February 2013
1 post
3 tags
Language Scaffolding - Learning a new language via...
So, my Chinese is at an intermediate level. I can have some conversations and my vocabulary is quite ok (not expansive by any means!). I’ve thought about learning new languages with Chinese as my source language, not English.
However, the biggest challenge for this, is finding resources. My girlfriend and I headed to a big book store here in Taipei the other day. I found an amazing language...
January 2013
1 post
5 tags
Time to buckle up
Hi everyone!
It’s been a while since my last update. I’ve been in Taiwan now for a month and a half. It’s been a crazy time settling in, getting jobs, finding apartments, culture shock and all those other crazy things when moving abroad.
My Chinese
I can feel my Chinese slightly being activated. All those years of dormant words I’ve accumulated are now finally getting...
December 2012
2 posts
3 tags
Linguistic Puzzles!
I found this link the other day on r/linguistics. It has some fun linguistic puzzles & challenges. Click here to check it out. It’s fun and uses real languages. I thought I’d share with other like-minded linguaphiles.
3 tags
Taiwan & French Update & Dutch Accents
I’ve been silent the past few weeks. My French learning has slowed down, because I’ve been hectic busy with moving out of my flat, visiting family and now I’m packing again for Taiwan.
I did a big blog post on Confused Laowai about my plans for 2013: Moving to Taiwan. I’m done with Masters and I’m heading to Taiwan to improve my spoken Chinese.
With to regards to...
October 2012
6 posts
4 tags
Mining English an English (and Japanese) learning...
A cool dude, James York, is starting a project for his PhD to help teach Japanese University students English by creating a Minecraft server as place for language exchange. The project is just starting, but it needs more volunteers.
Go check out their forums and sign up. If you’re a Minecraft fan (if you’re not, you DEFINITELY should get the game. It’s one of the best games...
3 tags
Finding a language learning routine
My Master’s thesis needs to be in at the end of October. I still need to do one or two revisions, but after it’s in, November will be mostly open for me. I want to start establishing a proper routine for my language learning. I know some people find a routine limiting and it sometimes works against their motivation, but I’m of one those people, that without a routine I’ll...
4 tags
3 tags
French Orthography: First Impressions
One my favorite aspects of languages is their orthography. How does the language translate into written language?
English is notoriously bad and inconsistent and Chinese is amazingly complex and interesting (for me at least!). Now after just a few weeks with French, my mind is already screaming in agony.
There are so many silent letters and phonology that does not translate into the script....
2 tags
Starting French
I’ve started about two weeks ago. I got a pre-built deck from for the 1000
most frequent words in French. After two days I chucked it. Most of the
words were prepositions, pronouns and other confusing vocabulary which I
couldn’t get into my head.
I decided to create a new deck with phrases from a phrasebook.
These include phrases like:
Je m’appelle Niel.
Comment ça va?
...
3 tags
Welcome to The Linguaphile
This is going to an experiment in micro-blogging my language learning
adventures. It will focus on short-form logs on my progress and where my
curiosities & troubles lie.
I’m at an intermediate level in Chinese and have started learning French.
Japanese is also on the close horizon.
Welcome & enjoy!
