Recommended

Why Study a Foreign Language?

I heard that C.S.Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia studied Italian so that he could read Dante's Divine Comedy in its original and thus better appreciate it. I have asked myself many times why I find studying another language amusing.  What are the reasons and rewards for studying a foreign language?  I'm sure that there are  academic researches and articles about this, but to keep a certain level of freshness and spontaneity in this article, I will just mention things as they come to my mind.

Levels of Language Proficiency

For a long time I have believed that there are three levels of language proficiency:
1st level: One is able to read the language;
2nd level: One is able to write in the language;
3rd level: One is able to speak the language,
     until a friend introduced me to a fourth (and highest) level.

Language Learning Tip: Parallel Reading

One of the techniques that has really helped me learn a new language (at least at the level of reading) is to read a text in English then read the same text in another language. It worked for me when I was learning Latin, and it worked again for me now that I'm learning Cebuano.

Journey to Japanese

It is, perhaps, the Japanese language that first got me to be interested in languages.  Two years ago, I decided to study Japanese more seriously. I think I will have to write another post about my great discoveries in Japanese, but for this post, I will just focus on the tools that I have found useful for studying the language.

20 of the Most Amusing Words in Filipino, the Philippine National Language

I saw a post last week on some of the most beautiful words in Filipino, the Philippine national language. Inspired by this, I would like to share the 20 words in Filipino that I find most amusing.