Friday, March 6, 2020
Get Your Learning on a Blogroll 16 Top Language Blogs
Get Your Learning on a Blogroll 16 Top Language Blogs Get Your Learning on a Blogroll: 16 Top Language Blogs Get up enough speed, and you can take your foot off the gas and coast until you reach the stoplight.At the top of a hill, you can stop pedaling on your bike and just enjoy the benefits of gravity until you reach the bottom.But unfortunately, learning a language isnt as easy. Or is it?Its time to get your learning on a roll a blogroll, that is.If youre learning a foreign language, youre probably no stranger to language blogs.There are all kinds of blogs for learning languages, including blogs by language learners just like you and the inspirational polyglot blogs.Yep, a language learner neednt look to the ends of the earth to spot blog.But while it might be fun, inspiring and helpful to read about tips and resources for learning languages, what can blogs actually do for your language skills?If youre looking to improve a specific skill, which blog is right for the job might not be so clear.After all, a grammar blog wont help you much when you really want to learn about culture.Furth ermore, some blogs are more for moral support and interesting tidbits than for direct learning.But luckily, there are some incredibly reliable and effective language learning blogs out thereâ"and many are multi-author affairs put out by language programs that include well-organized, professional content to help learners meet virtually any need.You just need to know where to find them.Do you want a well-rounded language education? Put these 16 blogs on your blogroll today! How to Select the Right Blog for YouConsider what you want to work on. For instance, do you need to fine-tune your grammar? Are you wanting to pick up some new vocabulary words? Do you want to know some helpful learning tips? Are you looking to improve your foreign pronunciation? Knowing what you want can help you assess which blogs are best for your needs.Look at posts the blog has made in the past. Blogs often have extensive archives. When youre deciding which blogs you want to revisit, its helpful to look t hrough them. You can usually anticipate what sort of material a blog will publish in the future based on what it has posted in the past. Additionally, looking through the archives can give you a better idea of how frequently a blog publishes new articles. After all, a blog that has produced two posts in the last three years is a lot less useful than a blog that posts new articles daily.Have an eye for quality. Even if the titles look awesome, see how useful the posts actually are. Read through a post. Is it well formatted? Is it easy to read? Does it provide high value content that will truly help you? You dont want to waste your time reading second-rate blogs, so paying attention to quality can help you narrow down the field of language blogs you might want to follow.How to Learn a Language with BlogsRead multiple blogs.Thankfully, there isnt any blog police setting blog limits on readers. You can read all the blogs you want. In fact, reading multiple blogs is ideal. Since each blo g covers different material and has a unique perspective, reading multiple blogs can give you much more information and insight than reading just one blog.Subscribe to your favorite blogs RSS feeds or email lists.Subscribing to a blogs RSS feed or email list will help you ensure you never miss a post. Oftentimes, it can be easy to forget to study when life gets busy. But an RSS feed or email reminders can keep studying your target language in the front of your mind (or at least your inbox).The option to subscribe to a blog by email will usually be pretty easy to locate. For example, if you go to the main page on this blog and scroll down to the bottom, youll find a box where you can pop in your email and start receiving updates on language learning posts like this one every week. Easy, huh?Bookmark your favorite blog posts to refer back to.New content appears all the time, but youll undoubtedly have some favorite posts. Whether its a vocabulary list with tons of words you want to st udy or a resource list that helps point you towards tools to improve your learning, dont hesitate to bookmark your favorite blog posts to refer back to later. Some posts can act as helpful reference material that youll want to keep handy throughout your language studies.Get Your Learning on a Blogroll: 16 Top Language BlogsWhile many blogs may cover several different skills or fall into multiple categories, for the purpose of this list, were focusing on specific, unique content from each blog to help you find some of the best options in each category. That being said, once you find a blog you love, dont hesitate to read posts on an array of topics. You may learn something you never knew you wanted/needed to know!All-around Language LearningAll-around language learning blogs touch on virtually any language-related topic you could imagine, including learning tips, grammar, vocabulary and more.Fluent in 3 MonthsThe Fluent in 3 Months blog, run by polyglot Benny Lewis, divides its posts neatly into several categories, allowing you to filter to find the types of articles you want.You can select from categories that include culture, fun, language hacks, missions and success stories. Within these categories, youll find some general posts that can apply to any learner learning any language. For example, Why Learning a Language is Better Together might be just the motivation you need to reach out to other learners.However, there are also countless language-specific posts, covering topics that will appeal to students learning Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and several other languages. For instance, Korean learners might be inspired by reading How I Learned Korean in 90 Days.TandemTandem is most known for its language exchange app, but it also has a pretty great blog.The blog contains plenty of posts about Tandem itself, though many of these could be applied to any language exchange situation. For instance, Creating the Perfect Profile on Tandem offe rs some helpful tips on what sort of information you might want to include in a language exchange profile. Inspirational stories of language exchange partnerships that went well might also encourage you to dive into language exchange.In addition to posts related directly to Tandem, however, there are also some general learning posts, culture posts and even a few language-specific posts. For instance, Making the Most of Work and Study Abroad Programs can help any language learner considering these adventures. Summer Traditions from Around the World can give readers fun, festive cultural insight. 9 French Foodie Phrases to Unleash Your Inner Gourmand can help grow a French students vocabulary (and appetite).FluentUIn addition to its video-learning language program, FluentU has a whole host of complementary blogs, which are all listed at the bottom of the page linked above. Believe it or not, youre actually reading one of them right now. Youre reading a post on the Language Learner Bl og, which focuses on tips, tricks, techniques and resources that can be used by learners of a variety of languages.FluentU also has an array of helpful language-specific blogs for learners, including ones for Arabic, Chinese, English (in addition to business English and test-specific blogs), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.If youre a native Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish or Turkish speaker, there are also blogs in those languages that aim at helping you learn English.All these blogs tend to feature vocabulary lists, grammar explanations and language learning resources for their respective target languages. For instance, you might read articles that help you practice your French vocabulary or find a great German dictionary.Whats more, if you happen to be a language teacher, FluentU has a whole host of educator-specific blogs to help you find resources, projects and innovative ideas to use in your classroom. For instance, we can help you find handouts for your Spanish class or help you figure out how to incorporate technology in your Chinese classroom.If youre a FluentU Plus Plan user, you can get even more out of our blogs. FluentU not only makes personalized language lessons from real-world videosâ"like movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talksâ"but also provides you with some pre-made sets of multi-media flashcards that are based on blog posts.Learning TipsBlogs that focus on learning tips usually provide unique and innovative tips and tricks to help you learn a language. If youre always looking for new study ideas or methods, youll love these blogs.MosalinguaMosalingua creates language apps, but they arent the only Mosalingua resource that can help you learn languages.Mosalingua also has a helpful blog that provides relatively brief, easy-to-read articles. Most of these posts focus on general learning tips that can be used by any student using any language. For instance, articles inc lude How Much Time Should You Really Spend on Pronunciation and 5 Tech Hacks to Learn Languages Like a Pro.If you prefer a multimedia blog experience, Mosalingua still has you covered. Many posts also contain videos.Fluent LanguageFluent Language is a website run by a passionate language learner who also offers a podcast, a toolkit, coaching and even sometimes a retreat.But lets get to what really matters: the blog. Fluent Languages blog features a variety of unique tips and tricks that language learners can apply to their studies. For instance, some article titles include What To Do When Youre Overwhelmed In Language Lessons and How To Create An Amazing Language Journal.New posts are added regularly, so if you dont find any titles youre interested in in the archives, just you wait!Rocket LanguagesThe main focus of Rocket Languages is language courses, but some of its blog posts can help you build on what youll learn in a standard course.Most of the posts focus on general ideas and resources that can help students regardless of what language theyre learning.For instance, playful learners might enjoy How to Master a LanguageBy Playing Video Games. Feel like getting social? You might like How to Use Social Media for Full Immersion.CultureWith culture blogs, youll learn more about countries and regions where different languages are spoken. Not only can this help you better understand your target language, it also may pique your interest in travel, and thereby your motivation to learn the language.Transparent LanguageTransparent Language doesnt offer one blog. It doesnt even offer two blogs. It offers over 30 separate blogs.Most of these blogs focus on specific languages, making it easy to peruse articles that pertain more directly to your target language.While Transparent Language blog posts cover a variety of topics, they have a stronger focus on news and culture than your average language blog. For instance, Chinese students might drink up articles like Luck in Coffee: The New Chinese Coffee. Italian students can enjoy Italian Harvest Focaccia.While were on the subject of Transparent Language, wed be remiss to ignore the word of the day. Sure, it doesnt fit into the culture category. Okay, it might not technically even be a blog. But were roguish by our very nature, and you deserve an easy, daily way to expand your vocabulary.Rosetta StoneRosetta Stones software is well known among language students. But did you know that Rosetta Stone also has a super informative blog?One of the blogs main focuses is world culturesâ"the perfect way to supplement your language education! For instance, Japanese students might enjoy Through the Lens: Festival of the Dead across Japan. Meanwhile, thirsty language students everywhere can check out Get a Taste of the World with These Iconic Drinks.Slice of MangoMango Languages, a language course provider, also has a blog with some informative culture posts.While the blog also has some vocabulary, learning tips and posts that promote the brand thrown in, youll find terrific cultural material in its archives. For instance, Three Things We Can All Learn From How Koreans Celebrate Chuseok can help Korean students better understand the holiday. French students can also learn some important holiday details with Vive la France: What Is Bastille Day and Why Should You Celebrate It?GrammarGrammar blogs get down to the nitty-gritty grammar rules that build the foundations of languages. However, grammar can get overwhelming, so youre also likely to find an array of other topics covered in these blogs.ClozemasterGrammar-focused multilingual blogs are few and far between, yet the Clozemaster blog focuses largely on grammar jackpot!Clozemaster is an online program designed to help students learn language in context through repetition and quizzes, kind of like Duolingo.However, Clozemasters blog provides plenty of additional learning materials. For instance, there are plenty of articles on conjuga tion, such as Conjugation of the German Verb Sein: A Crash Course and The Conjugation of Dizer in Portuguese: A Complete Guide.MemriseMemrise has learning apps with grammarbots, listening mode and more, but you can read Memrises helpful blog even if youve never used its apps.Memrise offers a variety of language-related posts, but beyond culture posts, learning tips posts, vocabulary posts and personal stories, Memrise also offers a few great grammar posts, like this post on Japanese borrowed words.VocabularyVocabulary blogs tend to post fun, thematic vocabulary lists you can use to learn new words. Whether these words are seasonal or just related to a special interest, this can be a fun, easy way to learn new vocabulary.Innovative Language (Pod101.com)Innovative Language offers tons of specific blogs for specific languages, so you can delve in with your language of choice.Popular options include the blogs for Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish.Each blo g offers a variety of articles, including study tips. However, what really sets the Pod101 blogs apart is the thematic vocabulary posts. For instance, if youre looking forward to ringing in the next year, you might check out How to Say Happy New Year in Arabic New Year Wishes or How to Say Happy New Year in Italian New Year Wishes.Living LanguageLiving Language offers language education courses, but language learners might also love its helpful blog.The blog frequently features vocabulary posts that cover a number of different languages. Some posts, like Learn a Word: Candy feature the same word in a number of different languagesâ"perfect for the aspiring polyglot.Other posts focus on thematic words or phrases in one language. For instance, 10 Essential Phrases For Getting Around Japan can help beginning Japanese students learn some common phrases. Meanwhile, German students can learn some interesting new words with Crazy German Expressions.LingQLingQs approach is to help stude nts learn language through content like news articles, podcasts, books and songs; however, LingQs blog posts can also give you a new look at your target language.LingQ posts articles on a variety of different topics, including some awesome vocabulary lists. For instance, 29 Russian Idioms to Get Your Head Around can help Russian students learn more colloquial speech. Spanish students can learn some new romantic vocabulary with Spanish Love Quotes for Beginner Learners.PracticePractice blogs allow you to practice your language skills through different activities. If youre looking to reinforce your skills, these blogs will be right up your alley.KwiziqKwiziqs main thing is AI language coaching, but they also have language blogs for French and Spanish.Unlike most blogs, Kwiziqs posts frequently feature actual practice activities. For instance, French students can dive into Faire les courses Partitive article practice (Shopping Partitive article practice). Spanish students can upgrad e their writing skills with Spanish writing challenges and dictations Tourism.Itchy FeetItchy Feet is a humorous comic designed for language learners. While the main website is in English, you can access plenty of comics in other languages through Itchy Feets dedicated Facebook pages. Youll find language-specific pages for Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and more.These comic strip posts provide easy, brief reading practice. For instance, Chinese students might enjoy this travel-related comic.So check out these 16 blogs to get your language learning on a roll.
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