Language Guru @languageguru-blog - Tumblr Blog

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I’ve been busy with many things - work and so on.

I won’t be updating this blog much, if at all. If I do start another language blog, I’ll post here. I haven’t had much time lately to study languages, though I haven’t given up on that.

I’m still blogging though, but about something that I focus on in one way or another all the time: goals. I’ve started a new blog:

www.masterlevelsuccess.com

There, I blog about all the aspects of our lives and how they affect the things we ultimately want to accomplish. Some language posts will pop up there from time to time, as well as things on travel, saving on travel, and so on, but it’s mostly goal/self improvement focused. If you’re looking for ideas on how to improve in general (and how to accomplish your goals), give the website a visit.

www.masterlevelsuccess.com

A destructive monster appears to be on the loose in Budapest's Szechenyi Square

#travel #budapest #places #hungary #europe #art #sculpture #square #giant

Read eight books as part of the Barnes and Noble summer reading program to earn a free one. Updated for Summer 2015.

#reading #learning #book store #summer reading #summer reading program #barnes and noble

#asl #eminem #rap #language #sign language #foreign languages #english sign language #interpretation

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Some examples of why the Oxford comma is generally a good idea

trekkingwilbury-deactivated2017

Please don’t let the Oxford comma die. If you were apathetic about it before, I think this will help you understand why it is necessary.

datasoong47

But there are situations where *using* the Oxford comma can create ambiguity. In fact, the first two examples here can, with slight alterations, be a situation where the Oxford comma *creates* ambiguity

Merle Haggard’s ex-wife, Kris Kristofferson, and Robert Duvall

My mother, Ayn Rand, and God

The Oxford Comma creates the same ambiguity between multiple references and apposition, just changing where the ambiguity is (namely, whether “ex-wife” and “Kris Kristofferson” are one person or two, likewise for “my mother” and “Ayn Rand”)

In the third example, there’s no way to avoid ambiguity. Without the Oxford Comma, the ambiguity is between whether you have three people, or one person, Nelson Mandela, being described as both and 800-ear-old demigod and as a dildo collector. *With* the Oxford Comma, the ambiguity is merely altered. “Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod, and a dildo collector” could be interpreted as saying that Nelson Mandela is an 800-year-old demigod.

With or without the Oxford Comma, there will be situations where the interpretation is ambiguous, and it seems to be roughly equally common. Ultimately the problem rests in the fact that we use the same punctuation mark for apposition and for series.

linguisten

someone finally said it! (bolded for emphasis).

#comma #punctuation #language #linguistics #learning #education

A debate has erupted over whether reading fiction makes human beings more moral. But what if its real value consists in something even more fundamental?

#reading #learning #people #human #question

He's about to take 21 flights all over the world and he's paying absolutely nothing to do it.

A word of warning if you try to do this: note that the person in this article keeps a spreadsheet and keeps very careful track of how he is using the credit cards. I plan on doing something like this in the future too, but you have to be extremely careful. Credit card debt is a monster and you have to be meticulous and do your research.

#airline #credit cards #travel #miles #world

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Language Flashcards

So, I have been looking around recently and I am absolutely appalled by the dearth of language flashcards available. Specifically, I am looking for flashcards in other languages that have pictures instead of translations. Anyone know of any good ones (Doesn’t help that I’ve been looking for Latin and Arabic, but looking for all languages in general)? Anyone share my frustration?

languageguru-blog

“ As a teaching assistant for 2 and 3 year olds, I would recommend looking for flashcards aimed at native-speaking children. Many of the ones I’ve seen feature a pic and the word for it and cover a wide range of basic vocab, ex: animals, colours, shape..” These are the type I am looking for, but have largely come up empty on. I am looking for quality physical flashcards that utilize pictures over words.

Language Flashcards

So, I have been looking around recently and I am absolutely appalled by the dearth of language flashcards available. Specifically, I am looking for flashcards in other languages that have pictures instead of translations. Anyone know of any good ones (Doesn’t help that I’ve been looking for Latin and Arabic, but looking for all languages in general)? Anyone share my frustration?

#languages #flashcards #pictures #study aides #education

The New Yorker's Kathryn Schulz has a theory for what's behind the use of the phrase "No, totally" as a way to agree with someone. She points to an English word that we've lost: "Nay."

#english #languages #foreign languages #speech #dialects #colloquial language #colloquialisms #no totally #no #totally #definitely #words #word usage

#words #grammar #literal #literally #literalism #funny #haha #humor #doors #floor #window #wordplay

A website lets you compare countries around the world to your home state. You can check out other stats, too, from lifespan to income to free time.

Great tool for learning a bit about some other places.

#npr #countries #world #home #comparison #maps #app #education #learning

hello! im interested in learning latin mainly to understand other languages better, see connections between languages, and to hopefully do good on those standardized tests. i've looked around, but do you know of any websites/programs (preferably free) that i could learn latin from... maybe one with some type of teaching structure? if not what methods of self-teaching do you recommend? thank you!

www.thelatinlibrary.com and http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/ are my go-to resources for Latin texts, though, if you are starting out, it may be a bit advanced for right now, but will come in handy later.www.thelatinlibrary.com/101 is an amazing free resource with Latin lessons, which is a good place to get started. It also has some stories for every level of Latin.I also like the Lingua Latina series, which aims to teach Latin simply by reading - everything in the book is in Latin, so it takes a more natural approach, kind of similar to how we acquire speech - you’re supposed to just read and start making connections (they give you image associations for words in the margins).The two main methods of Latin study tend to be grammar intensive or the more natural approach. I suggest a mix of both. Use the lessons on the Latin Library or elsewhere to get a foundation in grammar, while also reading stories in simplified Latin until you start getting the hang of things. Once you start getting more advanced, pick up a copy of Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar - it is the definitive text for everything Latin grammar (a bit much though, if you’re not familiar with grammar in different languages/linguistics).I also suggest William Whitaker’s Words: http://archives.nd.edu/words.html for your computer and SPQR for iPhone/Android. Both have parsers (put in any form of any Latin word and it will give you the other forms, definition, and useful information - both also have English to Latin modes too). I also like SPQR because it has latin texts, grammar, flashcards, and so on built into it, though it costs about $5. (Way worth it for all you get).Hope this helps!

In the 23 years since the fall of the USSR, Russia has lost its magnetic pull on Central Asia countries like Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and nowhere is this shift more dramatic than in what language people speak.