Foreign Languages

A 2021 Review of Youdao’s Language Translator Device Multilingual Dictionary Pen

Youdao's Dictionary Pen 3 is the most modern iteration of a smart way to increase your Mandarin learning. When I…

A Review of Zhou Xiaogeng’s “Essentials of Chinese Lexicology”

Zhou Xiaogeng's Essentials of Chinese Lexicology is a great vocabulary book for learning Mandarin. It focuses primarily on the rules…

Using “Learn in Your Sleep” Materials to Improve Language Learning

Using “Learn in Your Sleep” Materials to Improve Language LearningUsing “Learn in Your Sleep” Materials to Improve Language Learning

I love learning new languages. There's just something about working on a new way to communicate and explore the human…

Do Learn in Your Sleep Methods Really Work?

Like every overachiever in high school, I had always wondered if there was some way to use sleep for something…

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and Learning a Language

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis) is one of the most major breakthroughs in modern linguistics.…

Learning Chinese: Using the HSK

The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (汉语水平考试, HSK) is a standard language test in the PRC for testing levels of standard Mandarin.…

Why I Decided to Learn Another Language

I love languages. There's just something about the feeling of turning an idea into a linguistic expression. It's an intimate…

Learning Another Language With Another Language

English is my native language, but I learned Mandarin fluently. I don't speak Mandarin from being raised with it, I…

Learning Vocabulary By Frequency

Some words are more common than others. This very basic linguistic principle has been researched (warning: PDF) a lot. This…

When Should You Learn the Writing System for a New Language?

One of the hardest things when learning a language (which isn't written in the same writing system as yours) is…