Serious about learning languages
We have just launched Twitter Word of the Day feeds for French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. Follow a feed to get a word of the day video which includes the word, its meaning and its audio pronunciation automatically in your Twitter feed every day.
More languages to come soon.
The Institute de Français is a French language school in Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French Rivera. A few years ago I attended a 4-week course there. It was excellent.
The school is set up to immerse student in the French language to the greatest degree possible (shy of holding them completely captive). It is what the Institute calls the ‘Total Approach’ and it is highly effective. They achieve immersion through various means:
For me the Institute was an inflection point. Prior to attending I had lived in Paris for 6 years but both my personal/social and work environments had been very much Anglophone. So while my French was sufficient to get me into the top class at the Institute, it was embarrassingly inadequate considering I’d already lived in France for an extended period.
It is not cheap – 5,800 € for the 4-week course. But the month I invested at Villefranche-sur-Mer changed everything. On returning to Paris I found myself speaking French comfortably – of course not perfectly – and without hesitation. The most important benefit of my time at the Institute was that it forced me to get over any hang-ups I had about making mistakes and embarrassing myself.
Here is a link to the Institute website.
A 550-page book and accompanying mobile app.
🇫🇷 Step-by-step introduction to French grammar in 224 topics.
🇫🇷 Over 4,000 annotated examples.
🇫🇷 High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.
Hmmm… before we get started I have a confession – I don’t know where the pitch accent is for Dōgen… Oh well – anyway, let’s plough ahead.
Firstly, who is Dōgen (道元)? Well it turns out that he is a 13th century monk who makes humorous Youtube videos in Japanese, mostly making fun of foreigners in Japan, including himself. It is very Zen.
Source : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aooW1HdV4k
Korean is hard to learn for English speakers. Indeed, the United States Foreign Service Institute ranks Korean in its most difficult tier of languages to learn -in the same tier as Japanese, Chinese and Arabic.
While it is true that many of the grammatically concepts that determine how the Korean language works are completely foreign to an English speaker, it is not the language itself that presents the biggest hurdle, but culture inherent in the language that is most difficult for foreigners to grasp.
A 535-page book and accompanying mobile app.
🇰🇷 Step-by-step introduction to French grammar in 185 topics.
🇰🇷 Over 3,200 annotated examples.
🇰🇷 High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.
Russian, like most Slavic languages, is quite challenging to learn for English speakers. The United States Foreign Service Institute ranks Russian in its forth tier of difficulty of languages to learn for English speakers – harder than French and German, about the same as Hindi and Turkish but significantly easier than Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Arabic.
Russian is challenging to learn because:
A 535-page book and accompanying mobile app.
● Step-by-step introduction to French grammar in 200 topics.
● Over 3,000 annotated examples.
● High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.
French has long been the most popular language learned by English speakers – including in Britain, Canada and the United States. Indeed, it has among the highest proportion of non-native speakers of all major languages.
French is among the easiest of languages for an English speaker to learn. The United States Foreign Service Institute ranks French in its second tier of easiest languages to learn for English speakers.
French is easy to learn because:
A 550-page book and accompanying mobile app.
🇫🇷 Step-by-step introduction to French grammar in 224 topics.
🇫🇷 Over 4,000 annotated examples.
🇫🇷 High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.
Fiona Hill is a British-American expert on Russian affairs. She speaks Russian fluently. She was born and raised in a coal mining community in the North East of England and still retains her robust northern English accent.
She has no family connections to Russia but decided to learn Russian on the advice of an uncle who, at a time of rising tensions between the West and the Soviet Union, thought that promoting understanding between the two sides would be fruitful. As the daughter of a struggling coal miner, she was granted funding by a coal miner’s union to begin her studies of the Russian language and was then accepted into the Russian language program at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
She spent a year studying at the Maurice Thorez Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow and she earned a master’s in Soviet studies and a doctorate in history from Harvard University. She then went on to be appointed to the US National Security Council and to advise three presidents of the United States on Russian and European affairs. She has also worked in a number of foreign relations institutions and think-tanks. She authored several books about Russia including an autobiography entitled “There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century” published in 2021.
We have reached out to Fiona asking her what is her secret for language learning success and for her Five Top Language Learning Tips. We will get back to you when we hear back from her. Stay tuned.
Excellent Russian grammar resource
The 1000s of example phrase with the app for audio is a great way to immerse yourself is Russian grammar. Highly recommended. 5+ stars.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed in Australia 🇦🇺 on 13 October 2022
A 535-page book and accompanying mobile app.
● Step-by-step introduction to Russian grammar in 200 topics.
● Over 3,000 annotated examples.
● High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.
● Fun and challenging exercises to ensure retention.
Check them out here: https://declansoftware.com/russiangrammar.html
Are you interested in learning Russian and want to start from scratch? Look no further. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of learning Russian.
Step 1: The Russian Alphabet
The first step in learning Russian is to familiarize yourself with the Russian alphabet. The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters and is based on the Cyrillic script. This is pretty straightforward except for a couple silent letters and the infamous ы which has no equivalent sound in any other European language. But you’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly with lots of practice.
Step 2: Basic Grammar
After you have learned the Russian alphabet, the next step is to start with the basics of Russian grammar. This includes learning basic sentence structures, verb conjugations, and noun declensions. We recommend focusing on present tense verbs and basic vocabulary to get started.
BOOTSTRAP RUSSIAN GRAMMAR will help with this! And progress styep-by-step to the advanced grammar too.
Step 3: Building Vocabulary
One of the most important parts of learning any language is building a strong vocabulary. We recommend starting with the most commonly used words in Russian and gradually adding to your vocabulary. One useful resource is the 1000 most common Russian words list. Additionally, reading Russian literature and listening to Russian music can help you pick up new words and phrases.
BOOTSTRAP RUSSIAN GRAMMAR will help with this!
Step 4: Practicing Listening and Speaking
As you build your vocabulary, it is important to practice listening and speaking skills. One great way to do this is by finding a language partner or tutor who can help you practice speaking and listening.
The BOOTSTRAP RUSSIAN GRAMMAR app will help with this!
Step 5: Reading and Writing
As you progress in your Russian language learning, it is important to start practicing reading and writing skills. One way to do this is by reading Russian texts, such as news articles or books, and practicing writing in Russian. We recommend starting with simple texts and gradually increasing the difficulty.
Step 6: Immersion
Finally, the best way to become proficient in Russian is to immerse yourself in the language and culture. This can include watching Russian movies and TV shows, listening to Russian music, and even traveling to Russia to practice your language skills. There are loads of free resources on the internet to help with this.
In conclusion, learning Russian step-by-step takes time and dedication. However, by following these six steps, you can gradually build your language skills and become proficient in Russian. Good luck (Удачи!) on your Russian language learning journey!
The very commonly used French phrase Qu’est-ce que c’est ? is the contorted way in which the circumlocutory French ask ‘What is it?’.
Or as the French would say ‘What is that which it is?’.
Let’s break it down into its six contingent words and take a closer look:
(1.) Qu‘ + (2.) est + (3.) ce + (4.) que + (5.) c‘ + (6.) est
So reassembling we have ‘what’ + ‘is’ + ‘it’ + ‘that which’ + ‘it’ + ‘is’.
And now we know what it is. Or to put it in a way the French might: Nous savons ce qu’est « Qu’est-ce que c’est » !
Ça y est !
Oh – and here is how it is pronounced:
A 550-page book and accompanying mobile app.
● Step-by-step introduction to French grammar in 224 topics.
● Over 4,000 annotated examples.
● High-quality audio pronunciations via the app.