Are You Learning Chinese?

So my brother loves studying Chinese and he loves programming. Put those together and you get his new iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch app.

It’s called Trevor’s Chinese Memory Game. It’s a matching game where you match similar-looking Chinese characters together. But it’s much more powerful than that; you can focus on sets of random characters or sets of similar-looking characters. You can also sort the levels by difficulty.

Here’s the app in iTunes. Go check it out!

You can also learn more about it at the app’s website, LingoSpring.com. He’s also got a free web app called Trevor’s Chinese Reader that’s really cool.

This Is How I Study Foreign Language Vocab

This is my favorite way of studying vocab. I just use 3x5 lined index cards cut in half and then folded. The cards fit in any pocket and don’t take up any room (like a small notebook does, for example). And I can carry only the card I’m studying, instead of having to cary a bunch of other stuff (again, like carrying a notebook).

I fold each card in half because then I can test myself by looking only at the English or only at the foreign language.

Simple and effective. Oh, and it’s obviously super cheap.

Linguistics Micro Lesson: Prescriptive Grammar vs. Descriptive Grammar

In linguistics we often focus on descriptive grammar. This means that we describe how language is actually used by people when speaking or writing. Think of it as someone listening to people speak at a cafe and taking notes on how they say things.

This contrasts with prescriptive grammar that states how a language “should” be spoken or written. This is what most of us think of when we hear the word “grammar.” Think of it as English class lessons when you were in grade school.

Here’s an example of the same basic sentence as you’d see it in descriptive and prescriptive grammars:

  • Descriptive: Who are you going to invite to the party? (This is what people actually say)
  • Prescriptive: Whom are you going to invite to the party? (This is what people “should” say)

Language Learning Foundations: The Infinitive

[This is the first in a series of short posts about things you should know that will help you learn languages faster and easier. These posts will discuss words and concepts that language-learning materials often mention but not always define.]

The infinitive form of a verb is the verb in its most basic form, without any grammatical inflection or conjugation. It’s the form of the verb as you’d see it in the dictionary.

Examples:

  • English: to eat (the “to” in English marks our infinitive)
  • Spanish: comer (-er, -ir, -ar suffixes mark infinitives)
  • Russian: кушать (-ть or -ти suffixes mark infinitives)

Note that since not all languages use verb conjugation, the concept is more necessary to understand in some languages than others. Chinese verbs, for example, do not change for tense or person; Chinese verbs don’t conjugate. Instead, adverbs (e.g., “yesterday”) and other additional words supply the necessary context.

How to Change Your Facebook Language to Esperanto

Ever wanted to learn Esperanto, the invented, universal language? Why not change your Facebook settings so that everything is in Esperanto? The above link shows you how, and this link and this link show you the translations of all of the Esperanto words.