There’s no doubt that the people from the Middle East are very proud people. They are proud of their country, of their history and of their language. Except when speaking English… many of those I speak to wish to lose all traces of the markers that identify them as being from the region. But that’s a story for another time.
Today we talk about Arabic itself. What are the differences between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and the colloquial or vernacular varieties? Which is intrinsically the best Arabic to learn? Click here to read more.. »
Our friend Ultimate Attainment is back again. He’s someone we’re talking about a lot in my seminars lately and unfortunately, certain people do believe the falsehoods about sounding like “native” being the ultimate. It’s also a fundamental aspect of my dissertation (specifically dealing with English in Korea).. but that’s another story.
When it comes to accentual perfection, I’m of the opinion that it is possible to sound like a native, but the issue is, is it necessary.. Click here to read more.. »
Common question… variable answers.
It all depends on what the learner considers fluent, which language they are learning, the environment they are learning in, how motivated they are, how often they study, and so and so forth.
Let’s set the ground rules at 2 hours study per day. Not unrealistic if you consider the Borrowing Time post and the Power of the Schedule. Everybody can make at least an hour free everyday, most people can find 2 hours if they try just a little bit…. Stop reading about language study and start studying the language! ha Click here to read more.. »
The last two days have been a bit of an anomaly when you look at my time back in Australia. I do have a fair amount of chance to practice Korean in Perth, but due to being busy with research and having a family life, this isn’t all that realistic. However, the last two days have been pretty interesting and given me some confidence since it’s nice to know that my Korean isn’t vanishing into thin air while I’m here… even though I’m not the most diligent Korean student in the world.
Let’s be honest… I do study, it’s just that I don’t study Korean seriously. Click here to read more.. »
How many words do you know?
Something that in reality, I consider to be, err, a stupid question. I don’t really care how many words I know, and it doesn’t really matter how many words I know. What matters is that I know the words that I need.
Anyway, watching your vocabulary grow is a motivational tool, so perhaps the question isn’t that stupid. Click here to read more.. »
