically reference the Defense Institute’s language categories. They organize languages into four categories. Category I includes languages that are easy for an English speaker to learn like French, Spanish, Afrikaans, or Danish. They estimate these languages take 575-600 hours to learn. 

Category II languages are slightly more challenging, requiring about 750 hours of study. This includes languages like German. Category III languages such as Indonesian and Swahili take about 900 hours. And Category IV languages including Croatian, Russian, and Hungarian are said to take about 1,100 hours. 

Persian is a Category IV language. So if I studied two hours a day every single day, it would take me about 79 weeks to “learn” the language. 

To Sum Up My New Language Project: Learning Persian

At the end of about 90 days, I hope to have learned enough Persian to be able to surprise some family friends. I know they’ll be excited to find out I started learning the language on my own.

I will start out using Preply, Drops, the Fluent in 3 Months Bootcamp, and Pimsleur. In the first week of learning Persian, I’d like to learn the Persian writing system, get my self-introduction down in Persian and learn around 100 words.

My Persian Language Updates

I plan to update you on my progress around once every two weeks and to keep everything in one place, I put this page together so you can find all my Persian updates in chronological order.

In the meantime… Do you have any advice for me as a new Persian learner? Or maybe you have resource recommendations for the language. Let me know! I’ll be back soon with another update! 

‍

The post Learn Persian with Our Resident Polyglot, Shannon Kennedy appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List: My Monthly Language Learning Update

Welcome!

Welcome to Clear the List, where I share what I’m doing to learn languages as well as my latest analysis of my language goals.

If you’d like to join and share your own language learning goals and updates, I’d love for you to join me. You can do so by sharing your updates, or a link to your own post, in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Goals

I didn’t have any since it’s been some time since I’ve done a Clear the List.

This Month’s Goals

Start digging into Scottish Gaelic. // This is my newest and 17th language. I’m very excited to take it on.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // I use Memrise to study vocabulary on a daily basis. I use some community decks, some Memrise decks, but mostly focus on decks I’ve created myself. I currently have streaks on Drops, Memrise, and Duolingo.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I have more than 2,000 videos in my YouTube to watch queue – mostly language learning videos, but also videos on things that can help my language learning overall (like how to use Notion better, how to be more productive, etc.)

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I love reading and one of the ways I can re-read books I love guilt-free (rather than reading something new) is by reading in one of my target languages.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Scottish Gaelic:

DuolingoScottish with Jason (YouTube)Memrise

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/musicDuolingo

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemrise

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete PersianMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemriseDuolingo

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Spanish:

DuolingoMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Portuguese:

DuolingoMemriseComplete PortugueseitalkiDrops

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Italian, Korean

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language-Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)

The post Clear the List: My Monthly Language Learning Update appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Language Learning Reading Challenge 2023

It’s once again that time and the votes are in! The Language Learning Reading Challenge community submitted their requests for this year’s challenge and here are the themes for the 2023 Language Reading Challenge.

What is the Language Learning Reading Challenge?

Each month in the LLRC, we’ll tackle one book covering a topic related to language and share our experiences as a group. Please feel free to join us. You can participate by commenting on the posts here at Eurolinguiste or by joining the group on Facebook (we have a Goodreads community, too).

As part of the challenge, we will be reading books that cover everything from culture, language learning, general learning techniques, history, and more. Plus, we’ll be reading both in our native languages and target languages.

If you’re at a more advanced level in your target language, feel free to read any or all of the books (not just the ones indicated as target language only) in the language that you’re learning.

If you’re still just getting started, that’s okay, too! You can read along in your native language, discovering more about the cultures and histories tied to the language(s) that you’re learning, opting for lower-level or graded readers for books in your target language.

Please note that you don’t have to pick just one language for this challenge. If you’re learning multiple languages, feel free to mix and match. The challenge is pretty flexible. I’ve planned it this way so you can get the most learning possible out of it over this next year.

The 2023 Language Learning Reading Challenge Prompts

Jan: Read a book related to the history of the language you’re learning or of a country where your language is spoken

Feb: Read a book inspired by a true story (in your target language)

Mar: A book written by a language blogger (like Benny’s books, Olly’s books, Kerstin’s book, Lindsay’s book, or even shameless plug: my book)

Apr: Read a book in a genre you wouldn’t normally read (for example, I love fantasy but don’t read romance generally, so I could read a romance novel in my target language)

May: Read a book about learning (it can be a book about language learning or about learning in general)

Jun: Read a book by an author from a country that you haven’t read any of their authors before

Jul: Read something written by a female author from a country that speaks your language (it can be written in the language or a translation)

Aug: Read a self-development book in your target language

Sep: Read a book written by a language blogger (like Benny’s books, Olly’s books, Kerstin’s book, Lindsay’s book, or even shameless plug: my book)

Oct: Read a graded reader in your target language

Nov: Read a fiction book in your target language (it can be a book at any level — a short children’s book, a book written for teens, or a book written for adults)

Dec: Read a book that was published this calendar year

A Few Notes Regarding the Language Reading Challenge:

The challenge doesn’t have to focus on one language, if you are studying multiple languages (or have an interest in languages you’re not studying), feel free to go for books in or about those languages.

You are absolutely welcome to read books of any level. Graded readers, children’s books, academic books, or any other genre are acceptable for the challenges that require you to read in your target language(s). And for topics that indicate you read a children’s book, you can also explore YA (young adult).

You do not need to participate every month to be a part of this challenge. You can choose the months that align with your interests.

If you do not complete the book you take up in any one month of the challenge, that’s okay! You can still join in the conversation and share some of what you’ve learned from the sections of the book you were able to get through.

Language Reading Challenge Rules:Share your post discussing the book that you’ve read this month. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted. You can share in the comments or use the link below to join us on Facebook or Goodreads.Follow the host: Shannon from Eurolinguiste.OPTIONAL: Join us on Facebook or Goodreads.

The post Language Learning Reading Challenge 2023 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | September 2022

Welcome!

We’re heading into September — my birthday month! — and there are lots of exciting things in store.

Here is my latest analysis of my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also the latest Language Conqueror Quest!

We’re kicking off September with a Quest all about journaling and how to use it to help you level up in your language(s).

Join the Quest

What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on with a monthly Quest focused on passion-driven learning. You can learn more, get a feel for my teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF

And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for my teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!

Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and German. Not to mention, more languages are coming soon!

You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts

And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!

Now, on to #clearthelist …

Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and you!

We’d absolutely love for you to be a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on InstagramLast Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in our use of Mandarin at home. // We’ve been making slow but consistent progress with this by incorporating small phrases into our day-to-day routines.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // I’ve kept this up.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I didn’t get it to 1,750 but it’s under 1,900.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Nope.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Another nope.

Read in French. // Same as above.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in our use of Mandarin at home. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious about where I’m at, you can check out my stories. I am learning Persian, Hungarian, Croatian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’d like to keep reducing this down. I want to try to get it 1,750.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I really want to get back into this.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/musicDuolingo

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemrise

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete PersianMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemriseDuolingo

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Korean:

Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Spanish:

DuolingoMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Portuguese:

DuolingoMemriseComplete PortugueseitalkiDrops

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Italian

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language-Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | September 2022 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | August 2022

Welcome!

We’re heading into August — Little Linguist’s birthday month — and there are lots of exciting things in store.

Here is my latest analysis of my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also the latest Language Conqueror Quest!

We’re kicking off August with a Quest all about mnemonics and how to use this incredible memory technique to help you level up in your language(s).

Join the Quest

What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on with a monthly Quest focused on passion-driven learning. You can learn more, get a feel for my teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF

And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for my teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!

Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and German. Not to mention, more languages are coming soon!

You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts

And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!

Now, on to #clearthelist …

Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and you!

We’d absolutely love for you to be a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on InstagramLast Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in our use of Mandarin at home. // We’re still working on this with weekly new phrases and learning to write characters. We recently had a great chat with a guest on the Language Hacking Podcast and she shared the strategies she used to make mathematics a required part of her kids’ routines and the benefits it had and it inspired me to do the same with languages for mine.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // I’ve been keeping this up and am nearing 800 days.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’ve kept it below 2000 but haven’t gotten it any lower.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Nope.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in our use of Mandarin at home. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious about where I’m at, you can check out my stories. I am learning Persian, Hungarian, Croatian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’d like to keep reducing this down. I want to try to get it 1,750.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I really want to get back into this.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/musicDuolingo

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemrise

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete PersianMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemriseDuolingo

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Korean:

Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Spanish:

DuolingoMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Portuguese:

DuolingoMemriseComplete PortugueseitalkiDrops

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Italian

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language-Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | August 2022 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Summer Mode On! 5 Ways to Enjoy Learning and Summer Fun with Drops

This post originally appeared on the Drops blog.

The end of summer is right around the corner — now’s the time to make the most of what’s left! Whether you’re heading back to school, or just interested in finally picking up that language you’ve always wanted to learn, here are a few tips and resources to help you learn a new language this summer.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

5 ways to learn a new language this summerSummer vocabulary in different languagesWays to try out your new vocabulary

Let’s get started!

5 Ways to Learn a New Language this Summer

Now is the perfect time to get a jumpstart on your language learning. Wondering how to get a headstart with a new language this summer? Here are five tips for mastering a new language this summer.

1 Try Out Drops Bites

Want a quick, easy way to learn new summer vocabulary in another language? Try out Drops Bites and get started learning summer words in any of our 45+ languages.

2 Go on a Summer Language Immersion Program

An immersion program is a great way to not only experience travel but also improve your language. And summer is the perfect time to travel abroad!

3 Take an Online Course in Another Language

There are lots of free online courses available today, many of which you can take in another language. Coursera, is one platform where you can find online courses in a variety of languages.

4 Download Drops

Drops is a language learning app that focuses on the building blocks of a new language: words. It’s quick, simple, and fun to play. You only need five minutes a day to start learning new words in a new language and best of all, it’s free.

Get started with Drops now.

Learn Summer Words in Different LanguagesSummer Vocabulary for Visiting the Beach

Learn these summer words in different languages:

Beach in Different Languages

Beach in French – la plageBeach in Spanish – la playaBeach in German – der StrandBeach in Italian – la spiaggiaBeach in Russian – пляж (plyazh)Beach in Portuguese – a praiaBeach in Chinese – 海滩 (hǎi tān)Beach in Japanese – ビーチ (bīchi)Beach in Korean – 바닷가 (badatga)Beach in Vietnamese – bãi biểnBeach in Turkish – plajBeach in Indonesian – pantaiBeach in Dutch – het strandBeach in Icelandic – ströndBeach in Thai – ชายหาด (chaai haat)Beach in Polish – plażaBeach in Hawaiian – kahakaiBeach in Maori – taha moanaBeach in Samoan – matāfagaBeach in Greek – παραλία (paralia)Beach in Finnish – rantaBeach in Estonia – randBeach in Croatian – plažaBeach in Serbian – плажа (plaža)Beach in Bosnian – plažaBeach in Swahili – pwaniBeach in Yoruba – etíkunBeach in Igbo – ụsọ oké osimiri

Sunglasses in Different Languages

Sunglasses in French – les lunettes de soleilSunglasses in Spanish – las gafas de solSunglasses in German – die SonnenbrilleSunglasses in Italian – gli occhiali da soleSunglasses in Russian – солнечные очки (solnechnye ochki)Sunglasses in Portuguese – os óculos de solSunglasses in Chinese – 太阳镜 (tài yáng jìng)Sunglasses in Japanese – サングラス (sangurasu) Sunglasses in Korean – 선글라스 (seongeullaseu)Sunglasses in Vietnamese – kính râmSunglasses in Turkish – güneş gözlüğüSunglasses in Indonesian – kacamata hitamSunglasses in Dutch – de zonnebrilSunglasses in Icelandic – sólglerauguSunglasses in Thai – แว่นกันแดด (waen kan daet) Sunglasses in Polish – okulary przeciwsłoneczneSunglasses in Hawaiian – makaaniani kalaSunglasses in Maori – mōhitiSunglasses in Samoan – tioata mo le laSunglasses in Greek – γυαλιά ηλίου (jalia iliou)Sunglasses in Finnish – aurinkolasitSunglasses in Estonian – päikeseprillidSunglasses in Croatian – sunčane naočaleSunglasses in Serbian – наочаре за сунце (naočare za sunce)Sunglasses in Bosnian – sunčane naočaleSunglasses in Swahili – miwani ya juaSunglasses in Yoruba – jígí agbòòrùnSunglasses in Igbo – ugogbe anya

Beach Towel in Different Languages

Beach Towel in French – la serviette de plageBeach Towel in Spanish – la toalla de playaBeach Towel in German – das StrandlakenBeach Towel in Italian – il telo da mareBeach Towel in Russian – пляжное полотенце (pliazhnoe polotentse)Beach Towel in Portuguese – a toalha de praiaBeach Towel in Chinese – 沙滩毛巾 (shā tān máo jīn)Beach Towel in Japanese – ビーチタオル (bīchitaoru) Beach Towel in Korean – 해변용 수건 (haebyeonyong sugeon)Beach Towel in Vietnamese – khăn tắm biểnBeach Towel in Turkish – plaj havlusuBeach Towel in Tagalog – tuwalyang pandagatBeach Towel in Indonesian – handuk pantaiBeach Towel in Dutch – de strandhanddoekBeach Towel in Icelandic – strandhandklæðiBeach Towel in Thai – ผ้าเช็ดตัวชายหาด (phaa chet tua chaai haat)Beach Towel in Polish – ręcznik plażowyBeach Towel in Hawaiian – kāwele kaiBeach Towel in Maori – taora tātahiBeach Towel in Greek – πετσέτα θάλασσας (petseta thalassas)Beach Towel in Finnish – rantapyyheBeach Towel in Estonian – rannarätikBeach Towel in Croatian – ručnik za plažuBeach Towel in Serbian – пешкир за плажу (peškir za plažu)Beach Towel in Bosnian – peškir za plažuBeach Towel in Swahili – taulo ya ufuoniBeach Towel in Yoruba – aṣọ ìnura lókunBeach Towel in Igbo – akwa nhicha ahụ ke mmiri

Swimsuit in Different Languages

Swimsuit in French – le maillot de bainSwimsuit in Spanish – el bañadorSwimsuit in German – der BadeanzugSwimsuit in Italian – il costume da bagnoSwimsuit in Russian – купальник (kupalnik)Swimsuit in Portuguese – a roupa de banhoSwimsuit in Chinese – 泳装 (yǒng zhuāng)Swimsuit in Japanese – 水着 (みずぎ, mizugi )Swimsuit in Korean – 수영복 (suyeongbok)Swimsuit in Vietnamese – đồ bơiSwimsuit in Turkish – mayoSwimsuit in Indonesian – baju renangSwimsuit in Dutch – het badpakSwimsuit in Icelandic – sundfötSwimsuit in Thai – ชุดว่ายน้ำ chut waai naamSwimsuit in Polish – kostium kąpielowySwimsuit in Hawaiian – lole ʻauʻauSwimsuit in Maori – kākahu kaukauSwimsuit in Samoan – ofu ‘au’auSwimsuit in Greek – μαγιό (majo)Swimsuit in Finnish – uimapukuSwimsuit in Estonian – trikooSwimsuit in Croatian – kupaći kostimSwimsuit in Serbian – купаћи костим (kupaći kostim)Swimsuit in Bosnian – kupaći kostimSwimsuit in Swahili – vazi la kuogeleaSwimsuit in Yoruba – aṣọ ìlúwẹ̀ẹ́Swimsuit in Igbo – uwe egwu mmiri

Sunscreen in Different Languages

Sunscreen in French – la crème solaireSunscreen in Spanish – el protector solarSunscreen in German – die SonnencremeSunscreen in Italian – la crema solareSunscreen in Russian – солнцезащитный крем (solntsezashchitnyi krem)Sunscreen in Portuguese – o protetor solarSunscreen in Chinese – 防晒霜 (fáng shài shuāng)Sunscreen in Japanese – 日焼け止め (ひやけどめ, hiyakedome)Sunscreen in Korean – 선크림 (seonkeurim)Sunscreen in Vietnamese – kem chống nắngSunscreen in Turkish – güneş kremiSunscreen in Indonesian – krim tabir suryaSunscreen in Dutch – de zonnebrandcrèmeSunscreen in Icelandic – sólarvörnSunscreen in Thai – ครีมกันแดด (khreem kan daet)Sunscreen in Polish – krem do opalaniaSunscreen in Hawaiian – ʻaila pale lāSunscreen in Maori – pani ārai hihirāSunscreen in Samoan – kulimi mo le laSunscreen in Greek – αντηλιακό (andiliako)Sunscreen in Finnish – aurinkorasvaSunscreen in Estonian – päikesekreemSunscreen in Croatian – krema za sunčanjeSunscreen in Serbian – крема за сунчање (krema za sunčanje)Sunscreen in Bosnian – krema za sunčanjeSunscreen in Swahili – losheni ya kujikinga na juaSunscreen in Yoruba – ìpara adènà-òòrùnSunscreen in Igbo – ude anwụSummer Vocabulary for Going Camping

Tent in Different Languages

Tent in French – la tenteTent in Spanish – la tiendaTent in German – das ZeltTent in Italian – la tendaTent in Russian – палатка (palatka)Tent in Portuguese – a barracaTent in Chinese – 帐篷 (zhàng péng)Tent in Japanese – テント (tento)Tent in Korean – 텐트 (tenteu)Tent in Vietnamese – lềuTent in Turkish – çadırTent in Indonesian – tendaTent in Dutch – de tentTent in Icelandic – tjaldTent in Thai – เต็นท์ (ten)Tent in Polish – namiotTent in Hawaiian – hale loleTent in Maori – tēnetiTent in Samoan – fale ‘ieTent in Greek – σκηνή (skini)Tent in Finnish – telttaTent in Estonian – telkTent in Croatian – šatorTent in Serbian – шатор (šator)Tent in Bosnian – šatorTent in Swahili – hemaTent in Yoruba – àtíbàbàTent in Igbo – ụlọikwuu

Camp Stove in Different Languages

Camp Stove in French – le réchaud de campingCamp Stove in Spanish – el hornillo de campingCamp Stove in German – der CampingkocherCamp Stove in Italian – il fornellino da campeggioCamp Stove in Russian – походная печь (pokhodnaia pech)Camp Stove in Portuguese – o fogareiroCamp Stove in Chinese – 野营炉 (yě yíng lú)Camp Stove in Japanese – キャンプ用コンロ (キャンプようコンロ, kyanpuyoukonro)Camp Stove in Korean – 캠프  스토브 (kaempeu seutobeu)Camp Stove in Vietnamese – bếp lòCamp Stove in Turkish – kamp ocağıCamp Stove in Tagalog – kalan pang kampingCamp Stove in Indonesian – kompor kemahCamp Stove in Dutch – het campingfornuisCamp Stove in Icelandic – prímusCamp Stove in Thai – เตาแค้มปิ้ง (tao khaem ping)Camp Stove in Polish – kuchenka turystycznaCamp Stove in Hawaiian – kapuahi hoʻomoanaCamp Stove in Maori – umu hopuniCamp Stove in Samoan – ogaumu mo togālauapiCamp Stove in Greek – φορητός φούρνος (foritos fournos)Camp Stove in Finnish – retkiliesiCamp Stove in Estonian – matkapliitCamp Stove in Croatian – štednjak za kampiranjeCamp Stove in Serbian – шпорет за камповање (šporet za kampovanje)Camp Stove in Bosnian – štednjak za kampovanjeCamp Stove in Swahili – stovu ya kambiCamp Stove in Yoruba – ohun ìdáná ìpàgọ́

Compass in Different Languages

Compass in French – la boussoleCompass in Spanish – la brújulaCompass in German – der KompassCompass in Italian – la bussolaCompass in Russian – компас (kompas)Compass in Portuguese – a bússolaCompass in Chinese – 指南针 (zhǐ nán zhēn)Compass in Japanese – コンパス (konpasu)Compass in Korean – 나침반 (nachimban)Compass in Vietnamese – la bànCompass in Turkish – pusulaCompass in Indonesian – kompasCompass in Dutch – het kompasCompass in Icelandic – áttavitiCompass in Thai – เข็มทิศ (khem thit)Compass in Polish – kompasCompass in Hawaiian – pānānāCompass in Maori – kāpehuCompass in Samoan – tapasāCompass in Greek – πυξίδα (pixida)Compass in Finnish – kompassiCompass in Estonian – kompassCompass in Croatian – kompasCompass in Serbian – компас (kompas)Compass in Bosnian – kompasCompass in Swahili – diraCompass in Yoruba – atọ́ka àríwáCompass in Igbo – ngwaọrụ ngosi ụzọ

Pocket Knife in Different Languages

Pocket Knife in French – le couteau de pochePocket Knife in Spanish – la navajaPocket Knife in German – das TaschenmesserPocket Knife in Italian – il coltellinoPocket Knife in Russian – карманный нож (karmannyi nozh)Pocket Knife in Portuguese – o canivetePocket Knife in Chinese – 小刀 (xiǎo dāo)Pocket Knife in Japanese – ポケットナイフ (pokettonaifu)Pocket Knife in Korean – 포켓 나이프 (poket naipeu)Pocket Knife in Vietnamese – dao bỏ túiPocket Knife in Turkish – çakıPocket Knife in Indonesian – lanseta pisau lipatPocket Knife in Dutch – het zakmesPocket Knife in Icelandic – vasahnífurPocket Knife in Thai – มีดพก (meet phok)Pocket Knife in Polish – scyzorykPocket Knife in Hawaiian – pahi pākekePocket Knife in Maori – maripi pūkoroPocket Knife in Samoan – naifi fa’amoePocket Knife in Greek – μαχαιράκι (maheraki )Pocket Knife in Finnish – linkkuveitsiPocket Knife in Estonian – taskunugaPocket Knife in Croatian – perorezPocket Knife in Serbian – перорез (perorez)Pocket Knife in Bosnian – džepni nožPocket Knife in Swahili – kijembePocket Knife in Yoruba – ọ̀bẹ àfisápòPocket Knife in Igbo – nma akpa

Flashlight in Different Languages

Flashlight in French – la lampe de pocheFlashlight in Spanish – la linternaFlashlight in German – die TaschenlampeFlashlight in Italian – la torciaFlashlight in Russian – фонарик (fonarik)Flashlight in Portuguese – a lanternaFlashlight in Chinese – 手电筒 (shǒu diàn tǒng)Flashlight in Japanese – 懐中電灯 (かいちゅうでんとう, kaichuudentou)Flashlight in Korean – 손전등 (sonjeondeung)Flashlight in Vietnamese – đèn pinFlashlight in Turkish – el feneriFlashlight in Indonesian – senterFlashlight in Dutch – de zaklampFlashlight in Icelandic – vasaljósFlashlight in Thai – ไฟฉาย (fai chaai)Flashlight in Polish – latarkaFlashlight in Hawaiian – kukui paʻa limaFlashlight in Maori – ramaFlashlight in Samoan – molī uilaFlashlight in Greek – φακός (fakos)Flashlight in Finnish – taskulamppuFlashlight in Estonian – taskulampFlashlight in Croatian – baterijska lampaFlashlight in Serbian – батеријска лампа baterijska lampaFlashlight in Bosnian – baterijska lampaFlashlight in Swahili – tochiFlashlight in Yoruba – ináa-fíláàṣìFlashlight in Igbo – tọọchịSummer Vocabulary for Sports

Interested in learning about how to discuss your favorite sports in another language? The summer is a great season for sports. And in the fall, which is right around the corner, many team sports are starting up. We wrote a post about competitive sports where you can learn words about cheering and sports in different languages here, but here are five more:

Jersey in Different Languages

Jersey in French – le maillotJersey in Spanish – la camisetaJersey in German – das TrikotJersey in Italian – la magliaJersey in Russian – футболка (futbolka)Jersey in Portuguese – a camisaJersey in Chinese – 球衣 (qiú yī)Jersey in Japanese – ユニフォーム (yunifwoーmu)Jersey in Korean – 운동복 셔츠 (undongbok syeocheu)Jersey in Vietnamese – áo thun jerseyJersey in Turkish – formaJersey in Indonesian – kaos seragamJersey in Dutch – het T-shirtJersey in Icelandic – íþróttatreyjaJersey in Thai – เสื้อกีฬา (suea kee la)Jersey in Polish – koszulkaJersey in Greek – αθλητική φανέλα (athlitiki fanela)Jersey in Finnish – pelipaitaJersey in Estonian – spordisärkJersey in Croatian – dresJersey in Serbian – дрес (dres)Jersey in Bosnian – dresJersey in Swahili – jeziJersey in Yoruba – aṣọ ìṣeré orí pápáJersey in Igbo – jesi

Scoreboard in Different Languages

Scoreboard in French – le tableau de scoreScoreboard in Spanish – el marcadorScoreboard in German – die AnzeigetafelScoreboard in Italian – il tabellone segnapuntiScoreboard in Russian – табло (tablo)Scoreboard in Portuguese – o placarScoreboard in Chinese – 记分牌 (jì fēn pái)Scoreboard in Japanese – スコアボード (sukoaboーdo)Scoreboard in Korean – 득점판 (deukjeompan)Scoreboard in Vietnamese – bảng điểmScoreboard in Turkish – skorbordScoreboard in Indonesian – papan skorScoreboard in Dutch – het scorebordScoreboard in Icelandic – stigataflaScoreboard in Thai – กระดานคะแนน kra daan kha naenScoreboard in Polish – tablica wynikówScoreboard in Greek – πίνακας αποτελεσμάτων (pinakas apotelesmaton)Scoreboard in Finnish – pistetauluScoreboard in Estonian – tablooScoreboard in Croatian – semafor na stadionuScoreboard in Serbian – семафор на стадиону (semafor na stadionu)Scoreboard in Bosnian – semafor na stadionuScoreboard in Swahili – ubao wa magoliScoreboard in Yoruba – pátákó ààmì ayòScoreboard in Igbo – ụgbọokwe

Helmet in Different Languages

Helmet in French – le casqueHelmet in Spanish – el cascoHelmet in German – der HelmHelmet in Italian – il cascoHelmet in Russian – шлем (shlem)Helmet in Portuguese – o capaceteHelmet in Chinese – 头盔 (tóu kuī)Helmet in Japanese – ヘルメット (herumetto)Helmet in Korean – 헬멧 (helmet)Helmet in Vietnamese – mũ bảo hiểmHelmet in Turkish – kaskHelmet in Indonesian – helmHelmet in Dutch – de helmHelmet in Icelandic – hjálmurHelmet in Thai – หมวกกันน็อค (hmuak kan noak)Helmet in Polish – kaskHelmet in Hawaiian – paleupoʻoHelmet in Maori – pōtae mārōHelmet in Samoan – pulou puipui uluHelmet in Greek – κράνος (kranos)Helmet in Finnish – kypäräHelmet in Estonian – kiiverHelmet in Croatian – kacigaHelmet in Serbian – кацига (kaciga)Helmet in Bosnian – kacigaHelmet in Swahili – helmetiHelmet in Yoruba – akotoHelmet in Igbo – okpu agha

Player in Different Languages

Player in French – le joueurPlayer in Spanish – el jugadorPlayer in German – der SpielerPlayer in Italian – il giocatorePlayer in Russian – игрок (igrok)Player in Portuguese – o jogadorPlayer in Chinese – 运动员 (yùn dòng yuán)Player in Japanese – 選手 (せんしゅ, senshu )Player in Korean – 선수 (seonsu)Player in Vietnamese – cầu thủPlayer in Turkish – oyuncuPlayer in Indonesian – pemainPlayer in Dutch – de spelerPlayer in Icelandic – leikmaðurPlayer in Thai – ผู้เล่น (phoo len)Player in Polish – graczPlayer in Hawaiian – mea pāʻaniPlayer in Maori – kaitākaroPlayer in Samoan – tagata ta’aloPlayer in Greek – παίκτης (pektis)Player in Finnish – pelaajaPlayer in Estonian – mängijaPlayer in Croatian – igračPlayer in Serbian – играч (igrač)Player in Bosnian – igračPlayer in Swahili – mchezajiPlayer in Yoruba – agbábọ́ọ̀lùPlayer in Igbo – onye na eme egwuregwu

Ball in Different Languages

Ball in French – le ballonBall in Spanish – la pelotaBall in German – der BallBall in Italian – la pallaBall in Russian – мяч (miach)Ball in Portuguese – a bolaBall in Chinese – 球 (qiú)Ball in Japanese – ボール (bōru)Ball in Korean – 공 (gong)Ball in Vietnamese – trái bóngBall in Turkish – topBall in Indonesian – bola ​​Ball in Dutch – de balBall in Icelandic – boltiBall in Thai – ลูกบอล (luuk bon)Ball in Polish – piłkaBall in Hawaiian – kinipōpōBall in Maori – pōroBall in Samoan – poloBall in Greek – μπάλα (mbala)Ball in Finnish – palloBall in Estonian – pallBall in Croatian – loptaBall in Serbian – лопта (lopta)Ball in Bosnian – loptaBall in Swahili – mpiraBall in Yoruba – bọ́ọ̀lùBall in Igbo – bọlWays to Try Out Your New Vocabulary

Learn more summer vocabulary with Drops.

Want to learn more vocabulary like this? Or want to learn it in a different language? Try Drops!

The post Summer Mode On! 5 Ways to Enjoy Learning and Summer Fun with Drops appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | July 2022

Welcome!

Here is my latest analysis of my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also the latest Language Conqueror Quest!

We’re heading into July with a Quest all about the power of play and how to approach your language with childlike learning.

Join the Quest

What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on with a monthly Quest focused on passion-driven learning. You can learn more, get a feel for my teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF

And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for my teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!

Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and German. Not to mention, more languages are coming soon!

You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts

And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!

Now, on to #clearthelist …

Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and you!

We’d absolutely love for you to be a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on InstagramLast Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // We are still continuing our weekly phrase focus and now have some workbooks for the summer.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak + maintain my Duolingo learning streak. // Yes, I’m still keeping this up daily with 700+ day streaks.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’m maintaining it, though not reducing it anymore.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Nope.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in our use of Mandarin at home. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. As I mentioned above, now that it’s summer, I have some plans to start to incorporate this more and I’m excited to see how it works out. Right now, the kids are learning to write their first Chinese characters.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious about where I’m at, you can check out my stories. I am learning Persian, Hungarian, Croatian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’d like to keep reducing this down. Like last month, I don’t have a specific number in mind for this month, but I don’t want it to creep back over 2,000.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I really want to get back into this.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/musicDuolingo

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemrise

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete PersianMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemriseDuolingo

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Korean:

Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Spanish:

DuolingoMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Portuguese:

DuolingoMemriseComplete PortugueseitalkiDrops

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Italian

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language-Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | July 2022 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Learning Hungarian with Drops: Language Project Introduction

This post originally appeared on the Drops blog.

This post contains affiliate links. We only recommend products we believe in.Two months of intensive study? Check. Five days getting my bearings in a new country? Check. Two very surprised Drops founders? Check, check, and check.

I’ve done several language projects before:

Korean along with a study buddyJapanese as a part of the Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeItalian during an intensive 3-day refresh

But my latest project is different from anything that I’ve ever completed in the past. Why? Because this time around, I had to keep the entire project a secret until the big reveal.

The last two months, I used Drops as part of a covert language mission. It was tough keeping it under wraps, but the secret’s out and I’m ready to share exactly what I did to go from not knowing a single word in Hungarian to communicating on a basic level in just two months.

So why did I decide to learn Hungarian?

You see, the founders of Drops, Mark and Daniel, are both Hungarian. As are other members of our team. They all speak English amazingly well, but I wanted to do something to surprise them. But more importantly, show that when it comes to speaking one another’s languages, the effort wasn’t one-sided.

And I thought, what better way to do that than use the very thing that brought us together? And so, my secret mission to learn Hungarian with Drops began.https://www.youtube.com/embed/5_o0xk7...

The Mission

Because the Drops team is spread out around the world, we set aside time every so often to meet up and work together in person. The first get together after I started to learn Hungarian happened to be in Hungary, so the timing was perfect.

My goal: by the time our trip to Budapest rolled around, I would speak enough Hungarian to get by in a brief conversation.

Beyond that, I hoped to learn enough Hungarian to get around in Budapest during the week I was there.

My Plan of Action for Learning Hungarian

When it comes to picking up new languages, I tend to repeat a process I’ve refined over the last few years as a serial language learner. But this time, I wanted to try something different.

As a learner, I’ve used Drops for several years, but always as one resource of many. As a part of this project, I wanted to try Drops differently. Rather than it being a small part of my overall strategy, I wanted to make it the focus.

During the two months I prepared for the big reveal, the majority of my study time was spent with Drops. I did use other resources on occasion so I could get more context for everything I was learning (and I’ll also share these tools in this series).

To get ready, I wanted to chat with someone who had already traveled the path I was about to walk on. Someone who had also completed and documented a two-month Hungarian mission. So I reached out to my good friend, Benny Lewis, of Fluent in 3 Months. Here’s the conversation he and I had about learning the Hungarian language:

From the day I started the project to the day I surprised Daniel and Mark in Budapest, I had about two months to study.

To make sure I got the most out of that time, I set regular milestones I wanted to reach every few days, and in this series, I’ll share what these were and what I did to reach them. For now, here are the milestones:

Milestone 1: Get into the Dojo

In Drops, there’s a feature we call the “dojo”. It’s where you review words you’ve learned and get to focus on the vocabulary you struggle with most. The catch? You can’t access the dojo until you’ve learned your first 50 words.

The first milestone I set for myself was to get into the Drops dojo by day three. I wanted to not only learn new words with Drops, but also master them by getting in focused review sessions as a part of the dojo.

Read this post.

Milestone 2: Find someone to practice Hungarian with

The next milestone I wanted to aim for was finding someone with whom I could practice Hungarian. Once I found that person, I would set up a consistent time to chat. Getting a chat on the calendar is an important way I keep myself accountable. When there’s a date on the calendar, I won’t procrastinate or bail. I’ve made a commitment and I stick to it.

Read this post.

My Hungarian exchange partner/friend and I Milestone 3: Write my first Hungarian script

Learning lots of vocabulary is really important. That’s why I wanted to make Drops the focus of this project. My goal, however, was to chat with my co-workers in Hungarian, so I needed a little bit more than words alone.

When I learn a new language, I often use scripts to help me prepare for conversations that might come up, so my third milestone would be to write a short script introducing myself and asking my conversation partners questions about themselves.

Read this post.

Milestone 4: Have a Hungarian lesson

Once I’ve had a few weeks with the language, I like to schedule a lesson with a professional tutor. That way, I can get feedback on my progress, get context for the language I’m learning and have the chance to interact. Where do I find tutors? On italki. They have amazing teachers who offer affordable lessons.

It can be intimidating to try to figure out an entirely new language on your own, and that’s why I like to work with someone who can tell me (honestly) how I’m doing. Do I think it’s necessary to have a tutor? Perhaps, but you can get a lot out of regular conversations with an exchange partner, too. Both have costs — tutors cost money and exchange partners cost time (with an exchange partner, you’re splitting your time 50/50 so that you each get the chance to practice your new language with one another). Which you choose will depend a lot on this factor.

Read this post.

Milestone 5: Have an Unscripted Chat in Hungarian

When I first start studying a language with a tutor, many of our first lessons are either scripted (I prepare a short script and practice it with the tutor) or guided (the tutor prepares a lesson plan and we work through it). After a few lessons like this, however, I like to break away from plans and scripts and try using the language without the help of a lesson plan or notes.

Read this post.

Milestone 6: Learn All the Words in Drops

Throughout the challenge, I planned on studying daily with Drops. My goal was that by the end of the project, I’d have had the time to learn all the words currently in the app.

Our team did an incredible job curating word lists with highly relevant and practical vocabulary, so much of what I learned with the app was immediately applicable to my ultimate goal. Additionally, my experience has shown me that learning tons of vocabulary up front is an incredible way to make huge strides in language learning from the start.

Read this post.

Milestone 7: Try Out Some of My Hungarian in Budapest Before the Big Surprise

We planned on having the big project reveal at the end of our week in Budapest. Up until that moment, I wanted to use Hungarian as much as I could while visiting the city. I needed to do it when I was on my own, so my opportunities were limited, but I was sure to take advantage of them.

Read this post.

Milestone 8: The Final Mission

As I mentioned, I was in Budapest, Hungary with the rest of the Drops team at the end of the project. The Final Mission was how I determined the success of my project.

How did I measure my progress?

By whether or not I was able to use enough Hungarian to surprise Mark and Daniel!

That moment will, of course, was caught on video and you’ll get to see their reactions at the end of this series about the challenge.

Now that you know what I’m planned to do, let’s talk about how I’ll do it.

Read this post.

Resources I’m Using to Learn Hungarian

One of the strategies I’d like to explore as a part of this challenge is how much I can accomplish with a limited number of resources. I plan on using three:

Drops — this goes without saying!A tutor — I planned on finding one on italkiA course book — I purchased this book

I’ll post regular updates about this project, so be sure to subscribe to follow along.

Read the next post in this series.

The post Learning Hungarian with Drops: Language Project Introduction appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

How to Talk About Competitive Sports in Another Language

This post originally appeared on the Drops blog.

It’s summer — the season for sports, play, and being outdoors. And for many athletes, and fans, competitive sports are a popular way to enjoy the summer season. 

What better way to dive into your favorite sports and a new language than by learning the words you need to talk about what you love in another language? This is something I’ve experienced with success, learning to talk about taekwondo in Korean and karate in Japanese!

I’ll get into how you can learn to talk about your favorite sport in another language, but first, let’s talk about what competitive sports are!

What are competitive sports?

You may be wondering — what is a competitive sport? How are competitive sports different from just “sports” in general.

Competitive sports are focused on training and are often competition-focused. For many, reaching Olympic levels in a competitive sport is a major goal. And excellence in a competitive sport can often lead to a professional career. ‍

What are examples of competitive sports?

Many competitive sports are also Olympic sports. For example, here is a list of summer Olympic sports (just a few!):

SwimmingKarateBasketballSoccerWater poloGymnasticsBoxingFencingVolleyballGolf

And here is a list of winter Olympic sports:

SkiingBobsleighSnowboardFigure skatingIce hockeySpeed skating

All of these are what are defined as “competitive sports”.

Why are competitive sports good for kids?

There are many benefits to competitive sports–especially when it comes to kids. So if you’re wondering why kids should play competitive sports, here are five reasons:

1 It encourages achievement. 

Through competitive sports, kids learn about goal setting and preparing to reach those goals. They learn about performance and how to get ready for it. It also teaches them how to perform under pressure. When time is running out, or the finish line is in sight, they learn how to push, keep going, and not give up.

2 It engages them in physical activity.

Physical activity has a wide range of benefits, both immediate and long-term. And in competitive sports, one is more likely to push themselves harder than in individual sports.

3 It teaches them how to deal with disappointment.

You won’t win every game when it comes to competitive sports, and losing is a great way to learn how to deal with disappointment.

4 Helps build teamwork skills.

In competitive sports, you learn both teamwork and sportsmanship. You learn how to work together and build friendships.

5 It teaches discipline.

Discipline is an important life skill. And studies have shown that kids who take part in competitive sports generally tend to have better discipline in other aspects of their lives (including academics). It also helps with commitment.

What are non-competitive sports?

Many competitive sports can be non-competitive depending on the focus. For example, many forms of martial arts have non-competitive aspects.

More specific examples of non-competitive sports are:

KayakingAerobicsBackpackingHikingCyclingDanceSkateboardingWalkingHow to Cheer Your Favorite Teams in Different Languages

Competitive sports take place all over the world, and for many sports, different countries come together to compete. Learning how to cheer your favorite team on in another language is an easy way to make attending matches or games more fun and interesting!

Japanese – 頑張れ日本 (ganbare Nippon)

In Japan, you cheer on your team by using this expression which means “Do your best, Japan!” To just say “do your best”, you’d use ​​頑張れ (ganbare).

American English – “Let’s go, [team name], let’s go!”

This cheer in English is pretty self-explanatory. It’s encouraging the time to perform well.

Korean –  ​​화이팅/파이팅 (hwaiting/paiting)

This cheer in Korean means “fighting!” It can be used to encourage your friends in addition to being useful at sports games.

Italian – Forza

Forza is the cheer used by Italian speakers and it means “force”, “power”, or “strength”.

Cantonese – 加油呀 (gaa1 jau2 aa3)

This Cantonese cheer literally means “add oil” but it figuratively means “you can do it”.

Mandarin Chinese – ​​加油 (jiā yóu)

Like it’s Cantonese counterpart, this cheer in Mandarin Chinese also means “add oil”.

French – Allez, allez

The French cheer allez, allez means “go, go!” You can also use Allez les bleu ! which means “Go the blues!”, referencing the color of the French team’s blue uniforms.

Spanish – Olé, olé, olé

We’ll end with one of the most universally known cheers in sports. It’s a Spanish cheer, but you’ll hear it used by a variety of sports fans.

Learn Sports Vocabulary in Another Language

Knowing sports vocabulary in another language not only helps you build connections, but helps you better understand cultures around the world. For example, beyond cheering, in American English, sports metaphors abound. You’ll hear these sports metaphors:

“You hit it out of the park” which means “you did a great job.”“It was a home run” which means “it was a hit” (another sports metaphor for saying “it went over well”). “Slam dunk” which means “it was a success”. “The ball’s in their court” which means you’re waiting to get something back from someone whether it’s an assignment or a response.“Down to the wire” means you’re almost out of time.

Interested in learning more sports vocabulary in another language? Try Drops. 

Learn how to discuss:

SportsMore SportsSkiing & Ice HockeySports EquipmentSwimmingExtreme SportsAthleticsGymSoccer & BasketballBicycle

… in any of our 45+ languages.

Try Drops now.

The post How to Talk About Competitive Sports in Another Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | June 2022

It’s the start of summer!

Here is my latest analysis of my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also the latest Language Conqueror Quest!

We’re heading into June with a Quest all about movement, exercise, and sports. This is something I’ve been working on for a little bit now and there’s a lot of carry-over between fitness and language.

Join the Quest

What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on with a monthly Quest focused on passion-driven learning. You can learn more, get a feel for my teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF

And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for my teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!

Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and German. Not to mention, more languages are coming soon!

You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts

And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!

Now, on to #clearthelist …

Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and you!

We’d absolutely love for you to be a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on InstagramLast Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // We’re working on this and now that it’s summer we have a plan to dive in more fully.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak + maintain my Duolingo learning streak. // Yes, I’m keeping this up daily with 700+ day streaks.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // Yes! I got my queue down from around 2,258 to just under 2,000. Woot!

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // Same as last month, I was on and off with this. To be honest, I’m struggling to adapt to the new LingQ interface.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in our use of Mandarin at home. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. As I mentioned above, now that it’s summer, I have some plans to start to incorporate this more and I’m excited to see how it works out.

Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious about where I’m at, you can check out my stories. I am learning Persian, Hungarian, Croatian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I’d like to keep reducing this down. I don’t have a specific number in mind for this month, but I don’t want it to creep back over 2,000.

Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I really want to get back into this.

Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Same as above.

Read in French. // Same as above.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap of the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:

LingQ – my favorite tooliTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessonsMemrise  

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQListening to French radio/podcasts/musicDuolingo

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

Colloquial RussianLingQiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemrise

What I am Using to Learn Persian:

LingQPreply LessonsPimsleurTeach Yourself Complete PersianMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Genki IiTalki LessonsPimsleurMemriseDuolingo

What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:

Colloquial CroatianiTalki LessonsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:

Colloquial HungarianiTalki LessonsDropsLingQ Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Korean:

Memrise

What I’m Using to Learn Spanish:

DuolingoMemrise

What I’m Using to Learn Portuguese:

DuolingoMemriseComplete PortugueseitalkiDrops

Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Italian

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Lots of booksDay-to-day interactionitalki LessonsDuolingo ABCDropletsMovies in ChineseGus on the Go Chinese

Resources That Aren’t Language-Specific

Fluent in 3 Months ChallengeTodoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

I don’t have a particular takeaway for this month. But I will share a valuable resource that’s been on my mind as of late.

If you haven’t read “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker, read it! Sleep is something I’ve been trying to prioritize lately and this book is a great read about just why sleep is so important.

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Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month!

The post Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | June 2022 appeared first on Eurolinguiste.