More Russian coming in 2011

I wrote a few posts about the Russian language this year, some of which were somewhat popular, but it seemed that most of my readers were either people interested in Italian, or people interested in language-learning in a broad sense. Thus, I didn't make Russian much of a focus in my writing this year.

However, I have always been very enthusiastic about the Russian language, and I have no doubt conveyed a lot of that enthusiasm in various ways, both through what I write here, and with the things... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Best of 2010

The end of the year is always a big time for me. With my birthday on December 15th, Christmas on the 25th, and New Year's Eve on the 31st, there's already a lot going on. And this year is even worse because I'm also moving this week, so there are a lot of logistic to work out, utilities to have transferred, and furniture to be moved.

Needless to say, finding time to write high quality material isn't easy. And with the time I do find, I prefer to spend it finishing up the Italian e-book (which... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

What I've learned in one year

Looking back on this year, I've learned quite a lot. And that's the point of this project, after all, isn't it? Setting out to learn a new language fluently in one year may not make me the most aggressive language learner, or the biggest, coolest polyglot on the block, but it is quite clearly a commitment to learn a lot in one year.

Since this is a language blog, I'll start by talking about language. Certainly, it can be said that I learned Italian. I learned to understand Italian, to speak... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Be more confident

Have you ever had a conversation like this?A: Oh let me tell about this really funny thing that happened yesterday! I was in a store... in a... um, hardware? Can I say that?
B: Yes.
A: Yes, hardware store. I was in a "hardware store", and I saw this kid and he was... um... he had those.... (long pause) rolling shoes? That's not right. What are those things called? .
B: Roller skates? Roller blades? Heeley's?
A: Oh okay. Roller skates. Roooolllllllllller skaaaaaates. That's a funny word. What... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Introducing the Yearlyglot mailing list

My year of Italian is drawing to a close, and the end of this project is also the beginning of the a new adventure. But don't write the obituary For Italian just yet. Even as I'm starting to think about starting over next year with a new language, there's still more to come from Italian.

I've already mentioned my work on an e-book, in which I will share many more details about how I've learned to speak fluent Italian in just one year without traveling to Italy and without spending my time studying.... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Italian and Spanish compared

When I began my year of learning Italian, I was already a speaker of Spanish. And as both Spanish and Italian are descended from Vulgar Latin, they have a lot in common.

At times, having familiarity with Spanish was somewhat of an advantage, and at other times, it's actually a disadvantage. But a lot of the time, it's just a fact, neither a help nor a hindrance.

Similarities
There are many ways in which Spanish and Italian are similar.

Both have a very similar Vulgar Latin grammar. Sentence... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Speaking Spanish in the southwestern U.S.

For the past ten days, I've been exploring the southwestern U.S., with visits to six more states to which I've never previously been. And as a language-lover, one thing has been clear right from the start: speaking Spanish has made this a much more pleasant experience for me.

In St. Louis, after I'd seen all the sights I wanted to see (and a few I didn't want to see!), I ended up at a coffee shop near the campus of the university, where I did some writing while waiting to meet up with one of... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

A few more Italian idioms

Today, we have a few more Italian colloquialisms, or idioms, or slang... or whatever you like to call them — I still don't know (or care) what the difference is.

These are fun little phrases because they don't mean what they say, and it's important to understand them correctly when you hear or see them used. Also, these are the kind of phrases that will give you trouble if you've been relying on Google Translate.

Stare alla larga da
One can easily imagine the word "distanza" implied... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Italian phrases that play tricks on my ears

Early on while I was learning Russian, I remember learning the phrase не курить ("nye koo-reeht") meant no smoking. There may be better ways of saying it, (before you rush to the bottom to tell me I'm an idiot, read this), but this one will always stick in my mind because the moment I heard it, I noticed that it sounded strikingly similar to Nicorette, the brand name of a nicotine chewing gum meant to help people quit smoking.

Più
Here in the US, and I assume it's probably true throughout... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Language is not a fact

I imagine that’s a confusing title. In fact, that was intentional. My goal was to catch a few of you assuming that the opposite of a fact is a fiction. Maybe it worked. Maybe you even got a little angry and thought, “good heavens, is Randy suggesting that language isn’t true?”

No. That’s not what I’m suggesting. In fact, if you were thinking that, you may have a misconception about what a fact is. According to my dictionary, the word fact means “a piece of information about... continue reading at Fluent Every Year