Learning Greek through English roots

In my last post I pointed out a number of false friends that make life more difficult for the new learner of Modern Greek. But everything isn't bleak... there are also some not-so-false friends that can be used to your advantage. Today, I'll look at some of the ways that Greek words can be found in the roots of English words.

Note: I have not done any investigation to prove actual etymology, and I am not asserting that these words are directly historically related, though it seems almost obvious... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

False friends - Greek has a lot of them!

One likes to think that with so much influence on the English language, there should be a wealth of cognates in Greek which would make it easier for a native English-speaker to learn — and there are — but there are also a lot of "false friends"... words that sound like cognates, but are not.

When I started learning Greek this year, one of the biggest challenges I had to overcome was dealing with false friends. Right from the start, several of the most commonly used words in the... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Learning to read (in other languages)

If you asked me to choose the one language-learning activity that I think provides the greatest increase in knowledge and ability, for the smallest investment of energy, I would always say the same thing: learning to read.

For those of you who don't know Aaron Posehn, check out his new language blog, "For the Love of Languages". He recently wrote a piece entitled The Advantages of Knowing How to Read Foreign Languages, making several points that I agree with, and also pointing out a few great... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

The big move!

It's been a while since I updated here. Rest assured, that's not because I've given up. There's a good reason for the recent silence — I've moved!

I've hinted in recent posts that I wanted to find an apartment near my office, and thus near Greektown. Who could have imagined I'd find the perfect place? Not only is it only a 1-block walk from the heart of Chicago's "Greektown", but it's also in the building directly adjacent to my office!

My commute to work is less than fifty steps (I... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Is language learning difficult?

Yesterday morning, I woke to an email from David Mansaray, asking me "Is learning a language difficult?" Part of my response was quoted in his latest blog post, but I found the topic very interesting, and it inspired me to give a lot of thought to how we use the word "difficult" in relation to language learning, and other things.

It's not learning a language that's hard. Actually, taken at face value, "learning" is easy, and "language" is easy. Then again, exercising is easy too. So is saving... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Brute force Greek

In previous posts, I've already described the process I used for my first month of Greek study, which has been mostly about getting comfortable reading and writing in the new alphabet, learning pronunciation rules, and learning some basic phrases.

I've already impressed my Greek coworker twice this month with the amount I've learned in a short time. And last week, I even had a very brief conversation — basically, an exchange of small-talk — with the man behind the counter at a bakery... continue reading at Fluent Every Year

Babel No More

When I recently received a copy of the new book Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners, by Michael Erard, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. A few other language bloggers have recently commented on the book, and while I tried to ignore their comments in order to form my own opinion, one can't help developing a few preconceptions.

When I finally opened the book and turned to Chapter 1, I began reading with a bit of a defensive attitude. Even after I'd... continue reading at Fluent Every Year