Free language courses - links

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.

English: politeness​, Easy English​, punctuation​, writing​ courses (see other ones​).

Spanish: learn quickly​, for beginners​, verb basics​, the alphabet​ courses (see more​).

German: alphabet​ and the most-used verbs​ courses.

That's 'Hi' in many languages ©

French: conversations & stories​, more stories​, speaking​ and advanced​ courses.

Japanese: for beginners​, understanding​ courses.

Brazilian Portuguese: for advanced students​, beginners​, vocabulary and expressions​ and another beginners​ courses.

​Mandarin Chinese: for beginners​, spoken Chinese​, for travellers​ courses (see more​).

Russian: for beginners​, reading and writing​, for beginners​ courses (see more​).

Hebrew: crash course​ and alphabet​ courses.

Other courses: Italian​, Swedish​, Norwegian​, Ukrainian​ and Turkish​.

Flirting and compliments - a great way to learn languages!

Dating is one of the best ways to learn a language. You're motivated. Every day. Every text message. Every phone call. You'll do anything to prove your counterpart you're learning his/her language for him/her. How great.

Show you care - give a compliment in his/her language! ©

To help you in your dating life, I've made online videos in German, French and Dutch to find your loved one. Sure it will help you, whether you're flirting or in a relationship. Isn't it great if your loved one would give you pet names in your language? Or saying someone has beautiful eyes?

On the other hand, knowing how to give compliments in the language you're learning will help you in many other ways. You'll be more respected, you'll make more native friends and you'll have more to talk about. It's the total opposite of swearing (well, even some can appreciate that). Being nice is not a crime, believe it or not.

However, don't start over-complimenting people. Only give genuine, sincere compliments.

My video about Dutch compliments and flirting:

My video about German compliments and flirting:

My video about French compliments and flirting:

Learn languages with YouTube

Have you ever thought of YouTube as a way to learn languages? Sure, there are many more videos on the platform. But here are a few tricks to get the most out of YouTube's language resources.

First. There are many language channels, mostly on one language (mine is on more than one). Just type in 'learn Spanish' if you're learning Spanish in YouTube's search function. Check the names of the channels. Click and subscribe on those that contain the words Spanish. Also view some videos, and see if it's still being updated.

YouTube teaches languages! ©

Second. Remember that YouTube isn't a good place to teach anything. Making money isn't easy on YouTube. That's why better teachers stay away from it, or use it as a way to get clients to their websites. On their website, you can buy their products.

Third. Search for single topics. If you're struggling with the Greek alphabet, search for 'Greek alphabet'. You will find many videos. Don't expect that there are well-structured quality courses on YouTube, especially not for smaller languages.

Fourth. Thought of language learning tips? YouTube is full of videos (this one is good) with ways you haven't thought of learning languages.

Fifth. If you're advanced in a language, why not change the language settings of YouTube? It's just two clicks away, on the bottom left.

Sixth. Into academics? There are many academic language lessons on YouTube about how people are learning languages. Take the title of one I uploaded: Language lecture: authenticity and legitimacy in Multilingual second language acquisition (SLA). Good luck with that one!

Get your free copy of my book for more language learning tips!

Online publishing: beware of publishers!

Thinking about writing a book yourself? While publishing my previous book on learning languages, I looked on the internet for a book publisher. Beware. Many online book publishers try to make money out of unsuspecting first publishers.

Let me tell you how I published my last book. I wrote the content myself, proofread it after printing, lay-outed in Word, made a cover image using copyright-free pictures and free editing service Gimp and uploaded it all on Amazon. I didn't pay a single cent to publish my book.

Research your publisher before you publish! ©

Now, not paying at all may not be the best option. You may look for a company to proofread and layout if you don't have experience with it - I do. A cover image is also done best by a designer. If you do it yourself, keep it simple.

However, there are many online services that promise they will do it all for you. In addition to the usual services like artwork and proofreading, they will write press releases, produce videos, arrange public appearances... The more you get, the more they'll charge.

Read some testimonies about the publisher you want to go with. An easy search on Google might also help. There is also an organisation that protects writers against scams, so you can ask them too.

And myself? I almost went with a publishing service - offering everything for free - and did a last Google check which landed me to this page. That's how I discovered it was just an ordinary scam. The website gave me many tips, so read them too.

Maltese grammar book: learn Malta's language easily!

My new book!

Need to understand Maltese grammar easily? Thank heavens, I've just published a book.

Understanding the Maltese verbs can take years. The conjugation of the verbs are based on Arabic, which makes it very difficult to understand. The book covers easy tricks to see how tenses really function in Maltese, without going into too much detail.

Also covered: pronunciation. Same approach here: only the difficult and essential letters are explained with clear examples. It goes as well for nouns, the article, adjectives, adverbs and the particularly difficult prepositions and attached pronouns.

Prepositions, like 'with' or 'in', are very complex in Maltese. They are added to the article. Imagine reading 'withthe-man' (mar-raġel in Maltese). That's how it is. With pronouns, it's 'withhim' (miegħu). And we haven't talked yet how Maltese letters change in the process.

Other topics like numbers and counting are covered as well. There are two bonus sections: Maltese cities' names explained and further resources to study more Maltese.

Don't forget to try my free Maltese course and here's the complete course.

New German language course for English speakers - learn German for free!

The German language is crucial for doing business in Europe. About 95 million speak the language as a native tongue. When Germany played in the 2016 European Football championship, McDonalds advertised with 'Ich liebe es' instead of I'm loving it. So why not give it a try and do my new, free online course?

The German language is very close to the English language, so it's relatively easy for English speakers to learn it. Mann means man. Haus means house. Kommen means to come. The general structure of the sentences is also very similar to English.

Do you speak German? ©

However, the German grammar can be very challenging sometimes. English doesn't have cases, its verbs have only two conjugations for its pronouns, and the genders are not as important as in German.

That is why it is important to practice while learning. If you're in Germany, it's easy. There's German all around. If not, look on Facebook if there's a German expat community around your town. Connect to the German embassy, or the Austrian one. See if they have any events or know any organisations or teachers.

Practice can't be overestimated. Speaking, and writing, are essential to learn German. It takes the learners outside of the study books, ridden with rules. If one focuses too much on the rules, one will fear to make mistakes while speaking. So speak!

Try my free German online course.
More free language tips here.

Learn languages with Udemy - a good idea?

Learning languages online is a challenge, as there's almost no social pressure to attend classes and to ask for your groceries in the language you're learning. That's one of the reasons why many learners prefer to learn languages online.

One of the platforms offering courses is Udemy. That's where I also teach courses. There are many other language courses though, ranging from Chinese to German via Arabic. Let's put some pro's and con's of learning with Udemy next to each other.

Pro: it's cheap. Maximum price is 50$ and there are many free courses available. It's easy. You can learn anytime, anywhere. You can also review any of the lessons anytime, without having to pay. There are different levels, from beginners to experts. You can ask questions to your teacher. There are certificates.

Learn languages online with Udemy ©

Con: no face-to-face contact with your teacher. Some students pay but never start the course. Not all teachers reply to questions (I do!). There are not many options for 'smaller' languages. And, the quiz system is not made for language courses.

Despite these caveats, I still think it's a valuable way to learn a language. Especially if you need to repeat more often than other students. Or if you find a course that really suits your needs.

Some best practices: always check if there are free previews available. Most teachers give some of their content away so students know what to expect. Also, see how many and which ratings the courses have. Udemy strictly checks if those are fraudulous, so you can trust these ratings are right. 52 reviews and a 4.7 rating on a course is better than 2 5-star ratings.

Finally, buying a course is more like a stepping stone: it's the beginning. Many teachers include links to more materials, so use those links!

And don't forget to get 100+ language tips in my free ebook!