Interested in some free language courses? Udemy has everything you want! Check those ones out, they're all for free! Also check Coursera, Alison and Futurelearn for other courses.
Ever wonder how polyglots learn languages? Here there's one that shares her secrets... She learned many languages, including English, French, Turkish and Hindi. Without leaving her country.
And don't forget: get your free copy of my Ebook: 100+ tips to learn any language.
In need of inspiration? Why not check out this interview with a teenage polyglot. He shares some of his tips to learn his new languages.
Don't get demotivated though! You can learn any language anytime, it only takes some effort and a right state of mind! No need to start as early as this talented teenager.
Teenage hyperpolyglot
Timothy Doner, an enormously accomplished language learner at age 17, talks with us in French, Mandarin and Russian, explains how each language "feels" to him, and shares some of his tips
Posted by The Economist on Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Check out this first chapter of a top-notch French language course - mine. In the first chapter, we'll go over some basics, such as pronunciation, the alphabet, the article in one minute (yes, you've read that correctly, I explain the French article in just one minute), the French pronouns and how to use to be in French.
On top of all, there's a tip as a bonus as well as a dialogue, including how to meet other persons in French. If you like it, my French course is just one click away! Oh, and the first video is promotion, second one the fun starts!
Don't forget: French is the language of the future! So make it yours as well, and make sure to check these awesome resources.
Set in the first World War, a few prisoners of war try to escape from the German prison. The use of three languages (German, French and English) make the movie 'la Grande Illusion' (the big illusion) already interesting to watch. Including many language subtleties, a great sense of humor and sometimes interesting questions popping up, like the cow that doesn't care whether she's fed by a French or a German person.
Some other interesting details: one of the detainees is a jew, another one belongs to French aristocracy and discusses what aristocracy is going to become after the war with a German aristocrat. This somewhat predicts the end of the rule by unelected leaders in Europe after the first World War. Interestingly, there's not many prison escape movies from Germans escaping - unfortunately, since they went to war for more or less the same reasons, at least in the first World War.
The movie received a high rating on IMDb, the Internet's biggest movie database. There are some parts of the whole movie on YouTube, so make sure to check them out.
Movies: good to learn a new language?
Is watching movies a good way to learn a language? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If a movie is on with subtitles and we're not at all listening to what the persons are saying, the value is about zero. However, if we're watching a movie in a different language with subtitles in the different language, that's great, because it improves our vocabulary, our listening skills and our reading skills at the same time.
For beginners, it might not be a good idea: people speak too fast, there's no way of following the movie, so it becomes an embarrassment. For more advanced students, it's great. Especially with series, so we can adapt our ears to the characters' voices.
Facebook is a great way to learn French. The posts will appear in the timeline, so we'll automatically learn or see some French words. Especially those that are often on Facebook. There's many groups, where we can meet fellow students and talk about how we can learn French. Also: check the 'expat' page of the city you're living in.
And one additional tip: turn off the automatic translation off by clicking on automatically "translated from French" and then "never automatically translate French". You can do that for any language. Or follow the steps here.
Recently, some newspapers have written that the accent circonflexe: the " ^ " will disappear. Many French language learners cheered, because it's the source of many learning difficulties that only exist in French. However, it's not going to disappear. But what's really the issue? And what really happened? First, the Académie française - that's the institute that makes the rules for French - announced the new spelling rules. Indeed, some words would lose their accent circonflexe - but that's just one of the changes. And it's only for the ones on the I and on the U, unless it changes the meaning of the word. For example, dû (past participle of devoir, to have to) and du (of, from, it's a combination of de + le). And even if we keep writing with an accent, it's still correct. So we have the choice now.
When?
Students and teachers are supposed to apply the rules in the school year 2016-2017, so in September 2016. Except from the accents circonflexes, some other words were simplified.
And, by the way, the Académie française also makes a dictionary, you can find it via their website. Funny thing: the website is not translated into any other language - chauvinism according to some, purism according to others.
Ever wondered which languages the United Kingdom will need in the near future? Instead of making difficult calculations, asking your friends and write a PhD about it - just read what the British Council says in an interesting report.
instead of calling home, better call Spain! copyright: public domain
They published a report, based on a range of factors: which countries the UK will do business with, which languages are needed right now and in the future for the labour market, and so on. Spanish comes first, Arabic second (sure that report will welcome the Arabic-speaking Syrian refugees to the UK). French, Chinese (that is, Mandarin) and German add themselves to the top 5.
Interestingly enough, according to a survey of the British Council, 3 out of 4 Brits don't speak enough of the top-10 of the future languages to hold a normal conversation. Not that the Brits have been studying the wrong languages, it's just that they haven't done enough.
If you compare those numbers to the rest of the European Union, the Brits are dragging behind. Difficult to blame them though: English is everywhere. According to a European survey, only 15% of the Brits say they can speak two languages or more. That's a figure even worse than the British Council's. Only Hungarians and Portuguese do worse, while the EU's average is about 25%...
In a world where emerging markets like China, Africa and South America will increase their share in the world's economy, this might sound quite alarming.
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First, the Académie française - that's the institute that makes the rules for French - announced the new spelling rules. Indeed, some words would lose their accent circonflexe - but that's just one of the changes. And it's only for the ones on the I and on the U, unless it changes the meaning of the word. For example, dû (past participle of devoir, to have to) and du (of, from, it's a combination of de + le). And even if we keep writing with an accent, it's still correct. So we have the choice now.
French is difficult. Yes. So no unnecessary, 10-minute long grammar lessons with all the rules. Only what you need to know. Tips where you can find more French. Over 300 French words to use in your everyday life. An interactive quiz at the end of each section. Culture to understand French better.