I recently purchased the book, Those Crazy Germans! by Stephen Somers. I was looking for a lighthearted book about German culture to lend to my students. This book met all my needs.
Read more 25 Jun 2014
Book Review: Those Crazy Germans!
27 May 2014
Grammar Tips: Uses of ‘ya’ in Spanish
Ya is a tricky word in Spanish. In the dictionary, it usually translates as now or already. However, it can also have other nuanced meanings including emotions such as agreement or impatience. Tone in your delivery also plays an important role in deciphering meaning. Finally, one finds ya more in casual speech than in formal written Spanish. Below are some possible translations with example sentences.
Read more 28 Apr 2014
Grammar Tips: The Spanish Present Tense
The present tense in the Spanish language can be tricky for newcomers, as one finds more than a few irregular verbs that need to be memorized. It may be helpful to think of present tense verbs belonging to one of four categories in the present tense: regular, stem-changing, first-person irregular and totally irregular.
Read more 18 Feb 2014
Grammar Tips: German Words Found in English
A number of German words have made their way into the English language. Some of them we accept as a matter of course as they have been around for a long time. Others, have come into English rather recently. While most words maintain the same or similar meaning some change their meaning slightly when transplanted from one language to another. For example, the word angst. Below you will find a list of common German words and phrases used in English.
Read more 22 Jan 2014
Grammar Tips: Spanish Word Stress
Proper pronunciation is key to communicating in any language. Without proper pronunciation, it can become very difficult to make yourself understood. Review the guidelines below to better understand Spanish word syllabification and stress.
Read more 15 Dec 2013
Grammar Tips: English Words Found in German
Historically, German and English have shared a number of similar or even identically spelled words such as:
der Student, das Haus, die Maus, die Medizin
This is due to the fact that both languages stem from a common proto-Germanic language as well as the fact that they have imported words from the same languages such as French. Over time, these words have come to be part of each language without people giving much thought to it. However, in recent history a large number of English words have been adopted by German speakers, especially the youth culture.
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Other than Latin, Arabic is the language with the greatest influence on the Spanish-language. Arabic speakers entered the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) in the year 711. Accompanied by Berbers, these Arabic speakers were pushing into Europe to spread the new faith of Islam that had been founded in 622.
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New students often ask me: how long will it take for me to become fluent?
This is a very difficult question to answer. Many factors go into a person’s ability to learn a language. I often discuss how long it takes my average student to achieve certain milestones, such as being comfortable in everyday conversations, or being confident in a business setting.
After I work with students for a few sessions and get to know their learning styles, I can answer this question with greater certainty. There are five key factors that I believe determine how fast someone can learn a new language:
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German is spoken by approximately 100 million people all over the world. It is an official language in: Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Austria, Switzerland as well as provinces found in eastern France and northern Italy. German speakers have also emigrated to numerous other countries. Here are some more interesting facts about the German language:
Read more 19 Aug 2013
Cultural Corner: Latin Society
When studying a new language it is important to understand the culture that envelops and supports that language to truly understand it. North American society and Latin society have many similarities but also some differences. Below I will discuss two fundamental institutions in Latin society; family and church.
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