Clozemaster Blog

They Speak Too Fast! 6 Active Listening Exercises for Learning a Language

By Michelle Polizzi / Tips and Advice / February 5, 2018

Are you struggling to keep up with native speakers? You’re not alone! This is a common challenge for many language learners – even those who’ve been studying for years. Fortunately, exposing yourself to native speakers through active listening exercises can greatly improve your abilities. If you’d like to better understand fast-paced conversation in your language, …

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The Problem With Single-Word Flashcards: Why Context Is Critical In Language Learning

From pre-schoolers learning first-language vocabulary through to medical students memorizing anatomical terms, flashcards have been an integral part of education for hundreds of years. One of the first recorded uses of flashcards was in Favell Lee Mortimer’s book Reading Disentangled (1834), which came with a set of picture flashcards that were used to teach basic …

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Four Reasons Learning Lots of Vocabulary is the Key to Fluency

By Jonathan Jenkins / Language Learning, Tips and Advice / January 22, 2018

When you decide to start studying a foreign language, it’s usually because of a dream. You may be a literature student who dreams of reading original Russian copies of Dostoevsky’s famous literary works. You may be an importer who dreams of haggling with a feisty Moroccan carpet seller in perfect Arabic. Or you may simply …

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The Myth of Fluency: What Does It Mean to Be Fluent in a Language?

By Patrick Connolly / Language Learning / January 19, 2018

Achieving fluency in a language is a goal of every serious language learner. However, achieving fluency is a daunting proposition. You may, for example, have heard friends or colleagues effortlessly switch between languages. You feel that there is no way that you can emulate them. As far as you are concerned, they have a special …

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Language Learning in Adulthood – Advantages and Disadvantages

By Patrick Connolly / Language Learning / January 17, 2018

Those of us with children will have noticed how quickly they make progress in language acquisition. Within the short space of time, a child can go from babbling to forming coherent sentences. This is all the more amazing since they do this through simple exposure to the language, without any formal instruction. Any adult learner hoping …

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Top 10 Podcasts in French to Improve Your Listening Skills

By Michelle Polizzi / Learn French / January 15, 2018

Given their affordable and accessible nature, podcasts are a great option when seeking to improve your French language skills. In this article, we’ll explore how podcasts in French can dramatically improve your foreign language abilities – and which French podcasts you should be listening to. Why You Should Listen to Podcasts in French Podcasts are …

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Common Mistakes English Speakers Make in French

By Michelle Polizzi / Learn French / January 9, 2018

Making mistakes is an inevitable part of learning French for the first time. It’s how you learn, grow and develop a more advanced understanding of a difficult language. Being aware of common French mistakes can prevent you from developing incorrect speech patterns. Over time, this can save you from embarrassment and confusion. From verb usage …

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Modal Verbs in German: Everything You Need to Know

By Kerstin Guenes / German Grammar / January 8, 2018

There are 6 German modal verbs, some sources may say 7, of them and… they are all irregular! Hooray! But there are also some simple rules for how to use modal verbs in German, and they have a lot of similarities. Modal verbs or auxiliary verbs are a special class of verbs. As you can …

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Why do language learners stop learning?

By Patrick Connolly / Language Learning / January 5, 2018

We all know second language speakers who speak as if native speakers. They speak eloquently, they use idiomatic constructions and their pronunciation is comparable to someone who has spoken the language from early childhood. On the other hand, there are learners who exhibit competence in one or more of these fields, but lack expertise in …

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40+ French Transition Words to Boost Your Vocabulary

By Michelle Polizzi / Learn French / January 4, 2018

For anyone learning a language, transition words usually aren’t first on the list. But after you’ve mastered nouns and common French phrases, transition words are key for stringing your sentences together. In fact, transition words are what transform your broken French into the smooth, swoon-worthy language you’ve always dreamed of speaking. So what are you …

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