Duolingo’s been in the news for going all AI. Of course, if AI is your bag, that’s cool. But if you’re interested in learning language from resources made by real native speakers and humans…
Here are some suggestions…
Speaking/Listening
-Innovative Language (known for JapanesePod101, koreanclass101, spanishpod101 and their collection of 30+ language programs - teaches languages through conversations (you listen to a convo between two native speakers and then get it explained). Lessons are about 5–10 min on average in audio/video format https://www.innovativelanguage.com/online-language-courses
Pimsleur - similar approach as above but lessons are longer - 30 min and audio only - https://www.pimsleur.com
Reading
LingQ - learn by reading native content and breaking down the words inside. https://www.lingq.com/en/
ReadLang - a browser based tool that translates articles and books you read. https://readlang.com
(I started writing this post just now as a message to a friend who asked for language-learning advice. But I’m a GIANT NERD when it comes to language learning, so it got wayyy too long to be a message. So I’m posting it here in the hopes that it might help others as well. I have not edited this or even read through it all yet – it just poured straight out of my fingers – so please let me know if you spot any typos!)
Okay, first of all, there are two parts to language learning: active learning and passive exposure. You can choose to do only one or the other, but you’ll have the most success if you do both.
ACTIVE LEARNING
Active learning is pretty much what it sounds like: actively focusing on the language, learning new words, sounds, phrases, idioms, etc. It’s often centered around a textbook, sometimes with accompanying audio, but you can do active learning in other ways too. For example, you can read a news article online and check a dictionary for every word you don’t know. Or do the same thing with a foreign film – when you hear a word you don’t know (or see it in the subtitles), pause the movie and look it up.
Active learning makes you progress fast, but it also tires out your brain and overwhelms it with new information, making it easier to forget things you’ve already learned. That’s why it’s best to space out your active learning sessions and fill the gaps with passive exposure.
PASSIVE EXPOSURE
The goal of passive exposure is for your brain to randomly encounter words and phrases it learned recently and go “Hey! I recognize that!” This is SO important not only for reviewing and consolidating your memory, but also keeping up your motivation! If the only place you ever encounter your TL (target language) is in your textbook, on some subconscious level your brain will think it’s not that important… because after all, you never encounter it out there in the real world, do you?
Passive exposure can include any of the following and much more: listening to music in your TL; watching a movie in your TL (either with English subs, or with no subs at all and just don’t worry if you don’t understand everything that’s going on); skim-reading a book or a short story or a news article or a blog post in your TL and looking for words you recognize, even if you can’t 100% remember what they mean; finding speakers of your TL in real life and eavesdropping on them; watching instructional YouTube videos or short documentaries in your TL (the visuals ought to help you understand some of what’s going on, even if there are no subtitles); etc.
The idea is to let your TL wash over you without straining your brain at all. Zero effort, just relaxation and fun. You will inevitably notice and understand a few words or phrases, and that percentage will increase as time goes on, but you’re not actively studying when you’re doing passive exposure. Remember the two things you’re trying to achieve with passive exposure:
1) effortless review/practice, by inevitably re-encountering some stuff you’ve already learned;
2) reminding your brain that this language is a real cool thing out there in the world, not just a boring chore located in a textbook.
But there are also two more extremely important benefits to passive exposure that are drastically neglected by most language-learners:
3) picking up the correct pronunciation and accent;
4) gaining an instinct for natural, native-sounding language.
These are two things you will not learn in a language class or from a textbook. You can’t learn them except by doing a LOT of listening and reading in your TL. But the good news is that it doesn’t need to be the “Active Learning” kind of reading and listening; it can absolutely be the “Passive Exposure” kind, and you will still pick this stuff up.
The most important thing, above all else, is to figure out a method of passive exposure that works for YOU personally. This means: do NOT force yourself to repeatedly do something that you don’t enjoy, because you won’t benefit from it. To pick the right method, think of your interests and the things you like to do in your free time: watching movies? reading books? listening to music? writing in your journal? surfing the internet? You can do any of this in your TL, too. Yes, you will encounter a lot of stuff you don’t understand at the beginning. But A) that’s good for you, it helps you learn patience, which every language-learner needs, and B) the internet has free translation tools everywhere you look.
COMBINING BOTH
Personally, I like to pick a well-respected textbook with accompanying audio (Assimil is my favorite; Teach Yourself and Colloquial can also be very good, especially the older editions; Linguaphone used to be fantastic but I’m not sure if it’s still around) and work my way through it, doing one lesson per day if possible. That takes only about 10 to 20 minutes, so that leaves a lot of time for passive exposure. My preferred method is listening to music (I learned a good 50% of my German from just obsessively listening to German pop music in high school), but here are some other things I like to do:
find an internet talk radio station in my TL and put it on in the background
same deal with a podcast
translate a few keywords related to my favorite hobbies/interests into the TL and then paste that text into YouTube and watch random videos in my TL
read a news article in English, and then find a news website in my TL and see if I can find an article about the same topic in that language
watch bad reality TV or soaps in my TL with no subtitles, just trying to guess what’s going on from context
etc.
No Duolingo. No Rosetta Stone. (I’ve written a whole post about the latter here.) You don’t need to spend any money at all, though if you e.g. use a pirated resource to learn and find that it really helps you, I strongly suggest buying it from the original producer after the fact, to say thank you.
MEMORIZATION
This is very much a “YMMV” piece of advice, but: if you’re having trouble memorizing stuff, just don’t. Don’t bother trying to remember anything. Remember that “passive exposure” bit? It does a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of memory. If you keep bumping into the same word or phrase over and over again, you will incorporate it into your body of knowledge almost effortlessly. Of course this is easier with more common words that turn up again and again – but you’d be surprised how well you can get by, especially at the lower levels, with only the more common words!
Intentionally memorizing vocabulary can of course be very beneficial, so there’s nothing wrong with it. But I notice that it’s often one of the biggest pain points for language learners, and I believe language learning should be pain-free.
FROM INPUT TO OUTPUT
Once you’ve gotten a good grasp of the basics of the language, a really effective way to consolidate the knowledge you’ve gained is to use it actively and creatively yourself, in speech or writing (or ideally both!). For speaking practice, besides simply making friends who are native speakers of the language, you can search for a physical or virtual tandem. This is when you meet up with someone who’s a native speaker of your TL and is trying to learn your own language. You can meet for, say, an hour, and chat together for half an hour in your native language, and then half an hour in their native language. So both of you benefit!
Don’t underestimate talking to yourself, too. Whether it’s narrating your actions, complaining to your pet (okay, I guess that’s not technically “talking to yourself”), or simply having an imaginary conversation with someone else, it’s actually a good way to practice.
I also really enjoy writing in my journal in my target languages. The act of hand-writing a word does a lot to help me remember it. If you like writing, of course, you could also look up penpals who speak your TL.
And that’s about it. As always, I am more than willing to answer specific questions on language learning, as this is something of a specialty of mine and I absolutely love to help other folks get started on their own language-learning journeys. Please feel free to drop me a line if you need any concrete advice or are struggling with some aspect of your current language-learning efforts!
Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:
Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)
"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"
Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)
Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)
*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.
"I have a pretty neat library card"
Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)
Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)
"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"
AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)
"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"
AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone
"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"
lingory
"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"
ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)
"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"
Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)
[I have already posted it on the SayItaliano Community, but I am publishing it in my account as well.]
I took advantage of a pause from work to go through all my past entries here on the platform and I've decided to make 2/3 masterposts that might be useful if you're looking into Italian culture/language/tourism.
Here you are a masterpost about ITALIAN CULTURE, broken into different topics. Enjoy!
ITALIAN HISTORY
Italian Republic Day ;
Italian "Day of the Faith" ;
Pompeii and Herculaneum: How they ended up buried by the Vesuvius [+ Resources for studying and visiting];
The Holy Shroud of Turin;
The executioner;
The history of Vespa;
Dubbing in Italy;
Italian Iconic Pictures.
ITALIAN MUSIC
Spotify Playlist with 30 tunes Italians consider great classics;
Lyrics of “La Guerra di Piero”, the Italian “Blowin’ in the Wind” ( + Translation )
EATING IN ITALY
Are Italians food-nazis? [WordPress];
Etiquette in Restaurants in Italy;
Is the “11 am Rule” Concerning Italian Cappuccino Real?
Pizza Margherita;
Italian Bread;
Rice in Italy;
Chocolate in Italy;
Neapolitan Street Food: 6 Snacks you should try;
Desserts from the Campania region;
Biscuits from the Liguria region;
Desserts from South Tyrol, Italy;
Italian Amaretti Cookies;
Mussels in Italian language and culture;
Pumpkin in Italian Culture and Language.
ITALIAN MENTALITY
Understanding the Italians: traits and peculiarities [wordpress];
4 Popular Stereotypes that Annoy Italians;
Love-hate relationship Italians have with Italy;
Italian Culture: Sacred and Profane;
What's campanilismo?
Doors in Italy.
ITALIAN CUSTOMS AND LIFESTYLE
How to dress like an Italian [wordpress];
Most Common Carnival "Pranks" in Italy.
If you have questions about these topics or also concerning other things, my ask box is open :)
Hi! I’m Sara, unearthitaly on tumblr! I have a formal education in cultural and linguistic mediation and I work in the hotels in one of Italy's most developed tourist destinations, Alto Adige/South Tyrol. I embody some sort of "bridge" between Italian and other cultures professionally but also vocationally. I like to help Italophiles discover Italy beyond the obvious and I share tips on travel, culture, lifestyle and language.
You can also find me on my blog, Instagram and Threads. A presto!
Hello guys! I have come up with a challenge to help you manifest any desire(s) of yours. I, myself, have manifested multiple stuff by using this method so I decided to post it here as well!
The method
Pick around 1-3 subliminals that focus on your desire (for example, you want to manifest being shorter, pick some subliminals that focus on manifesting being shorter) and make a playlist with them.
Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and focus on your breathing while listening to your playlist. In simple words, meditate while listening to the subliminals. Listen to them as long as you want, to feel fulfilled. I recommend looping them for around 10 minutes but again, feel free to listen as long as you want to.
After doing that, realize that you have become your desired self in imagination (in our case, a short person).
Continue your day knowing that you are your desired self no matter what.
Whenever you get negative thoughts or want to fulfill yourself, simply listen to your playlist for as long as you want. By listening to your playlist you are reminding yourself that you are your desired self and you don't have to do anything else.
You will follow this challenge for 2 weeks. I promise you that if you do anything right your desire will reflect way sooner. BUT, even if two weeks pass and your desire hasn't reflected yet, DO NOT GIVE UP! Keep fulfilling yourself in imagination because remember, time is not real.
⋆ ★ I will be really happy if you guys participate in this challenge! If you do so, feel free to tell me what you are planning on manifesting and update me on your progress and success stories!
This is my first post on my new account, though I am NOT new to the law and NOT new to loablr either. This post is specifically about how I manifested my dream body instantly with no technique besides knowing :)
PART ONE - the old story
In the old story, I was so fixated on my body and my weight all of the time, I was tracking my calories and weighing myself and my food obsessively and constantly gaining and losing weight. Back then, my beliefs were that 1) Excess food causes weight gain, 2) If I don't track my food and weigh myself, I will become too fat/skinny, and 3) There is something wrong with my body, and I need to diet/exercise to fix it.
Noticing these beliefs were key to changing the way I viewed food and my body, and therefore changing how I knew food to effect me and how I knew my body to be.
When I was overweight, I knew my body was too big, I knew I was eating too much, I knew excess calories made me gain weight. When I was underweight, I knew I had no appetite, I knew I was too bony, I knew that exercise makes you gain muscle which is why I had none, etc. I had to identify the limiting beliefs that made me know my body was a certain way.
PART TWO - writing the new story
Once I identified the beliefs that were holding me back and kept me from my goals ("I know I eat too much, even if I affirm I'm skinny, I'm still going to gain weight."), I could then change them. I wrote down a list of these beliefs, like I did above, and came up with reversals. For example;
"I overeat, so I will gain weight" -> "Calories aren't even real, so I can eat whatever I want and stay the same weight."
"I eat junk food, so I'll never be skinny" -> "I love how fast my metabolism is, I can eat junk all day and still stay so skinny." or "Junk food is just like other foods. Raspberries can't make me fat so neither can hamburgers."
"I don't exercise enough to be toned" -> "It's crazy how I'm naturally so toned and fit without trying."
The key for me was changing key beliefs that kept me dieting and exercising to lose weight, to sever the tie between calories consumed and weight, and hours exercising and muscles. These are limiting beliefs. We literally create our reality. Not ice cream, not soda and chips, none of that can overcome YOU as a divine creator. It sounds silly when you spell it out like that, doesn't it?
PART THREE - how i did it
Okay, now we understand that the secret is to change the rules of our own reality to allow us to know a higher truth (my higher truth? I am a skinny legend). So how do we put this into practice?
All you have to do is know. You set these rules, so you know they are true, reality is bound to them. You must know you are successful, know that reality is in the 4d, and feel truly satisfied in that realm. You can do this using whatever method you need to, but personally, I just knew deep within me that I was my ideal weight, and that nothing could change that, that is simply the reality, that is simply the way things are. I thought about old pictures I took of myself, and remembered how skinny I looked in them, I thought about the last time I saw my friends and how much littler they said I'd gotten, I thought about the last time I stood on the scale and how it read the exact weight I knew myself to be. And I just knew, deep within me, that was simply how things were.
And the last step, for me, was to feel truly joyful at this realization. To feel satisfied it came into fruition. Without seeking confirmation, because I already KNEW.
And what do you know? Pictures of myself in my phone from weeks ago, they were my ideal body. The girl I saw in the mirror when I stood up from my meditation? She had my ideal body. My clothes? XS and S, all of them. I had revised my ideal body all the way back to the day I bought them. And confirmed this by checking pictures I took in the dressing room.
I'm telling you right now it is possible if you know in your heart you've always had your desire. It's always been fulfilled within you. You make the rules because you are a divine creator. Nothing outside of you can change what you know to be true.
join my discord we talk about feminine archetype here as well <3
❦ those who fall under the parental archetype, the mother, are usually the most creative and trend-setters.
❦ most huntress archetype [parental archetype] people i have done a venus chart reading for, are usually scorpio ascendants, or have a scorpio axis in their natal/venus charts.
❦ the child archetypes under the huntress, the bohemian and coquette are the msot similar archetypes. women who are coquettes when they're younger usually transition into being a bohemian when they're more mature in age. doesnt happen all the time, but i've see the patterns, rihanna being one of them.
❦ the siren archetype isnt always someone who is sultry and mysterious, it can also be someone who is bubbly and giddy, a good example is sabrina carpenter, a person who is likely a siren archetype.
❦ people who belong to the gamine archetype usually attract people who are very mysterious.
🕊 empress/queen archetype women are very obsessed over, and they're people others want to comepte with all the time.
🕊 queen archetypes are also people who care about friendships/their connections with other people the most.
🕊 like the bohemian and the coquette. the lady and the boss are similar as well, however the boss actually stands on business with what they want in life, friendships and romantic connections.
🕊 just because you're the maiden archetype it doesnt mean you're naive and a damsel in distress. but people might have the need to baby you guys all the time, a good example is sunday kalogeras or halle bailey.
🕊 the difference between the goddess and the enigma is that the goddess is like the sun and the enigma is the moon. people find it really hard to read the enigma no matter how many times they put themselves out there.
❦ i also think the mystic archetype is one of the most or if not the most graceful and laid back archetype. compared to the rest of them its likely the least insecure one. they dont need to compete with other people, they know they're the shit!
❦ compared to most archetypes ive read for, the diva archetype sometimes to rely on male validation.
❦ SOMETIMES people under the huntress archetype [specicially coquette] try and come off as too different sometimes that it makes them appear as a try hard.
❦ and i noticed people who are under the goddess archetype are usually the best with the y2k aesthetic.
❦ sage archetype sometimes perceive love as weakness but forget that can also be someone's strongest trait.
‧₊˚ 🪷 . 𓂃You're Already living your dream life - you just haven't accept it yet.
Stop waiting, stop hoping, stop wishing, stop doubting, you Already have everything you desire - right now, there's already a version of you that already living their dream life and have everything that you ever Wanted, the only thing that is stopping you is fear, doubt, not believing in your power and in yourself, and the only standing between you and your dream life is your refusal to accept that you already have it.
Manifestation isn't about 'getting' something, it's about embodying the Version of yourself that already have your desires, shift your state and think as the version of yourself as if you already had your desires for example:
Wanting a car? ➜ i think of how beautiful my car is and how comfortable it is to drive in it.
Wanting an appearance change?➜ i think of how my appearance is perfect and beautiful, and how i feel confident and comfortable in my own skin.
Wanting money?➜ i think of how i have the freedom to buy whatever i want and that no price surprise me..
Wanting my dream life? ➜ i think of how comfortable and happy i am living my dream life and how grateful that i have everything i wanted..
You don't need to see movement, you don't need proof, you don't need anything because if you had your dream life you wouldn't wonder where it is.
This is called the Law of assumption for a reason, you made an assumption and you believed it that it's a fact without looking for proof, because the real proof is in your mind, in your imagination.
There's no such thing as time delay, this is a limiting belief, decide that you have your dream life right now and the 3d will reflect it instantly, you make the rules, you can just decide that you get your manifestation instantly and that time delay doesn't exist.
Manifesting isn't a job and isn't a process, it's the most natural and easiest thing ever, it's a lifestyle, you just need to keep it simple.
YOU'RE already LIVING your DREAM LIFE, you have it right now, not tomorrow, not in the year after, not in 2026 or 2027, start assuming that you're already living it, you're just going to embody that version of yourself.
Persist in your assumption, the 3d is just testing you, it's testing if you're going to keep being loyal to your assumption or not, DO NOT GIVE UP.
AFFIRM, PERSIST, AFFIRM, PERSIST, and let's the work to your subconscious..
You're the creator of your reality and you decide, you make the rules, and you make the change.
Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:
Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)
"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"
Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)
Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)
*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.
"I have a pretty neat library card"
Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)
Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)
"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"
AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)
"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"
AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone
"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"
lingory
"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"
ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)
"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"
Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)
*that I currently use for studying Spanish. When I pick up studying Japanese again, I will make a list for that as well <3 I currently use a handful of resources for learning Spanish, and they've all proven very useful so far!
🩷 My Current Resources for Spanish
Busuu - hands down my favorite language learning app. So much better than Duolingo, in my opinion (especially for languages with a different alphabet/writing system). I bought the premium for a year, which will expire in Septmeber, but I'm debating renewing again because I love it so much.
LingQ - I like using this for reading in Spanish. It gives me different types of things to read about, and while I don't have premium, I do put all the words I don't know into flashcards on AnkiApp on my laptop and translate anything I don't know using SpanishDict.
SpanishDict - favorite translation/dictionary app. I know it has lessons you can use, tho I haven't tried it yet, but I really do love this app. It's super helpful when I'm making flashcards or writing random vocabulary notes.
Goodnotes - This is a general note-taking app, but I love it because it allows you to import and write on PDFs, and that's just perfect for me! I've downloaded free PDF short stories/children's stories in Spanish and made notes of words I don't know, and taken notes in the app too. Definitely my favorite notes app, ever.
Italki - I know this is a website, too, but I use the app. It lets you work with professional teachers/community tutors in your target language. You can have structured lessons or just use it for conversation practice. I did a trial lesson not too long ago and have an upcoming lesson booked out in about 5 days. You pay per lesson, so there is no subscription, and there are so many languages and teachers/tutors to choose from. I did a lot of research before choosing a teacher, and I'm very happy with my decision so far. Definitely useful if there's not native speakers near you or you're like me and not confident talking to people you know in your target language/their native language.
Quizlet/AnkiApp - I use AnkiApp more then quizlet, and the Anki I'm referring to is NOT the same way everyone else uses, but it's the flashcard app of preference at the moment. I tried the AnkiDroid app and hated it. But yeah, AnkiApp is useful for flashcards and I really like it. I have it on my Chromebook and my Ipad.
Netflix - I love watching shows in Spanish on Netflix so much. I am currently watching La Reina del Sur on it (used to watch that sporadically in the past at a friend's house) and plan on watching some other shows, including Elite.
Spotify - I enjoy listening to Spanish music and podcasts right now. The music is more of an entertaining/enjoyable fork of audio input, and the podcasts help me get a feel for speaking and pronunciation and I choose podcasts that speak on topics of interest tk help with vocabulary in those areas I'd like to be able to speak about.
Textbooks - I have 2 PDF textbooks, Gramatica de Uso del Español: A1-B2 and Gramatica de Uso del Español: B1-B2. I've heard these are great for learning Spanish (and they're both only written in Spanish, like there's no English in them) and plan on using them once I figure out how to take good and useful textbook notes! I definitely need to improve on my grammar.
Those are all my current Spanish resources! I'd definitely say my current level is like a high A1 right now, nearing A2, but I have just a little bit of work to do before I get there. These resources are definitely gonna help, tho!
Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:
Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)
"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"
Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)
Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)
*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.
"I have a pretty neat library card"
Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)
Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)
"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"
AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)
"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"
AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone
"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"
lingory
"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"
ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)
"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"
Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)
