Fear stalked me for a long time in language learning. When I started learning French as a teenager, I was extremely self-conscious, battered down by criticism of my appearance, and desperately afraid to speak in public. This was not conducive to practicing a new language, where mistakes are inevitable. I limited my utterances to the … Continue reading What am I afraid of?
If you've ever tried to learn German, you know that it has some peculiar features. Some of these don't bother me that much, like piled-up consonant clusters, umlauts, and irregular verbs, but others make me want to tear my hairs out. Here are five of the things that I could definitely do without, auf Deutsch. … Continue reading Five things that bug me about German
Is it possible to learn two languages at once? I don't know what the research says, but it would seem to me that probably one at a time would be more effective. However, living as I do between the French and German parts of Switzerland, I don't have much choice. I have to speak French … Continue reading Doublespeak
