It’s now been over a year since I started learning Tunisian Arabic. A year with many interruptions and various difficulties, but a good year, all in all! A breakthrough has not happened yet: everything is slow. That being said, I can’t work more than 10 hours a week on language learning because I just don’t…
“He has his hands behind his back” – in German or English, I could also say: “He has the hands behind the back.” I do not need to refer to the subject. In Arabic, this is not possible, “his” is mandatory both times. Maybe it’s because Arabic needs no explicit subject, so that the reference…
In language learning, we have a concept called “false friends”: Words that both languages have that sound or look alike, or sound a bit similar but with completely different meanings. These words are found particularly in languages of neighboring countries, for example: Dutch and German, or Spanish and Portuguese. And they are very annoying! You…
I have now done 60 hours of language learning with my language helper. That means that I have probably heard another 60 hours of my recordings. My vocabulary in Tunisian Arabic might be around 500 words. But, that’s difficult to know as the number of words I can say is far smaller than the number…
„Before I came to France I attended an intensive course in „Elementary French“. Now, I am in France and I am astonished: Nobody seems to speak elementary French“. Sylvia Simmons Everybody knows: There are differences between school and life. This seems to be the problem of Ms. Simmons. But, it may be an even bigger…
I feel so stupid. And I have to say a lot of things that I don’t know how to say. The story is about a bear and a goat. They meet. The bear has old clothing and is proud of it. Normally, he wears nothing, now he is dressed. Then, the goat comes by in…
Language learners often complain about learning “useless” words: Why should I learn how to say “scarecrow”? I’ll never use that word! Why not learn more important words like “watermelon,” “study” and “bathroom”? People often think that some of the basic, tangible words that a 4-year old knows aren’t very important to learn. I’m going to…
Most of us have attempted to learn a language while not living in a community where that language is spoken. We may have studied a language in school, or on our own. Yet for most of us, it was probably a relatively unsuccessful endeavor. Why is that? If language acquisition is a process of growing…
We are entering phase 2, according to the method. This means that we are using small picture books, little stories, to talk. For example, we start with the story of a bear who finds a shoe in a wood. He loves it and manages to put it over his left foot. Later he finds a…
“How many words do I need to know in order to learn this language?” As a language coach, I’ve been (pleasantly) surprised that I haven’t heard his question more often. But people do sometimes wonder what level of vocabulary they’ll need in order to function. The first question you need to ask in order to…