Believe it or not, the phrase “most spoken languages in the world” is debatable to some. Why? You see, it’s actually an incredibly difficult task trying to determine what the…
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How is the Korean alphabet different from Chinese? Is Japanese written with Chinese characters? To many Westerners, the three languages are all but indistinguishable on paper. After reading this post,…
They start the day by reciting poetry in two languages, doing 14 situps, and drinking a spinach smoothie with a dash of soy sauce. Then jumping out of a window…
Do you know that moment mid-December when you realise you have zero gifts ready? Despite firm resolutions to start planning for the holidays earlier, it happens to me every year…
We did it. We took up the challenge of dipping our toes into another most controversial topics among language learners. Nope, it’s not the question of about the best language…
How many languages do you have to speak to be a polyglot? Be careful with asking that, as you may cause a heated discussion! Number of languages used to be…
Have you ever wondered about the role of your mother tongue in forming your identity? If you changed your first language, the culture that comes with it would colour the…
Few things translate perfectly from one language to another. That’s why we often have to reword or entirely rewrite when translating. It’s also why major companies work closely with native…
I was stuck in the desert at midnight. Kilometers away from any civilized settlement, surrounded by sand, and with 10 armed policemen at the checkpoint. I had crossed the border…
This is a topic that’s a real and personal concern to me because I’m raising two little ones in Japan and as hard as I try, I still feel like…
The beautiful, almost meditative video ‘January in Japan’ created quite a lot of buzz when it received the well deserved Staff Pick badge at Vimeo earlier this month. We got…
You might have learned a second language in high school, and travelled across the globe, but never underestimate the challenges of dating a motivated Japanese language self-learner (^_^) 1. Their…