Slang words and phrases are often viewed with scepticism. When learning a new language, the technical aspects such as syntax, grammar and conjugation are, of course, important. But it’s not how the language really works. Conversational and business language are different for a reason. Slang is the part of language acquisition that most people ignore, […]
Learning a new language can be an exciting and rewarding. But often new learners can find the rules, structures, and nuances of a foreign language daunting. This is especially true in the current COVID-19 pandemic where lessons may be restricted to an online mode. Where do you start? Can you learn a new language effectively […]
Yet, language hacker Benny Lewis has built a whole business around becoming fluent in as little as 3 months! While there are no such things as shortcuts, there are ways to improve your language learning efficiency. Many of us want to learn a new skill, hobby or language, but often the big barrier is time. […]
Learning a new language takes dedication and consistent practice. Textbooks are helpful but not enough. To truly master a language, you need to find ways to integrate language learning into everyday life. Learn the vocabulary you use on a daily basis, pick up real expressions and adopt the textures and details of the culture of […]
With our current health pandemic causing widespread frustration and angst, we thought we’d take a break from our usual articles this week and do something more light-hearted! Let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not […]
If we look to the UNESCO, a child’s ‘Mother Tongue’ language is the first language learned in the home from older family members. Today, many of us view multilingualism as a means of geographical and economic mobility or migration. Indeed, multilingualism increasingly appears to be the new global norm. In Singapore, particularly, multilingualism is part of […]