Category: Articles

Duolingo vs Memrise: The Best Language Learning Program

As is the nature of technology, a lot of things have changed since I last wrote product reviews or discussed my experiences with language learning apps or software and Duolingo vs Memrise is one of those toss-up questions everyone seems to have. A few years ago I wrote reviews of both Memrise and Duolingo –…
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Paper, Books and the Not-so-Original Gutenberg Printing Press

Not long ago I was wandering through the exhibits at Hamburg’s Museum der Arbeit, or Museum of Work – the second most quintessentially German thing to have ever existed, right ahead of Lübeck’s annual Kartoffeltage (potato days festival) and just behind a giant statue of David Hasselhoff smashing a wall with a musical sledgehammer. This…
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10 Unconventional Language Learning Ideas You Have To Try

There’s no reason why learning a language needs to be a colossal yawnfest. We can combat the tears of manic boredom with the gamification of our projects and the integration of learning into everyday activities.
Check out some of these somewhat more unconventional language learning strategies designed to help you both save time and keep things light.

A Portrait of Language Lovers

I would like to apologize for the length of time that passes between posts these last couple years, this is all on me, and I’m thrilled if you’re still around, following LATG on Facebook or Twitter, and otherwise giving me some sort of self validation. I’ve been doing things, working, writing stuff for other people,…
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Johannes Goropius Becanus, False Etymology and the Garden of Eden

Pre-Enlightenment-era Dutch linguists such as Johannes Goropius Becanus probably don’t make the list of things you think about on a regular basis. Typically, they wouldn’t make my list, either, but right now I’m on a little bit of a linguistic history kick and I have a few grievances that need airing.Click these—> The 15th, 16th,…
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A Linguist, a Polyglot and a Translator Walk Into a Bar…

The more I write the more it becomes painfully and abundantly clear that outside of language circles, the general population does not really understand much about the practical aspects of language or the differences between many of the titles bestowed upon various roles within the language community. Many people have done no more with language…
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