Learning Italian: Let’s start with the fun stuff first: The following movies are contemporary classics, all of which should be findable on Netflix. They are also all movies without too much dialect. If you are a beginner or low-intermediate student of Italian, you should probably watch them with subtitles first and then watch them again without subtitles. If you are a high-intermediate...
I'd like to write about some of the ways linguists talk about motivation in language learning.To break it down into the two main categories, we have: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation. Of course, these two types of motivation can exist in the same person but in order to separate them in your mind, here are their traditional definitions: Integrative motivation: when you...
In an article just published by Robert Lee Hotz in the Wall Street Journal (link below), diverse findings are shared that prove more benefits for speaking an additional language. I will highlight the five main points: 1. Speaking more than one language might change the physical structure of the brain in a favorable way. 2. Bilingual speakers can hear sounds that monolingual...
Raising a Bilingual Child As I am now a new parent (see pic!), I am ready to put the following research-proven theories to work: 1. Children can learn multiple languages at the same time. The human brain is wired in such a way that a child can learn multiple languages and not realize he is learning them. The learning truly comes "for...
Learning a language is a task that is basically predicated on the learning of the four basic skills. Whenever possible, try and develop each of them simultaneously. (In fact, whatever 'exercise' you are doing will involve multiple abilities, whether you realize it or not!) Speaking: Develop proper pronunciation skills and the ability to produce spontaneous speech. Writing: Think in terms of phrases...