Tips and Advice Archives

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 Social Benefits of Learning a Language

By Patrick Connolly / Language Learning, Tips and Advice / December 15, 2017

The English language, with its modest origins on a rainy island in the North Atlantic, has always punched above its weight. The English language was the British Empire’s most successful export. Its adoption as the first language in the United States played a major role in rise to prominence. With the advent of the internet, …

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