Internet Polyglot

Travel in Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg

2010-05-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

Following we will discuss the two main cities for travel in Russia: Moscow and St. Petersburg. If you are planning to visit Russia, a few Russian lessons may come in handy. You can find an array of Russian lessons free if you perform a search for Russian lessons free online.

Following we will discuss the two main cities for travel in Russia: Moscow and St. Petersburg. If you are planning to visit Russia, a few Russian lessons may come in handy. You can find an array of Russian lessons free if you perform a search for Russian lessons free online.

Moscow

Moscow is the capital of Russia. The first mention of this city refers to 1147. The founder of Moscow was Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy (“Long-armed Yuri”). Moscow is the economic, political and scientific center of Russia. This city has a stunning architecture, numerous theaters, cinemas, concert halls, museums and exhibitions. This city holds major festivals, international competitions and sporting events.

Moscow Museums

Moscow has numerous museums for every taste; these maintain a centuries-old history of the Russian capital. The Moscow Kremlin is the most famous museum. Second is the Pushkin Museum – a striking museum of fine arts that exhibit European and world art. The third spot is taken by the Tretyakov Gallery, which holds the largest collection of fine Russian art.

Moscow Attractions

Red Square: This is the central square in Moscow, the history of which began in the 15th century. It is located at the east wall of the Moscow Kremlin. Red in Russian is “krasnyi” – this is one of the first words that you may learn at Russian lessons.

St. Basil’s Cathedral: This cathedral dates to the times of Ivan the Terrible. It is located on Red Square.

The Church of the Ascension: This tent-type temple was erected in the Kolomna village in the 15th century.

Novodevichy Convent: This monastery was founded by Grand Prince Vasili III in 1524.

The Cathedral of Christ the Savior: This large temple was built to thank God for saving Russia from the Napoleon invasion.

Bolshoi Theatre: One of the most significant opera and ballet theaters in the world. It dates to 1776. It is located in the center of Moscow, on the Theater Square. In Russian, Bolshoi means big – this is a common word that people learn with Russian lessons online.

Seven Sisters: These are seven skyscrapers built by Stalin in the late 1940’s-early 1950’s as a symbol of the Soviet people’s power.

Moscow Zoo: This zoo was founded in 1864. It is the largest zoo in Russia, with several thousand varied unique animals.

Donskoy Monastery: This monastery was founded in 1591 by Tsar Feodor I to honor the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo. This victory saved Moscow from the Golden Horde.

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, which was founded in 1703 by the first Russian emperor Peter I. This city is often called the “northern capital” and “cultural capital” of Russia. It is a major destination for travel in Russia. St. Petersburg is a “city of water” – it has about 100 rivers, 20 canals and 800 bridges.

St. Petersburg Museums

The northern capital has over 200 museums, the most famous being Hermitage – one of the largest museums in the world.

The State Hermitage Museum: The largest art museum in the world. Hermitage holds numerous masterpieces of world art.

Russian Museum: the first state museum of Russian art; it was founded in 1895.

Kunstkamera (Kunstkammer): The first museum in Russia, which was established in 1719 by the Emperor - Peter I. This museum stores various wonders.

Saint Petersburg Sights

Peter and Paul Fortress: The oldest landmark in St. Petersburg. The city’s history began with the erection of this fortress on the banks of the Neva River.

St. Isaac's Cathedral: This Orthodox Church is one of the main attractions in Russia. It is a prominent example of Russian religious art.

The Cruiser “Aurora”: This is a legendary symbol of the Soviet era. The cruiser is open to visitors; it is moored at the Petrograd embankment.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood: This temple was built where the Emperor Alexander II was assassinated. The temple has a unique mosaic interior and exterior.

The Smolny Cathedral: One of the most beautiful temples in the city built in the style of lush Elizabethan Baroque in 1748-1764.

The Summer Garden (Letniy Sad): This stunning garden was founded in 1704 by the order of Peter I, who took part in the garden’s design. “Letniy sad” (summer garden) is yet another nice phrase to master at Russian lessons free online.

The Bronze Horseman: The first statue of Peter I, mounted on the Decembrists Square (formerly the Senate Square). It is one of the city’s symbols.

The Russian Admiralty: Admiralty was built in 1704 by the Emperor - Peter I, as the main shipyard in Russia. Admiralty is a masterpiece of Russian Classicism, and one of the city’s symbols.

Russian Slang Development and Examples

2010-05-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Here is one excellent example of Russian slang: “the roof has slid off” – this refers to someone as a house, and to their head as the roof. Thus, if someone’s “roof has slid off” – it means that they have gone crazy...

The Russian language is constantly changing, mainly due to borrowing words from other languages, as well as due to constant changes in Russian slang. In this article, we will talk about Russian slang, as well as provide a list of popular slang words. People, who learn Russian, often master several fun slang words. These words can be located when you learn Russian online, since online courses tend to be more relaxed than those offered in brick-and-mortar schools.

Within the last 30-40 years, the Russian language has changed so much that a person from the 70s or 80s could have trouble understanding the modern person. Following we will discuss the recent history of the Russian language and slang.

The 20th century brought 2 major social upheavals to Russia - revolution and perestroika, which have affected the people and language. The USSR authorities used the language as a tool for brainwashing. In Soviet times, the language featured diglossia – the coexistence of two linguistic forms for different uses. George Orwell named the language pushed by the Soviet government - newspeak. Also, the society used vernacular language and slang. Newspeak was used in speeches, newspapers and at Party meetings; regular speech was used in kitchens and courtyards.

During Gorbachev's perestroika, linguistic boundaries started to vanish. Gorbachev’s and Yeltsin’s public speeches combined literary and vernacular language, and newspeak. Most modern Russian politicians have a unique lexicon – their linguistic specifics form their image and serve as a topic for parodies.

The modern Russian speech uses slang, jargon, professionalisms, and curse words. Curse words (mat) are taboo; however, they can be used for swearing, in "unofficial" talks, and to show the freedom of expression and emancipation.

Russians made numerous “borrowings” from English; America's influence is very strong here. This influence is the result of the vanished borders and boundaries, including the internal ones. The popular English “borrowings” include: a model, printer, computer, broker, dealer, joker, and even sales manager. Many “borrowings” turned into Russian slang: girla (girl), drink (a drink, beverage), etc. Russia has been taking words from other languages for countless centuries: Tatar, Mongol, Greek, Latin, French, German, and many others.

So, what is slang? We can learn this by comparing it to other types of speech. Vocabulary language is divided into literary (book words, standard spoken words and neutral words) and colloquial (professionalisms, vulgarisms, jargon, and slang). Professionalisms are used by professionals. Vulgarisms are harsh words and curses. Jargon is meant to be incomprehensible for outsiders. Slang is an ironic breach of the standard language. Slang is expressive and metaphorical. It is used mainly in the spoken language.

Here is one excellent example of Russian slang: “the roof has slid off” – this refers to someone as a house, and to their head as the roof. Thus, if someone’s “roof has slid off” – it means that they have gone crazy. Once this phrase started to “fade” in its vivid “color,” people came up with new variants: “the roof is running,” “the roof drove off,” and “the roof flew away.” This resulted in associations: psychiatrists started to be called “roofers.”

The modern Russian slang has spread to all sectors of society: the nicknames of modern politicians turn to slang; comedians coin new slang expressions; Russian students come up with fresh youth slang ideas. Following we will list the slang words that you can hear in Russia today (the words in braces are the literal meaning of the normal word that was used to make a slang word):

ás'ka - ICQ
bábki (little cakes) - 'the dough'
Blin! (little pancake) - Darn!
vtjúrit'sja - to fall in love
Da nu! - You don't say!
durdóm (fool house) - the funny farm
zélen' (greens) - green bucks, the US Dollar
Inét - Internet (short)
Kakógo chërta! (what a devil!) - What the heck!
kapústa (cabbage) - cash, money
klássno (classy) - nice, cool
klëvo - cool
komp – computer (short)
krúto (steep) - awesome
mobílnik - cell phone
naveselé (in the cheer) - a bit drunk, tipsy
Obaldét' (to go crazy) - Gosh! Jeez! Wow!
oy! – sound of being surprised; ouch!, a sigh
Poékhali! - Let's go!
prédki (ancestors) - parents, folks
prikíd - a getup, an outfit
Prikín'! - 'Just imagine...'
prikól (a moor) - 'funny stuff'
s privétom ('with regards') - a weak mind
táchka (wheelbarrow) - a car
télik – TV
tuftá – trifle, nonsense
Chërt poberí ('Devil take') 'Darnit!'
chush' - rubbish, lies, stupid ideas
shmótki - clothes
shtúka (thing) - 1000 rubles

As you can see, there is quite a number of funny Russian slang words that you may want to master when you learn Russian. Today, it has become possible to learn Russian free – all you need to do is perform a search for “learn Russian free online”.

The Diversity of Russian Geography

2010-05-06T18:53:00.000-07:00

Russia’s border is 37,000 miles (60,000 km). The sea border is around 25,000 miles (40,000 km); the land border is around 12,000 miles (20,000 km).

In this article, we will elaborate on the diversity of Russian geography. This topic may be of specific interest for those who want to learn Russian or visit this country. It has become so popular to learn Russian online that you can even learn Russian free at some sites.

The Russian Federation is the largest country in the world by area – its territory is a little over 6.5 million square miles (17 million square kilometers). Russia is located in the eastern and western parts of Eurasia. About 30% of Russia lies in Europe, and around 70% lie in Asia. The country has 10 time zones.

Extreme Points: The extreme northern continental point of Russia is Cape Chelyuskin (Taimyr Peninsula). The extreme island northern point is Cape Fligely (Franz Josef archipelago). The furthest southern continental point is the Caucasus Mountains. The extreme western point is the Curonian Spit (in the Baltic Sea). The extreme eastern continental point is Cape Dezhnev (Chukotka). The furthest eastern island point is in the Bering Sea, near the US border.

Borders: Russia’s border is 37,000 miles (60,000 km). The sea border is around 25,000 miles (40,000 km); the land border is around 12,000 miles (20,000 km).

Sea Borders: Russia’s northern sea borders lie in the seas of the Arctic Ocean. The Eastern sea border lies in the seas of the Pacific Ocean; it borders Japan and the U.S. The Western sea border is in the Baltic Sea; it borders Sweden, Poland, Germany and the Baltic States. The South-western sea border lies in the Azov, Caspian and Black Seas; it borders Ukraine, Georgia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Romania.

Land Borders: Russia has land borders with 14 countries: China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Norway and China.

Border Claims: Four countries (Japan, Estonia, Latvia and Finland) make claims to Russian borders. Japan claims several Kuril Islands; Estonia claims the Pechora region; Latvia claims the Pytalovsky District; Finland claims the lands of Karelia.

Plains

Great Russian Plain (East European Plain): The largest cities include Moscow and St. Petersburg. The landscape is tundra, forest-steppe, steppe, and semi-desert. Large rivers include Onega, Pechora, Dnieper, Dniester, Dvina, Don, Volga, and Ural. This area is the center of modern Russia.

West Siberian Plain: The largest cities include Novosibirsk, Omsk, Tomsk, and Tyumen. The landscape is tundra, forest tundra, and taiga. Large rivers include Ob, Irtysh, and Yenisei. This area has large deposits of oil and gas.

Central Siberian Plateau: The largest cities include Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Chita, and Ulan-Ude. Large rivers include Lena and Amur.

Mountains

Caucasus Mountains: This area has many resorts, and is popular for mountain climbing. The highest mountain in Russia – Elbrus, is located in Caucasus.

Ural Mountains: The largest cities include Yekaterinburg and Perm. Major roads and railways connect the European part of Russia with the Asian.

Other large mountain ranges include Altai and Kamchatka.

Seas

Russia is washed by 12 seas of 3 oceans, but it does not have access to the open ocean.

Arctic Ocean’s Seas: the Barents, White, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas.

Atlantic Ocean’s Seas: the Baltic Sea (Saint-Petersburg and Kaliningrad ports), Black Sea (major recreational area), and Azov Sea.

Pacific Ocean’s Seas: the Bering Sea (port Anadyr, the capital of Chukotka), Okhotsk (port Magadan), and Japan Sea (port Vladivostok).

Islands

Islands: Novaya Zemlya (the Arctic Ocean), Sakhalin (the Okhotsk and Japan Seas); Kuril Islands (the Pacific); Solovetsky Islands (the White Sea).

Lakes

Russia has about 3 million freshwater and saline lakes.

The Caspian Sea: the largest lake in the world that washes the shores of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Azerbaijan.

Baikal: the deepest lake in the world, the 8th in the world by its area. It is located in eastern Siberia. It has 20% of all the freshwater on the globe.

Lake Ladoga: the largest lake in Europe. It is located near St. Petersburg.

Lake Onega: The small island of Kizhi has Russian wooden churches and homes from the 14th century.

Lake Peipsi: this lake borders Estonia. In 1242, the ice of Peipsi saw a glorious battle of Russian troops (led by Prince Alexander Nevsky) with Teutonic Knights.

Rivers

Russia has 120,000 rivers longer than 6 miles (10 km); most are in the basin of the Arctic Ocean. The largest rivers are Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena, and Volga. Volga is the longest river in Europe. Russians call it “matushka” (mother – when you learn Russian online, this is one of the first words to master.) Russian rivers and seas are popular for fishing. In winter, anglers often get lost at sea on breakaway ice floes, and need to be rescued.

We hope that the country’s geography will tempt you to learn Russian. Please keep in mind that you can learn Russian free online.

Core Elements of the Russian Economy

2010-05-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Russia dominates a number of spheres in the world: it’s 2nd by oil production and export; 1st by natural gas production and export; 1st by the production of aluminum, alumina, nickel, palladium, and titanium; 1st by diamond mining. It has one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, as well as copper and silver reserves...

Following we will elaborate on the main facets of the Russian economy. On the whole, the country is doing better than ever before, even considering the effects of the global crisis. Russia is one of the most promising countries in the world, which entices many people to learn more about it. Some people even take Russian lessons. Note that you don’t need to pay for Russian lessons online; there are a number of Russian lessons free online.

Russia’s economy is heir to the Soviet economy, which underwent substantial changes in the 90’s – after the collapse of the USSR. The main sectors of the Russian economy are: the service sector (49% of GDP), manufacturing (16% of GDP), mining (9.0% of GDP), construction (5% of GDP), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (4% of GDP), production and distribution of electricity, gas and water (3% of GDP).

Let’s take a look at this country’s wealth by area. Western Siberia is rich in oil and gas. Eastern Siberia is renowned for hydropower, nonferrous metallurgy, and the forest industry. The Far East is rich in gold, diamonds, and seafood. The Northern region has coal, oil, gas, metals, forests, and fish. The Central Black Soil Region and Northern Caucasus are known for their agriculture and food industry. North-West, Center, Volga-Vyatka, Ural, and Volga have prominent engineering, chemical industries, and energy production.

Russia dominates a number of spheres in the world: it’s 2nd by oil production and export; 1st by natural gas production and export; 1st by the production of aluminum, alumina, nickel, palladium, and titanium; 1st by diamond mining. It has one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, as well as copper and silver reserves. By electricity production, it’s 4th. By the length of railways, Russia ranks #2 in the world after the United States. By the length of highways, it takes 10th place in the world. Russia owns the world’s largest system of oil pipelines. The country is 5th in the world by the number of landline phones, 4th by the number of cell phones, and 8th by the number of Internet users.

Russia is the largest producer of cars in Eastern Europe, and 11th among heavy truck manufacturers in the world. The country has dozens of auto factories that produce cars under the following major brands: Volkswagen, Skoda, BMW, Ford, Renault, Toyota, Chevrolet, Peugeot-Citroen-Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Kia, and Volvo Truck.

The main food products produced in this country are: meat, sausages, fish products, vegetable oil, tea, wine, beer and mineral water. Russia exports beer to around 50 world countries. The country has one of the world’s leading agricultural machinery manufacturers; 10% of the world’s arable lands are in Russia. Main crops grown here are: grains, sugar beet, sunflower, potato, and flax. The main grain for export is wheat.

Russia’s main exports are oil, gas, coal, steel, non-ferrous metals (aluminum, nickel, and copper), machinery, equipment, weapons, chemical fertilizers, and wheat. Russia’s main imports are: industrial machinery and equipment, cars and trucks, medicines, clothing and footwear.

Russia has numerous resorts, mainly on the Black Sea and in Caucasus. The popular tourist areas are: Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, the cities of the Golden Ring, Volga River, and Lake Baikal.

Russia’s poor are able-bodied inhabitants of villages and small towns, who have children. The country has a high proportion of residents at or below the official poverty line among education, culture and health workers. One of the major problems of contemporary Russia is a large difference in income between the rich and poor.

In late 2008 and early 2009, the Russian economy was hurt by the world crisis. Exports and imports declined, and cheap loans became out of reach. The crisis has triggered Russia’s stock market collapse, ruble devaluation, reduced GDP, lower income, and higher unemployment. Yet, the losses were lower than anticipated at the beginning of the crisis. In part this is due to the large-scale anti-crisis measures taken by the country’s government.

The main trade partners among foreign countries are: Germany, Netherlands, China, Italy, Turkey, Japan, Poland, Britain, and Finland. Russia’s investment attractiveness is constantly growing. It’s the 4th among countries considered the most attractive for future foreign investment by multinational corporations. Russia has an enormous amount of U.S. Treasury bonds; it is one of the largest creditors of the USA. Russia is 2nd in the world by foreign investment (after Saudi Arabia). The country’s external public debt is one of the lowest in the world.

If you have become enticed to take some Russian lessons online, you may find it useful to look for Russian lessons free online. A number of Russian lessons free are as good as or even better than paid ones.

Russian Cuisine and the Most Popular Courses

2010-05-06T18:39:00.000-07:00

Russians serve soup as the first course at a dinner or supper. Soups can be served hot or chilled. Popular hot soups include the nourishing borscht (red beetroot soup) and cabbage soup. The traditional Russian cold soup is “okroshka”...

Russian cuisine is admired throughout the world. It is typically associated with pancakes, caviar, dumplings, and borsch; however, there are other tasty meals that this country can boast. Russia is a large country with diverse climates, and so its cuisine varies by region. Russian cuisine has absorbed numerous courses from its neighbors, as well as the other members of the former USSR. Many Russian meals are easy to cook – they do not require any special skills, ingredients, or equipment. In this article, we will list the most popular meals for you to try. These delicacies may even tempt you to learn Russian (the easiest way is to learn Russian online), and visit the country to taste them.

Soups: Russians serve soup as the first course at a dinner or supper. Soups can be served hot or chilled. Popular hot soups include the nourishing borscht (red beetroot soup) and cabbage soup. The traditional Russian cold soup is “okroshka” (you can master this fun word if you learn Russian); this soup is made of finely cut cucumber, egg, meat, radish, and dill, and served with kvass or kefir. Broths are not too popular here.

Pastry: Pastry takes a special place in Russian cuisine. One of the ancient local traditions was to welcome guests with bread and salt. The traditional pastry includes pies, pancakes, and cakes. Pies can be stuffed with berries, mushrooms, meat or cheese. The variety of breads is astounding.

Meats: The harsh climate made hot meat courses (pork, beef, poultry, and game) very common in this country. The Russian national cuisine can boast of numerous meat courses, including cutlets (minced meat patties), steaks, chops, and goulash; these are served with potatoes or noodles. Meats can be stewed or roasted; eggs can be beaten, boiled, and fried; eggs are used as an ingredient in other meals. In ancient times, beef and horse meat were banned in Russia.

Fish: The popularity of fish here can be explained by lengthy Christian fasts that do not allow eating meat, dairy, and eggs; most fasts permit fish. Religious fasts coincide with the times of the year when peasant food supplies would come to an end, forcing them to start eating wild berries, mushrooms and fish. Popular fish includes sturgeon and trout. Fish is steamed, boiled, fried, stewed, baked, smoked, salted, dried, and jellied. It is often stuffed with fillings, such as oatmeal or mushrooms. Caviar can be salted or boiled in vinegar.

Porridge: Porridge is a traditional Russian meal that is still very common here. Popular grains include: millet, rye, barley, oat, wheat (semolina), and buckwheat. Porridge is usually served with a lot of butter. “Kasha” (porridge) is one of the first words that one will master when they learn Russian online.

Vegetables: In ancient times, the most common vegetable here was the turnip – it served as a garnish before potatoes became popular; one fairy tale of those days features a giant turnip (“repa”). Other popular vegetables include cabbage (often used in sauerkraut), radish, and potatoes. Potatoes are the favorite. Raw vegetables are not used too often. Vegetables can be used in vegetable porridges, cakes, and stews, with or without meat.

Fruits: Fruits are used in fruit juices and drinks made of boiled fruits (kompot and uzvar). Fruits are also used in deserts, such as mousses and jellies. Dried fruits are also popular.

Deserts: Some of the favorite deserts are sweet rolls, cakes, jams, honey, as well as baked apples, fruits and berries. Popular modern deserts are small cheese pancakes with sour cream. Old Russian sweets were different from the modern. Two good examples of ancient Russian sweets are: carrots cooked in honey and crushed berries dried in an oven (shaped as pellets).

Flavorings: Sour cream is a popular seasoning for deserts and all other courses, including soups, dumplings and salads. Another popular seasoning for deserts and main courses is butter, which can be used to butter pancakes, pies, and sandwiches.

Seasonings: Russian courses are often flavored with herbs and spices: fennel, parsley, celery, mustard, onion, and garlic.

Drinks: Popular drinks include kvass, fruit drinks, mead, beer, and vodka.

Pickled foods: These include a number of pickled vegetables and pickled mushrooms.

Borrowed food: Russia has borrowed a number of foods from other countries: tea, dumplings (pelmeni), shashlik, roasted meats, potatoes, beef Stroganov, and Olivier (Russian salad).

Kitchenware: Traditional kitchenware from the past was bowls and wooden spoons. Foods were cooked in clay pots, in ovens. Tea was made in samovars.

If you visit Russia, the hosts are likely to welcome you with a number of traditional Russian meals. You could amaze them by a word or two in Russian, such as “spasibo” (thank you.) Today, it is easy to learn Russian free, as a number of websites offer the opportunity to learn Russian free online.

Norwegian lessons, Tagalog UI

2010-04-29T23:12:00.000-07:00

New language lessons: Norwegian! http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-no-en - not yet with audio. Audio will come soon.

Also the site is translated to Tagalog: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/tagalog/mainMenu.html

What's in plans:
- Swedish audio
- Swahili audio
- Norwegian audio
- Tagalog lessons

Russian Culture - Keeping Abreast with Times

2010-04-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

Historians believe that Russia appeared in the 9th century. However, even before then the Slavic tribes lived on the territory of the modern Russian Federation and far beyond. The religious belief of the country was paganism.

The Russian culture is very distinct. Millions of people worldwide are captivated by its richness, cosmopolitism, and tolerance to other cultures. Russians have always been open to other nationalities and beliefs. The Russian language is similar to the culture and the nation itself – it is rich and adaptive. Mastering Russian does have a learning curve to it; yet, you can find some excellent Russian lessons that can help you dive into this unique language with little effort. The modern Russian lessons online (including the Russian free lessons online) can help you advance to any level you desire to achieve, whether it’s learning a few phrases or being able to read the Russian classics in original. In this article, we will talk about what makes this culture so unique and friendly.

Historians believe that Russia appeared in the 9th century. However, even before then the Slavic tribes lived on the territory of the modern Russian Federation and far beyond. The religious belief of the country was paganism – believing in multiple Gods (God of Sun, Water, Nature, Animal World, etc.). The cultural artifacts of those days include numerous architectural, literature and iconographic artifacts. A very popular form of art then was ancient sewing known as “needle painting”. The Slavic language of those days was first built on the Glagolitic and later the Cyrillic alphabet. The culture of the country consisted of verbal folk tales (bylinas), fairy tales, and songs praising peasant-warriors and describing the life of people. Many Russian bylinas and fairy tales of those days were adapted for modern animation films and movies. Some Russian poets made poetical interpretations thereof.

During the 9-13th centuries, the scattered tribes started to come together and unite under the Kievan Rus. Christianity that came to Russia in the 10th century blended with paganism. Christianity also brought writing into the country and further enriched its culture. In the 12th century, Kievan Rus was attacked by Tatars and Mongols. Kiev, Vladimir, Ryazan, Chernigov, and other major cities were destroyed. The Russian principalities started to pay an annual tribute to the Horde. As odd as it may sound, there were some cultural benefits to being mixed with another culture for 200 years. The Mongol-Tatar yoke enriched the Russian culture. Russians have studied the Asian mentality and learned new concepts, crafts, technologies, and words. They have also begun to overcome their fragmentation. After a crushing defeat in 1396, the Golden Horde was unable to recover. The power of the Horde over Russia faltered.

Next, Russia’s culture was changing and evolving under the reign of a number of unique rulers, such as Ivan IV, Peter I, Catherine II, and Alexander I, among others. Each ruler was unique; many of them helped Russia come closer to its numerous neighbors. Peter I (1672–1725) was the first to “open a window to the West”. He invited numerous Western scientists, architects, and artists to work in the country. He also ordered the translation of numerous prominent Western texts into Russian. Catherine II continued his efforts. This period created myriads of cultural artifacts, such as architectural, literature, and scientific.

The “window to Europe” closed shut during the days of the Soviet Union – 1922 to 1991, but the majority of the nation could not take the “iron curtain” for too long. The Soviet Union left a large cultural heritage. The country’s sports, arts, and science were on the rise, and served as the basis for the country to enter a new era.

As one can see, the uniqueness of the Russian culture comes from the fact that Russians have experienced all sorts of influences. They were developing as scattered tribes for thousands of years, they soaked in the invasion, and they were interacting with Europeans and Asians for several centuries after defeating the yoke. Countless thousands of Russian words originate from Turkic, Greek, Latin, French, and English. The well-known items that can represent Russia today include: Balalaika (musical instrument), Ushanka (hat), Matryoshka (doll), Garmoshka (musical instrument), Vodka (alcoholic beverage), Selyodka (herring), Kotlety (cutlets), Caviar, Borsch (soup), Russian salad, Vatrushka (sweet cake), Okroshka (salad with kvass), Valenki (shoes), and Samovar (teapot). Russians are a friendly multinational nation with a rich culture.

Today, the Russian “windows” are wide open to the views, beliefs, and cultures of the rest of the world. The uniqueness and friendliness of the Russian culture makes learning the Russian language extremely popular. Many people realize that the current turbulence in the country is a temporary setback, and that it makes sense to start building relationships with this nation now. Russian lessons are very popular, and Russian lessons online are the easiest to use. Moreover, the Internet has created many dedicated sites that offer Russian free lessons online, which make the most sense to take advantage of.

Russia - The Country with Most Boarders in the World

2010-04-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Quick Facts: By total area, Russia is the largest country in the world. By population, it is the 9th largest country. Russians comprise 80% of the country’s population. The country borders with 18 other countries, which is the highest number of boarders in the world.

It has become popular to learn Russian, and it’s no wonder. The Russian language is spoken by almost 300 million people, and learning it can open the doors to a number of countries and communities. Lessons are available both, as Russian lessons online and in person. One can even find Russian free lessons online. Following is some fascinating information about this country, which may spark your interest in taking Russian lessons.

Quick Facts: By total area, Russia is the largest country in the world. By population, it is the 9th largest country. Russians comprise 80% of the country’s population. The country borders with 18 other countries, which is the highest number of boarders in the world. Almost 3/4 of the population lives in cities. The Russian Federation is in the UN, CIS, CAC, CSTO, SCO, APEC and a number of other global organizations. Russia has 11 cities with over 1 million people: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, and Ufa. The capital of Russia is Moscow; the President is Dmitry Medvedev; the Prime Minister is Vladimir Putin.

Former Names of Russia (in chronological order): the Kievan Rus, Grand Duchy of Vladimir, Principality of Moscow, Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tsardom of Russia, Russian Empire, Russian Republic, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and The Russian Federation (current).

Former Capitals of Russia (in chronological order): Novgorod, Kiev, Vladimir, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Moscow (current).

Natural Resources: Russia has the world’s largest amount of mineral and energy resources, as well as the most forests, and the most fresh water lakes in the world. Russia has the world’s largest gas reserve. It shares the first two positions in global oil production. The country is also rich in coal, iron ore, bauxite, nickel, tin, gold, diamonds, platinum, lead, and zinc.

Russia is located in Eurasia (Eastern Europe and Northern Asia). It is washed by the Pacific and Arctic oceans, as well as the Baltic, Black, Azov and Caspian seas. It has the longest coastline in the world. The country has more than 120 thousand rivers and about 2 million lakes. The largest rivers are Amur, Lena, Yenisei, Irtysh, Ob, Volga, and Kama; the largest lakes are Caspian Sea, Baikal, Ladoga, and Onega. The country’s rivers have traditionally played an essential role as transport routes; most major cities are built on river banks.

More than 2/3 of the territory is plains and lowlands; over 40% of the territory is covered by forest. The country’s climate zones include: arctic, subarctic, temperate, and partly subtopic. The largest part of the country is in the temperate zone. Depending on the region, the average temperature in January ranges from 6 to -50 degrees C (43 to -58 degrees F), and in July it ranges from 1 to 25 degrees C (34 to 77 degrees F). Permafrost areas (Siberia and Far East) take up 65% of the territory. Russia has a very wide animal diversity, including polar bears, walruses, tigers, leopards, and others. The country has 35 national parks and 84 reserves.

Most of the country’s population lives in a triangle with the best climate; that triangle is formed by St. Petersburg in the north, Sochi in the south and Irkutsk in the east. Siberia covers almost 3/4 of Russia, and has the least amount of people living there.

Russia has more than 100 languages and dialects used on its territory. The most widely spoken languages are Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian, German, Tatar, Chuvash, Bashkir, and Chechen. Russian is the native language for about 130 million citizens (92% of the population). Russian is the most widespread Slavic language, and one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It belongs to the East Slavic group, together with Ukrainian and Belarusian. The Russian language uses a Cyrillic alphabet.

The amount of Russian citizens, who consider themselves Orthodox, is 75%. Russia’s most widespread religions are Christianity (mainly Orthodox), Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, paganism and others. Russia’s Constitution guarantees the “freedom of religion, including the right to profess… any religion or profess no religion, to freely choose, possess and distribute religious and other convictions and act in accordance with them.”

The number of radio broadcast stations in the country is almost 2,000; the number of television broadcast stations is over 7,000; the number of Internet users is over 50 million. The country is world-renowned in art, literature, architecture, music, theatre, cinema, animation, and sports.

Knowing the above, it is easy to understand why millions of people have chosen to learn Russian. Some choose to learn Russian online, while others take Russian lessons with private tutors or in classes. While most tutors and classes are paid, one can learn Russian online free at a number of websites.

Russian Culture Overview - from Art to Cuisine

2010-04-25T16:30:00.000-07:00

The Russian culture is recognized as one of the world’s richest cultures, and it is popular to learn Russian today. Not only can you learn Russian online – you can learn Russian online free. In this article, we will elaborate on the Russian history, culture, art, cuisine, and more.

The Russian culture is recognized as one of the world’s richest cultures, and it is popular to learn Russian today. Not only can you learn Russian online – you can learn Russian online free. In this article, we will elaborate on the Russian history, culture, art, cuisine, and more.

It all started in the 9th century - the time of the Kievan Rus (882-1240). Back then, the Russians were faithful to traditions, and had a dual religion – the blend of Christianity and paganism. The next major period was the Tatar-Mongol Yoke (1223-1480). In that period, the Orthodox Church was on the rise and dual religion started to cease. Following were the rulings of Ivan the Terrible, Alexei Romanov, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and Alexander I. The following periods were marked by famous writers and poets: Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, and Tolstoy.

The next major period was the USSR (1922-1991). The USSR culture combined the cultures of all peoples living on its territory (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Georgians, etc.).

Today, Russia is restoring the culture of the Russian Empire and integrating it into modern life. The modern culture has accepted the values of the western and eastern civilizations. Russia is a multinational state – in addition to Russians (80%), the Russian Federation is home to over 180 other nationalities.

Russian Culture Overview:

Folk Culture: Russian epics tell the folk wisdom from the depth of centuries. The main characters in the epics were mighty peasant-warriors. Russian folk music is rhymes that are usually passed on verbally.

Folk Crafts: Russia has numerous folk crafts. For instance, A Khokhloma painting is a decorative painting in black and red on gold-tinted wood. Traditional ornaments are rowan berries, strawberries, flowers, twigs, birds and fish. A Gorodetskaya painting depicts life scenes, animals, and floral patterns, in black and white strokes. Filigree is a delicate patterning of fine wire (gold, silver), with the addition of silver or gold beads and enamel. Kasli casting is sculpture and grilles of cast iron and bronze.

Matryoshka (nesting doll): This is a Russian wooden toy - a painted hollow doll, inside of which are smaller dolls. Traditional nesting dolls depict peasant girls.

Icons: Russian icons inherited traditions of Byzantine masters, and obtained their own style also.

Painting: Famous Russian artists include Levitsky, Kiprensky, Bryullov, Ivanov, Vasnetsov, Kramskoy, Shishkin, Kuindzhi, Surikov, Repin, Savrasov, Vrubel, Petrov-Vodkin, Roerich, Levitan, Kandinsky, Malevich, Chagall, and Filonov.

Art Museums: The most famous art museums and galleries in Russia are: The State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the State Hermitage and Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).

Literature: Russian literature reflects the moral and spiritual values of the Russians. The most famous writers are: Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bunin, Nabokov, Turgenev, and Chekhov. The most famous poets are: Pushkin, Lermontov, Blok, Yesenin, Akhmatova, and Mayakovski. The most famous modern authors are Akunin and Pelevin.

Theater: Russia’s theaters are famous worldwide; the most famous are the Mariinsky Theatre, the Bolshoi Theatre and Maly Theatre.

Circus: Among the famous circus artists are clowns Yuri Nikulin and Oleg Popov, illusionists Emil Kio and Igor Kio, and animal trainers Vladimir Durov and brothers Zapashnye.

Cinema: The first cinematic apparatus appeared in Russia in April 1896. Russia conducts dozens of film festivals, such as the Moscow International Film Festival.

Cartoons: The first Soviet cartoon dates to 1906. The Russian cartoon “Hedgehog in the Fog” was named the best animated film of all time in 2003 in Tokyo, in the survey of 140 critics and animators from different countries.

Music: Russian classical music is represented by Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky. The prominent Soviet composers include Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khachaturian, and Schnittke. The USSR “pop” music was represented by Magomaev, Pugacheva, and Leontiev. The modern band that became popular abroad is “t.A.T.u.”

Architecture: The Russian architecture interacts with the architectures of other countries. It includes religious buildings, the Kremlins, and civil architecture.

Religion: Russia is a multi-confessional state, which is traditionally dominated by Orthodox Christianity. Others religions are: Paganism, Christianity, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism.

Russian cuisine: The cuisine is a blend of Slavic traditions, western and eastern cuisines, and the cuisines of all the nationalities living in Russia. Among the most famous dishes are: borscht, vinaigrette, pancakes, kvass, and fruit drinks.

Alcohol: In Russia, drinking alcohol started during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Prior to that, the sale of alcohol was prohibited. By the level of alcohol consumption per capita, Russia is 18th in the world. The most popular beverages are vodka and beer.

We hope that our article has sparkled or intensified your desire to learn Russian. As we have already mentioned, it’s easy to learn Russian online, and one can even learn Russian online free. Learning the Russian language will immerse the student into the rich Russian culture.

Speedy and Efficient Way to Learn the Russian Language

2010-04-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

If you plan to travel or work in Russia, then you really need to learn Russian. You can enroll in a class or you can also learn Russian online...

If you plan to travel or work in Russia, then you really need to learn Russian. You can enroll in a class or you can also learn Russian online. There are also so many free resources through which you can learn Russian online free. When you learn Russian, you will be able to communicate freely with more than 150 million people in the world who have Russian as their native tongue or as a second language. The world of opportunities that learning this exquisite language opens up to you are really tremendous. The people you can come in contact with, the amount of things that you can learn from Russia, and the work and business opportunities that can come your way makes this a tremendously beneficial endeavor.

You can start by learning how to pronounce the different consonants and the words of the language. Next would come the constructs and syntax of the language. The nouns, the pronouns and their genders are interesting aspects to learn in any language. As you begin to get familiar with words, you would then concentrate on the meaning of the words and how you can make small phrases and sentences using them.

While there are many traditional approaches to learning Russian, with the advent and growing use of the Internet, you can search for Russian lessons online. The amount of free material available on the Internet is truly amazing. Of course you need to weed out the bad from the good. But all you need to do is spend some time online and you can get a list of extremely useful resources that can help you learn Russian online. While there are also sites that offer lessons for a particular fee, you can also find a number of sites that offer Russian free lessons online. If you need to locate these courses on the Internet, you can visit Google or any other search engine and search for the terms “Learn Russian Language”. The search engine will normally spew out hundreds of links from which you can choose the best ones that suit your taste and aptitude.

Doing a course online has a number of benefits that you may be able to get when you attend a regular class. You can decide your own time when you can do your lessons. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects for people who are already studying or working and have very little time left for other pursuits. You can set aside a couple of minutes or hours when you can do your online lessons everyday or on particular days of the week. Another benefit of doing an online course is that you need not get out of your house. You can do your lessons from the comfort of your living room which is a great convenience especially for people who might need to stay at home for a variety of reasons. Especially for mothers with young children, the ability to stay at home and at the same time learning a new language is a great convenience. Even those who cannot move around without help and would find going out to a traditional classroom almost impossible can easily stay at home and learn a language from online lessons.

People sometimes live in remote locations where there are not many institutions where they can learn the Russian language. Their lack of proximity from an institute can prevent people from pursuing a course in Russian. For such people, Russian lessons online would come as a real lifesaver. Despite the remoteness of their location, they can still get the best of education by choosing Russian free lessons online.

Learning in all forms has to be integrated with fun. Without mixing fun with learning, any kind of academic pursuit would become dull and boring. So even in the case of learning Russian, if you can do it in a more entertaining manner, then you can easily master the language with a lot less effort. You can play games in Russian that help you get acquainted with many Russian words. You can listen to Russian programs on the radio or watch them on TV. You can get yourself exposed to the language through a number of means, which will help you to learn Russian that much faster.

Russian Made Simple

2010-04-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

Among the Eurasian languages in the world, Russian is probably the most wide spread compared to the rest in the region. Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian are three of the most popular East Slavik languages that remain to this day. Russian is not only spoken in Russia, but also in many regions outside of its borders. Russia is a dominant force in the realm of science and technology. Therefore, the country comes out with a huge amount of scientific papers on a wide variety of scientific topics. The output from Russia is so great that it is estimated that almost one-fourth of the scientific literature of the whole world is written and documented in the Russian language. United Nations has also considered Russian as an official language among five other languages, which further highlights the importance of Russian in the world scenario.

Having been a super power for so many decades, Russia has been able to popularize its language and culture and make it familiar to the rest of the world. Russia has also held a pivotal role in influencing world politics over many decades. Its technological progress in the realm of space and electronics has helped it to spearhead innovation in many areas and also keep pace with other leading nations in other areas. The relevance of the Russian language to the rest of the world is an important factor in many respects. There are so many companies from various other countries that do business with companies and government organizations in Russia. The knowledge of Russian is extremely essential for those people in order to communicate well with people in Russia. There are also a number of students that come to Russia to do their higher studies. Since the medium of instruction is mostly Russian in many of the educational institutions, it is extremely important for those students to learn Russian for their academic pursuits.

Russian has many similarities with many of the dialects that are spoken in regions around the nation. For instance, people in East Ukraine who speak Surzhyk can easily understand Russian because of its various similarities. Likewise, those in Belarus who speak Trasianka would also find Russian extremely easy to understand. Most of these dialects have their roots in the Russian language, from which each of them have sprung up and diversified independently. Therefore, a lot of people around Russia would also find Russian quite easy to speak because of the similarities in dialects. In fact, before the Soviet Union was dismantled and a number of small countries were a part of the USSR, the strongest unifying factor was the fact that all these nations spoke some form of a dialect of Russian and could therefore understand each other without much of a problem. Although the popularity and use of the Russian language declined from its previous level after the dismantling of the Soviet Union, the language still has a strong influence on the culture and life of people in neighboring countries around Russia. Russian is still the language of choice for any kind of discourse given in the region.

According to the Defense Language Institute, which is situated in California in the US, Russian is a level 3 language in terms of difficulty. This has sometimes deterred people from attempting to learn Russian. Just the thought of tackling a level 3 language seems to put people off. The dissimilarity of Russian from other European and western languages also has been an influencing factor against people who have wanted to learn Russian.

A number of countries around Russia have however continued to speak Russian. For instance, almost 67% of the people in Estonia speak Russian. Even in Latvia, almost one-third of the people speak Russian. This has led to the debate whether the country should still use Latvia as an official language when so many people speak the Russian language. It should be noted that so many people would not be using Russian if it were a difficult language to deal with. The very fact that so many countries still speak Russian despite their own native tongue being different testifies to the fact that the Russian language is indeed not very difficult to learn. It also highlights the fact that Russian is a beautiful language with its richness and variety.

Fast Ways to Learn Russian

2010-04-22T16:56:00.001-07:00

Russia is a rich country in more ways than one. Its natural resources, its technological power, its beautiful country scape and its warm people are all assets of the country which makes it truly rich. The Russian language is also a very rich and antiquated language with much tradition and cultural depth to it. If you learn Russian, you can truly enjoy and savor the richness that the land has to offer its visitors. Since many ethnic groups of people inhabit the land, there is so much variety to the culture and tradition of Russia that is truly amazing.

Russia is part of the BRICS nations, which include Brazil, India and lastly China. Russia has an enormous amount of oil reserves, which has been an important factor in its development. This has helped it to not depend too much on the Middle East nations for its oil supplies unlike many of the western nations like UK and the US. The relative independence has enabled Russia to remain economically stable despite price fluctuations that sometime drastically affect other nations that rely on the Middle East for their oil needs.

Russia is also famous for its space programs. In the early 60s, it was in a fierce competition with the US to put the first man on the moon. Russia was the first country to put the first man in space. And it was only second to the US in getting its own cosmonauts to the moon and back safely. Much of the technological developments made for the space program have also aided in research that contributed towards many civilian projects as well. Despite its severe cold weather in many regions within its borders, Russia has been able to spearhead space technology neck and neck with the US.

The Russian language is also a very well developed and rich language. It is however a lot different from many of the other languages popular in Europe. People who are conversant with English or French might find Russian a little strange to listen to or speak. Even the Russian alphabets look a lot different from many of the Latin-based languages that are popular in the world today. However, it has many of the common features that are shared by most languages. For instance, Russian is read and written from left to right like most of the European languages. The grammar and syntax of the language also follows the same rules of most languages.

There have been literary and philosophical greats throughout history like Leo Tolstoy who have made the Russian language popular through their works. Their philosophical ideas have also revolutionized the lives of people in many nations. There are also others like Anton Chekov, the short story writer who has influenced contemporary society through light stories, which bring out the beauty of the Russian culture in their stories. Anton Chekov has also written a number of poems in Russian that are popular throughout the whole world.

The Russian people are very proud of their country and the variety of cultures that span across their vast land. Although Russian spearheaded communism and socialism during the middle and latter part of the last century, it has leaned more towards and market economy resembling the western nations after much of the economic reforms brought about by Mikhail Gorbachev. Ever since, the nation has opened up to outside influence in many spheres including western culture and arts.

You can learn Russian easily in a few simple ways. You just need to listen to Russian audio lessons on your portable player like an iPod or CD player over and over again. All of us can unconsciously memorize anything that we listen to, over and over again. You might have noticed that when you listen to a song a few times, you automatically pick up the lyrics without much effort. You never have to consciously make an effort to memorize the words. They easily get into your mind even before you can realize it. In the same manner, you can learn a language easily by repeatedly listening to someone talking the language.

If you make it a point to consistently listen to Russian lessons from an audio program, then you will be able to learn the Russian language without any effort on your part.

Learn Russian - Fast And Efficiently

2010-04-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

People’s mindset has a lot to play in the process of learning a language. If they assume that a language like Russian is difficult even before they get started, it can sometimes become a stumbling block to the learning process.

There are many things that could be a little difficult to learn in life. But that need not stop us from mastering it. If we can put our heart and our mind towards achieving a goal, we can surely be successful in any endeavor. Language is one of the many things that people sometimes find difficult to master. Especially a language like Russian can be more like Greek and Latin to most people. But the very same rules of diligence apply to learning languages as well. You can learn Russian if you put your heart and soul to it.

People’s mindset has a lot to play in the process of learning a language. If they assume that a language like Russian is difficult even before they get started, it can sometimes become a stumbling block to the learning process. On the other hand, if they begin with a more open-minded approach, which leans towards a positive outlook, then even a difficult language can be mastered relatively easily. This is not to mean that Russian is a difficult language to learn. But there is a general perception that learning Russian is difficult due to various false notions. These can be effectively countered by taking a more neutral approach towards the goal of learning the Russian language.

Every language is at first a little queer, especially to people who are totally unfamiliar with it. The same would be true for Russian as well. At first, the language might sound strange. The alphabets and words might look alien as well. The unfamiliarity of the language alone can make a person feel uncomfortable with Russian to begin with. But this is something that should be anticipated when dealing with anything new for that matter. Whenever we are confronted with the task of learning anything new, we would most likely have the same reactions. So we should be surprised if we don’t feel this way when attempting to learn Russian. Therefore, if the task of learning the language looks daunting, then you can rest assured that you are on the right track!

One of the main hurdles to learning Russian is its lack of commonality in tone with other Western or European languages. The pronunciation of many of the words can also be difficult to people who are only used to speaking English. The Russian language lays stress on consonants in various words, which makes it sound different. While westerners pronounce “R” in a more muddled accent, in Russian you need to really stress the “R”. That is probably because Russian starts with “R”. The tongue really needs to vibrate along the roof of the mouth to pronounce correctly the Russian “R”. At first, this might sound very strange and even rude, but once you overcome the newness of it, it will become much easier to pronounce words that have an “R” in them.

You need to remember that you may not be able to find many similarities between Russian and other languages that have evolved from or are related to Latin. But this need not scare you if you are new to Russian. All languages still have rules that make them similar to one another. The grammar and syntax for most languages are almost the same, and Russian is no exception. Of course, just memorizing all the rules of grammar could be quite difficult and extremely boring no matter which language you are trying to learn. The best way to learn any language is to begin learning complete sentences that are short and simple. As you learn more of them, you will unconsciously learn the rules of the syntax of the language. Learning Russian or any other language using this method is one of the easiest and most preferable.

There are many resources available to learn Russian. You can learn it through books, tapes or CDs or even by learning Russian lessons online. There are a number of websites on the Internet through which you can learn Russian online free. You can just visit Google or any other search engine and search for Russian free lessons online and you would get a number of good resources to learn Russian online.

You need to however choose a method that is most convenient to you. Some people like reading books. Some like listening to tapes and CDs, while others prefer online resources. So choose a method that you are comfortable with and start learning Russian from today.

Rapid Learning Russian - It Is Possible

2010-04-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

There are many people who like to learn the Russian language, but don’t have a clue as to how to get started. While they have a desire to learn the language they simply don’t know where to start and how to proceed.

When it comes to Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Russian is one of the foremost languages that is spoken in the region. People in Russia as well as many other countries that share their borders with Russia speak Russian. For instance, countries like Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus and many other countries close to Russia speak Russian. With so many countries and peoples of the world speaking the language, the United Nations has made Russian one of its own official languages.

There are many people who like to learn the Russian language, but don’t have a clue as to how to get started. While they have a desire to learn the language they simply don’t know where to start and how to proceed. But when a person is determined and is ready to spend some time and effort in acquiring a new skill such as learning a new language, then it is quite easy for the person to achieve the thing that they have set out to accomplish.

One can learn a new language in various different ways. There is the traditional approach where you can learn Russian by reading books. You can also enroll in classes where they teach people to read, write and converse in Russian. These can be quite interesting as there is an opportunity to meet and interact with people who have a similar interest and love for the Russian language. However, a regular course in an institution can cost money and you also need to have time on your hands to pursue your studies through this traditional approach.

Now that there are a number of online resources available, you can also learn Russian online. There are a number of websites that offer a good number of quality lessons to help you learn Russian. The best part is that most of these online resources are completely free of cost. You can download the Russian free lessons online and start learning the language at your own pace in the comfort of your home. There is no need to pay a fee to download the lessons. This is not to mean that there are no paid resources online however. There are companies that offer lessons for a fee as well, but if you spend the time and effort to search the Internet, you can find a number of good quality sites where you can learn Russian online free. When there are free resources available, it is best to make the most of them, at least as long as they are available free of cost.

Another easy approach to learning Russian is to get access to audio lessons. Since language has to do a lot with speech, it is good to listen to people speak Russian, which is what most of these audio lessons are all about. The instructor usually speaks the words and phrases that you need to learn in a specific lesson and as you hear the lessons over and over again, you would unconsciously begin to get a grasp of the language. Since all of us learnt even our own mother tongue using this method, it is one of the best and easiest ways to learn Russian or any other language for that matter.

You can also hire a private tutor to teach you Russian, but this might turn out to be quite expensive. Since this is a one on one session, where the instructor devotes his or her full time and effort to teach you individually, the fee for individual attention can sometimes be quite high. But the next best thing to hiring a private tutor is to listen to audio lessons because here again, you get to hear the instructor teach you personally and it is more than equivalent to private tutoring. In fact, there are more benefits with audio lessons because you can even pause and replay some of the sections over and over again until you are familiar with the words and phrases covered in the lessons. Audio lessons provide you the facility to do the lessons at your own pace, which is a very convenient way to learn Russian. If you want to retain the lessons well in memory, you can listen to the lessons before going to bed. This will help the material to sink in deep into your mind and help you really absorb the material. This can be one of the easiest and best ways to learn Russian.

Russian History - From Rus to Russian Federation

2010-04-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

The actual forerunner of the Russian state is the principality of Kiev known as Rus. The Viking raiders entered this region from the north and settled here.

The actual forerunner of the Russian state is the principality of Kiev known as Rus. The Viking raiders entered this region from the north and settled here. Scandinavian traders were also part of the people who settled in this region. Other settlers came from Asia as well. The Tartars who were Mongols, when they invaded Moscow in the year 1234 made the Russian slaves. They also invaded Kiev sic years later. So the Russian people have descended from a race of people comprising of the Finnish, the Tartars and the Slavic. AS early as 988 AD, Rus adopted orthodox Christianity.

Modern Russia was born in the year 1480, when it finally broke loose from the yoke of Tartan tyranny. Almost three decades earlier, the other Christian centre, Constantinople had fallen into the hands of the Ottoman Turks, who were Muslims. With connections with the rest of the Christian world cut off, the church in Russia developed independently. Since Constantinople and Rome has already fallen, Russia considered itself to be the new centre for Christianity, the third Rome. It took upon itself the responsibility of uniting the people from the East and the people from the West.

Since Caesar was the ruler of Rome, the new rulers of Russia wanted an equally powerful name. So they came up with the title ‘tsar’. However, Russia was totally cut off from the rest of the world and the major developments that went on in the rest of Europe. The West was experiencing the Renaissance with a number of developments in art, science, agriculture, commerce and economics. People from the middle class where beginning to realise their rights and exercise them. They brought about a number of reforms in society. While there was a flurry of activity in the West, Russia was totally isolated from all the excitement that the rest of the world was going through. This vast and ancient land was basically slumbering under the autocratic rule of the tsars.

The total isolation of the country from foreign influence made the people very strong in the love for their culture and traditions. The only traditions that they were aware of were their own. And they took great care to guard their culture with all their might. Their isolation also engendered a communal spirit where they shared everything with each other and felt a sense of belonging to one another. Lands and property were held in common and controlled by a senior group made of heads of households. All decisions were collective efforts and no single man’s decisions prevailed. Therefore, submission to authority and community living comes freely to the Russian people.

The size of the nation also made it one of the most populous nations of the world. Third only after China and India, Russia was estimated to have a population of almost 300 million according to an estimation in 1990. Almost 70% of this population belonged to the 3 Slavic groups comprised of Belorussians, Ukrainians and of course Russians.

As the new Russia emerges from the collapse of communism, and people are being exposed to western values and sentiments, the people of Russia are still feeling a strong urge to return to their roots. In fact, there has been a great revival in the hearts of people for their own traditions and customs. They are literally rediscovering the beauty and the richness of their ancient land. The various cathedrals, which had been neglected for decades, are now being renovated and opened for worship services. There is a new reawakening in various art forms like art, music and theatre.

All of these wonderful changes can only be truly comprehended by a person who can speak and understand the Russian language. It is however not very difficult to learn Russian. Just like learning any new thing, one can also learn the Russian language with a little effort. There are so many resources available on the Internet with which you can learn Russian free. Since most of these resources are available free of cost, it is extremely beneficial to learn Russian online. When you consider the beauty of the land, the congeniality of the people and the richness of their culture, you can take advantage of the Internet and learn Russian free online in order to truly learn more about Russia.

Russian Traditions - From Older Generations to Younger

2010-04-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

For the Russian people, New Year is one of the most festive occasions of the year. They believe that the year that follows will be as good as the way they celebrate New Year’s Day.

In most cultures, the traditions are usually handed down from one generation to the next with meticulous precision. In Russia too, many of the traditions of the land have been faithfully handed over from the older generation to the younger, who have in turn passed it onto their succeeding generation. In this manner, the traditions from ancient times have been passed from grandfather to father to child in relentless succession. The people of Russia also give a lot of importance to the traditions that they have learnt from their elders. They revere the traditions and faithfully pass it onto their next generation.

Most of the traditions are very evident during the holidays. For the Russian people, New Year is one of the most festive occasions of the year. They believe that the year that follows will be as good as the way they celebrate New Year’s Day. So they take the occasion very seriously and really celebrate in real style. You will see a lavish meal being prepared on the eve of the New Year. A large number of dishes is prepared with duck or goose and stuffed carp. 'Holodets' which is a jellied meat is also one of the famous dishes for the New Year. They also prepare pastries and pies with fillings made from meat or with fruits and vegetables like apple and cabbage. January first is typically celebrated with mushroom soup accompanied by holodets. The pies that are left over from the day before are also brought out and served.

Easter is also a time for various traditions during the celebrations. The Easter egg is painted using hard boiled eggs. Since new life is signified by the colour red, red is the colour mostly used for painting Easter eggs. The Russian people exchange their painted eggs on Easter Sunday as a way of greeting each other during Easter.

Unlike the rest of the world, Russia celebrates Christmas on the 7-th of January according to their orthodox calendar. As usual, a large meal is prepared as family members join together for a great time of celebration. Many of the religious celebrations were officially banned during the Soviet regime. But this did not prevent the people from celebrating their beloved holidays. They however had to celebrate them in secret and not out in the open.

Just like Easter is a time for new life, the birth of a baby in the family is another great time for celebration. As a tradition, the father of the child plants a tree. This is to signify that the child may also grow healthy and strong just like the tree being planted. As the child grows, the child’s birthday every year is another occasion for family members and friends to get together and celebrate. Birthdays are always celebrated in style as it is a joyous occasion and a time to meet and greet each other.

As in all societies, weddings are also a great time of celebration in Russian families. As a tradition, the oldest member of the family removes a religious icon from the wall of the house as the bride and the groom leave the house for the wedding ceremony at the church. When the two kneel together in the church, the senior member of the family blesses the couple with the icon removed from the wall. This is a way of blessing the union with icon so that they might have a long and blessed marriage.

Once the wedding ceremony at the church is over, the fun begins. As a tradition, the newly married couple is then made to play a game where they have to bite a loaf of bread without using their hands. The person gets the largest piece is considered to be the probable leader of the new family. As the couple get back home, the man is supposed to carry his wife over the threshold as in most cultures. The man is also supposed to get a new lock for the house to signify that the happiness of the family will be safe and secure. The most favorite time of the year for weddings in Russia is during autumn. Autumn is a time of gathering in the harvest after a hard season of labouring in the fields. Therefore, the Russian people feel that it is an auspicious time to get married when the barns are full and there is no lack or want.

But in order to really understand the richness of these traditions, you need to learn Russian. You can easily learn Russian free online from many web resources. To really relish the richness of the Russian traditions, you can learn Russian free and savour for yourself the rich cultural heritage of this ancient land.

Russian People - Greeting with a Firm Handshake

2010-04-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Russian people always greet each other with a firm handshake. They also make direct eye contact while greeting. Only when men shake hands with women do they make the grasp a little gentler.

For many generations, the Russian people have lived as agricultural farmers in small villages spread across this vast land. These villages were tightly knit communities where the land was held under a central authority that was composed of several heads of households. Submitting to authority and being accountable to a group is something that comes naturally to the Russian people. They also easily integrate into a group rather than live as individuals. This can even be seen in everyday life quite evidently. If a Russian walks into a restaurant alone, he would head towards a table where there is a group of strangers and eat with them rather than sitting alone by himself in another table. People like to commune and share everything with each other. It is quite common to see strangers comfortably talking to each other. As a result, almost no one will be left feeling alone in any situation.

Russian people always greet each other with a firm handshake. They also make direct eye contact while greeting the person. Only when men shake hands with women do they make the grasp a little gentler. Otherwise, most of the time, it is like a bone-crushing vice grip. It is more common for women to kiss each other, sometimes ritualistically three times in the cheeks.

Russian people almost always have three names – their first name, their middle name and their last name. The first name is the person’s personal name. The middle name is usually a variant of the father’s first name or a patronymic. The last name is a surname or family name. All three names are used when is a formal situation. Friends and acquaintances normally use the first name and the patronymic names. When the relationship is very close, they call each other with their first names.

The Russian people like to give gifts to each other. It is quite common for friends and relatives to give and receive gifts during special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and festivals like Christmas and New Year. When you are invited as a guest to a Russian home, it would be nice to get a gift for the host. It is their formality to avoid the gift, but you need to insist that it is a very small gift and offer it again for them to receive it. Male guests can bring flowers when invited to a home, but you need to avoid the yellow colour. When a couple is expecting a baby, you need to get a gift for the baby only after the baby is born and not before.

Russian people also respect time. So you need to be on time for any meeting, whether formal or informal. When invited to a home, you might need to remove your shoes. You need to be well dressed which is a way of showing respect to your host. The people take good care of their guests and treat them with respect and honour. You can also offer to help the hostess in clearing the table after the meal. She might refuse as a sign of politeness, but you can insist and help them once she agrees.

One of the most important factors to consider while communicating with the Russian people is to be able to speak to them in Russian. Since most of them would not understand any other language than their own, you need to learn Russian at least for the sake of easily communicating with them. Of course, even if you do not speak Russian, you can make them understand what you are trying to say using sign language. They might even be able to understand you based on the context of the situation. But if you really want to understand the people of Russia and really get to know them better, you have to learn Russian in one way or the other.

You can even learn Russian free online. There are very many website on the Internet where you can easily learn Russian online. Learning the language will help you so much to communicate with the Russian people ever more so closely. And when you have the opportunity to learn Russian free, why not make the most of it.

Russian Culture Dates Back to Antiquity

2010-04-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

Russia has a rich culture that dates back to antiquity. The Russian people are extremely proud of their race and culture. They adore many of their poems and songs that eulogise the virtues of their motherland.

Being a vast country with a wide range of ethnic groups living within its borders, Russia has a rich culture that dates back to antiquity. The Russian society is family-centric in nature where all the members of the family play a vital role in the family’s welfare. Since two or three generations of family members share an apartment or home in most families, there is a lot of interaction between the very young and the very old. Most modern families however try to have just one child per family as the women also have to work in order to support the family. Therefore, they prefer to raise just one child.

The Russian people are extremely proud of their race and culture. They adore many of their poems and songs that eulogise the virtues of their motherland. Most of the people have undergone severe hardships during the development of the nation as a whole. Therefore, they take great pride in having played a vital part in making Russia what it is today. They also have a deep love for their culture and traditions, which they guard very passionately. Although they belong to a wide variety of separate ethnic groups, they still join together as one when it comes to a national identity.

There are 160 different ethnic groups in Russia and they speak about a hundred different languages. According to a census made almost a decade earlier, almost 150 million people spoke Russian. It was followed by Tatar, which was spoken by about 5 million people. Ukrainian came third with almost 2 million speakers. While the official state language is Russian, the individual republics are given the right to have their own native language co-official with Russian. This makes Russian the most widespread language in Eurasia in terms of geography. It is also the most widely spoken language among the Slavic languages. Apart from Ukrainian, Belarusian and probably Rusyn, Russian is one of the surviving members that belong to the East Slavic languages. Russian has its roots in the Indo-European language family.

The ancient Slavs were pagan worshipers and most of the old Russian folklore reflect these beliefs. Slavic mythology is also adopted into epic Russian bylinas. Many of these were also made into animated films or even feature length movies with famous directors directing these movies. Examples are movies like Morozko, Vasilisa the Beautiful directed by Aleksandr Rou and Ilya Muromets, Sadko directed by Aleksandr Ptushko. Russian literature also has adapted many of these fairy tales into its repertoire. Many classical Russian fairy tales have been turned into exquisite poems by eminent Russian poets like Leonid Filatov and Pyotr Yershov. Even the great Alexander Pushkin wrote a number of fairy tale poems that became extremely popular.

Folk music plays a large part in Russian culture. There are specific Russian musical instruments that are used in the rendering of these folk tunes. Some of the folk music instruments include balalaika contrabass, garmoshka, gusli, zhaleika, balalaika, bayan accordion and Gypsy guitar. Many f the classical composers of Russia had been greatly influenced by folk music. Even contemporary popular Russian folk bands like Melnitsa have been inspired the folk music of their land. Even the Red Army choir and many other Russian ensembles use Russian folk songs and national patriotic songs that belong to the Soviet era in their repertoire. Ethnic Russian dances like chechotka, kamarinskaya, khorovod, barynya and kazachok when danced with the folk music of Russia are a treat to watch.

In order to relish the beauty of the Russian folklore and the depth of their literature, you really need to understand their language at least to a certain extent. It is not very difficult to learn Russian. With a moderate amount of effort, you can easily learn Russian free online. Of course, people do feel that Russian is a difficult language to learn. But any language for that matter is indeed difficult to learn in the beginning. But once the initial strangeness of the language is gotten over, it becomes fairly easy to understand the nuances of the language. It is the very same way when it comes to learning Russian. At first, it might be a little strange when you begin. The sounds of the Russian words and sentences might be a little odd. The written script of the language might also look a little queer. But with some consistent effort, you can easily l earn Russian free using many online resources.

Russia: The Unexplored Land

2010-04-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

Russia is still an unexplored land when it comes to most people from the west. Now that the Soviet Union has been dissolved and communism lost its grip on the new independent states, the entire region that came under the Soviet regime is now open to foreign tourists as well as businesses. Russia has so much to offer to people who have never experienced the ancient cultures and the exciting traditions of the land. Right from the isolated villages in Siberia to the regal elegance of St. Petersburg, there is so much to savour from this vast and ancient land.

Although Russia was an extremely wealthy nation, its deep roots in communism kept it fairly isolated from the rest of the world. Its new freedom that came with the dissolution of communism has brought a breath of fresh air to the country. The Russian people now believe that there are tremendous opportunities awaiting them which just need to be tapped and taken advantage of. The raising of the iron curtain has truly opened the eyes of the people to the enormous possibilities that are now available, especially to the younger generation.

While the country is progressing in terms of technology, it is rediscovering its past. The age old cultures and traditions of this vast land is being brought back to life with renewed vigour. A number of ancient cathedrals that have been neglected over a period of time are now being restored and rebuilt. Art and literature are finding a lot of prominence in the life of people once again. The streets are live with music and the markets and street walks burst with colour and life. A whole nation has literally reawakened to the joy of life.

Russia encompasses an extremely vast area of land. Right from the imperial cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg to the small and remote villages in the far reaches of the Siberian wilderness, Russia spans the two continents of Europe and Asia. While the western border of Russia is shared with various European nations, the Eastern border is as close as 50 miles from North America. Over this vast expanse of land lie majestic mountains, lush forests with an incredible variety of wildlife, and large network of rivers, as well as the largest freshwater lake on the planet. Only for the last few years have these wonders from the largest country in the world, been open to visitors from foreign countries.

One of the factors that inhibit westerners travelling to Russia is the lack of widespread knowledge of the English language. Although a few people speak good English, there are a vast number of people who do not understand the language. But to be able to truly understand and enjoy the beauty of the land and its people, you need to learn Russian during your stay in Russia. No matter how much you try to understand the culture and the traditions of the land, unless you speak and understand Russian, you will not be able to truly relish the beauty of the country.

The Russian people are extremely cordial and kind. It will be a pleasure conversing with them and getting to know them personally. You will however not be able to interact with them on an intimate level unless you are able to speak Russian. There are various ways in which you can learn Russian however. There are many resources available where you can learn Russian free of cost. Especially with the advent of the World Wide Web, learning new languages and dialects has become incredibly an easy task.

There are a number of websites available through which you can learn Russian online. Many websites have a series of lessons for beginners. Once you get a grasp of the basics of the language, then you can move on to more advanced lessons that will teach you more complex framing of sentences and advanced grammatical structures. With these extremely useful resources you can learn Russian free online which will in turn help you to converse easily with the Russian people. The time and effort spent in learning the language of the country will be well worth the effort. It will pay rich dividends in the form of great relationships formed with the wonderful people of Russia.

Internet Polyglot is translated to Swedish

2010-04-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

The User Interface is translated now into Swedish. For example, here is how the lesson list looks in Swedish: Lektioner: Engelska-Svenska . Now people who speak Swedish can use the site in their mother tongue.

Improvement on Word Widget - reordering of languages

2010-02-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

Take a look at http://www.internetpolyglot.com/publicWordWidget.html - now the widget has an ability to change the order of the languages that are shown in it. The user can click on the up/down arrows and the languages will go up or down. This information is saved in user's browser and persistent, that is when the same user sees this widget on any other site, the order will be the same as when it was reordered.

Internet Polyglot Facebook Fan Badge on Your Blog, Web Page or On Your Facebook Profile

2010-01-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Are you are real fan of Internet Polyglot? Do you really think that this is one of the best websites for learning foreign languages?

If yes, you should become a fan of Internet Polyglot on Facebook. This is already a great start. You show our your appreciation and we really appreciate it too!

But what's next? A good way to show that you are a fan of Internet Polyglot is to place the Facebook fan badge on either your blog or your web page or on your Facebook profile. And here are some instructions how to do that.

If you want to put the badge on your blog or web site then simply copy the following html code and paste where you want it:

<div style="width: 100%;"><div style="background: #3B5998;padding: 5px;"></div><div style="background: #EDEFF4;display: block;border-right: 1px solid #D8DFEA;border-bottom: 1px solid #D8DFEA;border-left: 1px solid #D8DFEA;margin: 0px;padding: 0px 0px 5px 0px;"><div style="background: #EDEFF4;display: block;padding: 5px;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="top"></td><td valign="top"><p style="color: #808080;font-family: verdana;font-size: 11px;margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;padding: 0px 8px 0px 8px;">I am a fan of</p></td></tr></table></div><div style="background: #FFFFFF;clear: both;display: block;margin: 0px;overflow: hidden;padding: 5px;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="middle"><a style="border: 0px;color: #3B5998;font-family: verdana;font-size: 12px;font-weight: bold;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Internet-Polyglot/190588904560" target="_TOP" title="Internet Polyglot"></a></td><td valign="middle" style="padding: 0px 8px 0px 8px;"><a style="border: 0px;color: #3B5998;font-family: verdana;font-size: 12px;font-weight: bold;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Internet-Polyglot/190588904560" target="_TOP" title="Internet Polyglot">Internet Polyglot</a></td></tr></table></div></div><div style="display: block;float: right;margin: 0px;padding: 4px 0px 0px 0px;"><a style="color: #3B5998;font-family: verdana;font-size: 11px;font-weight: none;margin: 0px;padding: 0px;text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets/fanbadges.php?page_id=190588904560" target="_TOP" title="Create your Fan Badge">Create your Fan Badge</a></div></div>

The badge will look like the following:

I am a fan of

Internet Polyglot

Create your Fan Badge

Super! Now this badge can show everyone who visit your web site or blog that your are a true fan of Internet Polyglot!

Do you have a Facebook profile? Do you want to place this badge on your profile too? this is not so easy unfortunately. For that you'll have to use Profile HTML application. After you go to this page you should click on "Go to application", accept terms and conditions of this application and the follow the instructions on how to place the badge code that is shown above to the profile. After you submit the code, the badge will appear on your profile.

Internet Polyglot API (Alpha)

2010-01-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

Public API reference

develop your own app and interact with us

The Internet Polyglot Application Programming Interface (API) has been created to let users and partners develop applications which can interact with Internet Polyglot. The API returns Internet Polyglot data in a form that can be easily integrated into any application or web site.

The page for Internet Polyglot API is here: http://groups.google.com/group/internet-polyglot-api/web/internet-polyglot-api

Save Fort Ross

2009-09-23T17:53:00.001-07:00

The crisis forced California Government to dramatically cut down the funds for the State Parks and so Fort Ross State Historic Park is now in danger of being closed. We understand that this was unfortunate and hard decision that our lawmakers had to make but Fort Ross is not just "another" typical State Park where you can bring your family for a weekend to relax and grill some sausages - it's part of our American History.

In nowadays American and Russian visitors, volunteers, and helpers come to "Fort Ross", the museum under the sky. The park is open for Cultural Heritage Days and is the point where two cultures interweave naturally. There people from many backgrounds meet, and the relaxed and beautiful site of the open air museum helps to promote understanding between nations.

This place is especially important for the young generation. There are interactive educational programs for children. As a part of the overnight trips at Fort Ross, students, dressed in XIX century costumes, adopt the names of people who lived in the settlement and study this page of local and Russian history through enacting various aspects of the life at this time. American youth get to know more about the different people who lived here; and Russian children who live in America feel their roots and their belonging to the rich Russian culture through Fort Ross.

This is our responsibility to preserve the memory about the people who lived in California before us and to pass this information to our children. Please sign the following simple petition to save this beautiful piece of our history: http://makefortrossnationalmonument.us/index.html

Also here you can Learn Russian - Free Lessons Online.

Swedish is loaded

2009-03-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today Swedish language lessons have been loaded. They are without audio yet but we are going to start working on audio pronunciation as soon as possible.

Ah, by the way, recently we loaded Amharic sounds.

How to do translation for polyglot vocabulary - Instructions

2009-03-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is an article that describes how to do the instruction of Internet Polyglot vocabulary.

You will receive an Excel file, it will contain multiple tabs
First tab is "Lessons" - a list of all lessons
Other tabs are particular lessons
While translating tab "Lessons": each cell contains lesson name and description divided by "|" sign. When you translate - do the same, separate lesson name and description by |. Don't translate word-to-word, make it sound natural for your language. Some humor is useful too.
Individual lesson tabs (ANIMAL, PLANT, etc.). Each tab will have some words in two or more languages. Let's say you are translating to Spanish from English and French. You have to make sure that your translation works both with English and French counterparts. If you can't find a word that corresponds to both of them - skip it, just don't enter anything.
On lessons tabs translation should be precise - use the word that is the best (don't give a line of possible synonyms).
If you don't know how to translate a word - just skip it! It's better to skip it than to give an incorrect translation.
Articles. Most of languages have articles. For example, in Spanish it is necessary to put articles because they indicate the gender of a noun. Decide what article to put in each case (definite or indefinite) according to your language rules.
Adjectives - if your language have different adjective forms for different genders, use masculine form.

Most important rule: if in doubt (i.e. there is no exact translation or there are too many translations) - skip it!

First translate a couple of tabs and send me an intermediate result so that I could verify correctness and give my feedback.

Amharic is loaded

2009-02-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

Huge thanks to our volunteer Lulit for translating our words to Amharic. Amharic, according to Wikipedia, is "is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara. It is the second most spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia."

Also, "Many Rastafarians learn Amharic as a second language because they consider it to be a sacred language, and even the original language."

If you can't see the font, here is a page that can help you: Can't see Amharic font? , for me personally (I use Windows XP and Vista), the following installation worked perfectly: GF Zemen self install

What's next? This Saturday I am going to meet Lulit and record audio for those lessons. Stay tuned!

Widget for Internet Polyglot - Random Multilanguage Word Of The Day

2008-12-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a beautiful widget. You can see it on the right sidebar of this blog. It shows a random word in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish. You can click a speaker icon and hear audio pronunciation of this word in these languages. Click "Next" and see the next random word of the day.

Place it on your website, or your blog, or your Facebook, or in your iGoogle. Even on your Vista sidebar! For that click "Get & Share" at the bottom of the widget and then follow the instructions.

Also give a good rating and post a comment about this widget here.

Hindi Audio

2008-11-28T00:34:00.000-08:00

Hindi audio is recorded, processed and uploaded to the site! Check it out on http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-hi-en

Huge thanks to our long time supporter Baggeroli for organizing and managing this project!

New improvement: Speeeeeed it up!

2008-10-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

The latest version that was deployed on last Friday (October 24) had a very small change - we did some optimization using JAWR https://jawr.dev.java.net/

The results are amazing - the speed of loading of all pages improved dramatically - in most cases by 30-50%.

Enjoy a faster Internet Polyglot - learn foreign languages while playing games!

New version of the site

2008-10-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

Today our team deployed a new version of the site. The main changes are the following:

1) Improved sidebar - didn't you hate it when it was loading for about 5 extra seconds after the page was loaded. So, not anymore. Now he sidebar is loading quickly and the whole page is loading quickly too. Still, in this sidebar you can see the same information as before: your session game score, last played lessons, the champions of gaming.

2) iPoly widget. Now you and everybody can place an InternetPolyglot lessons on your blog or your site! For that go to http://www.internetpolyglot.com/widget.html , select languages that you like to show on your page in the widget, copy the code and paste it on your site or blog. Afte that your blog or site will start showing lessons directly from Internet Polyglot. And it will look like this:

The code for this widget was:

but you can change the languages in this code. For example, if you want to show Spanish-French lessons then simply change wordLanguage and translationLanguage parameters in this code like this:

and the widget will start showing Spanish-French lessons like this:

So please hurry and place this widget on your site or blog, make your visitors happy with playing Internet Polyglot language games!

What's next. The next couple of weeks our main goal becomes speeding up the site. We are going to work on making site's pages loading faster. Especially it's important for the game pages - iPoly gamers, stay tuned!

Three Fun Ways to Learn Italian

2008-04-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

Who says that learning a language has to imply thick glasses, more than 1000 page books and a teacher who punishes you with loads of homework? Well, I believe learning can be fun! You might say “who are you to say that?” well, let’s just say I’m really smart and also lazy: I want maximum results with minimum effort. Trust me; you will WANT to read about these easy, fun methods of learning Italian!

1. Sing, sing, sing

What’s funnier than seeing all your friends goof around and try to keep up to both music and the lyrics? Well, your learning process has a lot to gain if you make a special Italian karaoke night! Great Italian singers like Laura Pausini, Tiziano Ferro, Biagio Antonacci, all have very inspired, clear lyrics that are easy to understand and to reproduce – they’re great for your pronunciation and vocabulary! Plus, in karaoke you also get to read the lyrics - improves you reading & writing skills! So, all in all, the Italian karaoke night will be a success both as a party and as a learning lesson.

2. Label everything in your way!

We feel more comfortable around the house, so we assimilate with more ease what we want to learn. Around the house – that’s where we have all the stuff we use on a daily basis. So why not take a pack of post-it notes and a dictionary and write the Italian word for things and label them? For example write “armadio” on a note and stick it on your closet, stick a “frigorifero” note on your fridge or even a “scarpe” note on the shoes you don’t wear as often. And also try to read the notes any time you see them – your family might consider you a loony, but soon enough, they will be proud of you being the only one in the family who speaks the language of DaVinci!

3. Pasta, anyone?

Have you ever considered taking up cooking as a way of getting familiar with a new language? Well, you can start now! Who doesn’t love a good lasagna, some freshly made spaghetti carbonara and of course, the Italian superstar: a ten topping pizza? The Italian kitchen is one of the richest and flavored of all. So, buy a dual-language recipe book or simply buy one in Italian (you will find loads on the internet) and a dictionary, and translate each recipe from Italian into your native language, as you cook it.

This helps you get familiar with the names of fruits, veggies and all sort of groceries and activities (cutting, baking, seasoning etc). Plus you have your belly filled with the world’s most exquisite meals. If you are a man and you’re reading this, trust me: your fiancé will be impressed by the pizza quarto stagioni you prepared for her! It gets your language learning juices flowing and stops your stomach from aching!

These 3 easy and fun steps are just the beginning of your “learning Italian odyssey”, but they will help you remember usual and common words and phrases, taking just a few minutes every day to do it. Once you know the basics, going to an Italian class will give you the professional teaching you need. Your teacher will see to your pronunciation being accurate, and your writing and grammar being close to perfection. But remember, the three methods I showed you above can be paired with your classes, so that you will speak fluent Italian in no time! Tanta fortuna, amico! (Good luck, buddy!)

7 Tips Every Wannabe Polyglot Needs

2008-04-18T01:05:00.002-07:00

Any craft or skill in the world has its pros and amateurs and many times, the difference between the two is not necessarily natural talent, or hard work, it’s knowing the secret ingredient that makes the recipe what it is. Make no mistake about it, language learning is pretty much the same: know the tricks, you win the game. Here’s a collection of 10 useful tips and tricks on language learning for any wannabe polyglots out there:

1. Get Over Mistakes

One of the most annoying drawbacks when learning a language is fear of using it. Whether it’s fear of not spelling something right in an e-mail or letter, fear of sounding funny when speaking it or something similar, you need to get over making mistakes! So what if they occur? It’s the only way you can improve your language skills.

2. Set Yourself Stepwise Targets

Don’t go all out and plan to be proficient in a language, in a certain amount of time. Just take it stepwise, try getting to a basic level in the first few months, then improving your vocabulary in the next, then your grammar, then your speaking and so forth. Break it down into small bits, so you don’t choke on the bite.

3. Get Over Apparent Lack of Progress

Language learning is a flow that may or may not keep a steady rise. You might find yourself stagnating at some points during the process and it’s these that are the hardest to overcome, because you feel like you’re doing nothing apparently. Get over it!

4. Interests First

Are you learning Japanese for business purposes? Or maybe learning Brazilian to be able to communicate with your hot new Brazilian girlfriend? Whichever the purpose, study the language as if you would for that particular reason. Don’t stumble on small mistakes, get those economical Japanese terms so you can have a basic conversation, then build up on those.

5. Build a Solid Foundation

Again, if you have a solid foundation you can build up on it quickly and without too much trouble. Get the basic vocabulary down: that’s around 200 words that are commonly used, including common nouns, verbs and adjectives. Once you grab hold of that, there’s really nothing that can stop you.

6. Revisions

Happened to each and everyone of us in school, didn’t it? You learnt some long list of verbs in French class, but when it was time to actually use them the second time around, at the exam, you forgot them. That’s why revisions are always necessary, don’t lie on your back as soon as you’ve gone through the exercises, vocabulary practice or lessons.

7. Have fun While Studying

It’s been scientifically proven that if we learn something while we’re having fun, our brain assimilates that information a lot easier and for a longer period of time. Spice up your language learning habits, play some vocabulary games, maybe use some flashcards, or learn together with a friend. Anything that you deem as fun, is probably going to help you loads.

Finding Motivation to Learn a New Language

2008-04-18T01:05:00.001-07:00

Learning a language is a HUGE job and let’s face it, procrastinator or not, huge projects scare us. Learning a new language is also a long term deal, so there’s really no easy way out of this: you’ll have to buckle up and roll with the punches. There are however a couple of tips and tricks that a lot of people use in order to find that motivational spark to language learning and I’m going to try and share them with you in the next few minutes.

Taking Things One Step at a Time

Whenever we take up on a huge job, it seems a little bit easier to do if it’s broken down into several parts. It might just be an illusion, because after all, the time and effort invested in the smaller parts will probably be equal to what you would invest if you would run the project heels to head, but it’s how our mind works and it’s how motivation gets pumped up. Imagine a language as a…sandwich. You have your bread, your mustard and ketchup, your baloney layer and of course, the tomatoes. In terms of a language, that’s vocabulary, grammar, spelling and speaking. Take your time to prepare each of these ingredients before even daring to drool about the sandwich itself.

Picking up Words from Your Environment

Chances are the language you’re learning is a somewhat popular one on the international stage and there’s plenty of opportunities to pick up new words and expressions from around you. Movies of course, are a great inspiration for French, Spanish, German and Italian. Wanna learn some Italian? Pop in The Godfather and try to repeat what the characters are saying (granted, you’re probably going to utter some nasty words). How about German? Well, pretty much any World War 2 movie will feature some native Germans speaking (Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan come to mind). And the examples could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. Yes, TV can dumb up people at times, but it can also help you turn into an efficient polyglot.

Motivational Posters!

Some people trying to lose weight will place motivational posters in or around their fridge with stuff like “No Cake for You Today!” or “Taste lasts for an instance, fat lasts FOREVER!”, etc. Well, although it’s an extreme method, it works. Maybe make a couple of posters saying “Have your learned your 5 new words today?” or whatever you find motivational. Trust me, as stupid as it sounds, it’s an effective way to make yourself feel guilty about not learning the language you’re aiming for :). Good luck!

How to Read and Write in Chinese

2008-04-18T01:04:00.003-07:00

Definitely not the easiest of languages to learn, for us westerners, but Chinese is becoming an increasingly influential language member on the international stage, so whether we like it or not, we’re pretty much forced to take a look at it. True, not everyone needs to learn Chinese for business purposes for example, but there are people that are fascinated with the Chinese culture and would like to learn how to read and write in Chinese. Others simply want to take up on a hard language to test their skill, or to prove themselves true polyglots (some linguists say that you’re not a true polyglot, unless you learn a language that’s completely different from yours – as is the case with Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and so forth, for us westerners).

Actually, the US State Department made a survey and ranked language by difficulty and as it turns out, Chinese (its Mandarin branch actually) is the toughest language to learn for an English-speaker, on a list of over 100 languages. So if you’re really set on learning this language, know from start that it won’t be easy.

One of the problems in learning Chinese is obviously, its system of characters. This is sometimes wrongfully filed as an alphabet. Chinese characters don’t form an alphabet, instead each word has its own specific character, made up of straight, curved and jagged lines and dots. There are over 50,000 of these characters, so you have a titan’s work ahead of you.

One of the worst problems we face when learning Chinese symbols is that we try to memorize each word by hard, which is a rather silly and unproductive tactic. When we grew up as kids, no one forcefully made us learn all the words in our vocabulary, we assimilated most of these words naturally, taking them out of their content. This is how you should learn how to interpret Chinese characters, because they’re not just random patterns of lines and dots, they’re actually very carefully constructed and the symbols can be understood from the context after a while.
Sure, some symbols are very similar and you may have problems confusing them for one another, which is where practice kicks in. No real way to go around this problem, other than sheer practice, or carrying around a character dictionary with you all the time. It’s also understandably a good idea to start off with characters that are written in a clean, clear fashion, so as not to spur any additional confusion.

Writing the Chinese vocabulary symbols should not be taken for granted, even if you are somewhat skilled in deciphering them. It takes a steady hand and again, a lot of practice to get all characters right, much like it took you to learn how to write alphabetical symbols as a kid (of course, you only had to learn 35ish characters, not 50,000). Good luck, you’ll need it :)

How to Read and Write in Chinese

2008-04-18T01:04:00.001-07:00

Learning French Subliminally - For & Against

2008-04-18T01:02:00.000-07:00

The human nature is designed so that whenever we want something, we want it as soon as possible so when we want to learn a language, like French in our case, we will want to learn fast and at least at an intermediate level, right? I will talk to you about three different methods of learning French and some for and against tips.

Learning French the subliminal way is based on the theory that our brain is capable to receive information even when it’s not aware of receiving it. In other words, the brain learns subconsciously. The subliminally learning of French can be done in two ways: the first is that you will listen to a CD. Probably playing music, as music relaxes you brain and creates the perfect climate for receiving information. Behind the music, there will be inserted different words and phrases in French, words that you will not perceive with your conscious brain, but you will sure receive in you subconscious .This means that they first compress the information digitally and then insert it on the CD.
The second method is text messages, bright colored images or watermarks that are either embedded in texts about any either subject than learning French, or images move around so fast that the naked eye does not see them, but in fact they send a strong message to our brain.
PRO: I tend to believe this method for I was always the kid in the last row who never listened to the teacher talking (I used to draw, draw, or just … draw as I got bored) but always got straight A’s. I tend to believe my brain perceived the information even if I was not paying any attention to the conversation going on in class.

Another pro I see for the subliminal learning of French is that you get to learn while you are doing other things. Fox example you can cook, drive, enjoy a cup of coffee, clean the house, while you are listening to the CD with subliminal messages in French. Convenient, isn’t it? Plus, remember that our subconscious works even while we sleep, so it should work for you to do what you want all day long and save the night for learning French – you go to sleep playing the CD.
AGAINST: there are no studies which actually prove this theory, even if you will find on the internet several site promising you will learn French quickly, without any effort. Ok, I believe that our subconscious is awake all the time and that we can pick up information unwillingly and insert it into our conscious, but we have no guarantee it works for everyone and definitely no guarantee that is an easier or faster method that any other.

Plus, you don’t get to practice grammar, reading comprehension, pronunciation, spelling etc. So, is there any use for learning random words and phrases?

To end it in a funny way, I must ask: do you remember that episode of Dexter’s Lab when Dex falls asleep listening to his CD for subliminally learn French, and the CD keeps skipping so in the morning all he can say is “omlette du fromage” ? Well, if you do choose this method, make sure the CD is ok, will you?

Learning French Outside the Classroom

2008-04-16T16:59:00.000-07:00

No matter how interesting, structural and organized are the French classes you take, sometimes you just need a break, you need to be able to smile while you’re learning, relax and even have fun. Nowadays, our good buddy – the Internet – can provide several ways for doing that.

Play the games you love, but do it in French. Most of the games you can use for practicing your French are simple ones, like crosswords or hangman. As simple as they are, they can prove very efficient for your writing skills, vocabulary and comprehension. But there is also another option: change the language menu of the games you play more often from English to French (admittedly, not all games are bilingual) – this will help you get familiar with different words and phrases. Plus, if you play online games (like Lineage II), talk to you fellow players that are French in their native language! It's really some awesome, hands-down practice of your French language.

Another way to ractice your writing and comprehension skills by joining a chat room online. With one simple search on the internet you will find French chat rooms on any subject. There are beginner speakers and advanced ones, native speakers or even teachers, and they will all help you improve. It is ok to tell everyone from the start what your level is in French so they know where you need improvement. Plus, if you have an interest in the subject talked about in the chat room and you have studied it in your native language before, it will be easier to pick up meanings and words.

Find a French speaker friend and start a ‘language exchange’ program. This means you should find a native French speaker who wants to improve his English and make a sort of an agreement: you teach each other French and English. This will help in every aspect of learning a new language: comprehension, reading, writing, pronunciation. Plus you improve your social life buy having a new friend! This method can be efficient as long as you both have a little bit of knowledge of the other’s language and also a bit of teaching skills, right? Because what’s the use of being a native speaker if you are not able to pass your knowledge to your “student”?

We spend most of our time on the internet so why not begin taking online courses or play a CD for improving your listening and pronunciation? I personally prefer learning a language this way, for I am pretty busy and I spend most of my day in the car. So I’ll just play my French-learning CD and repeat after it “red – rouge”, “boy – garcon”, “small – petite”. The only disadvantage I see for this, is that I can’t advance in my writing skills, for I only listen, comprehend and pronounce. For this, every night, I take 10-15 minutes to go over the lesson I heard in the car and write all the words in it. It sure helps a lot!

The online French courses usually consist of short lessons which are very explicit and focused on the essentials. Plus you get to write, read and listen to French in it’s most correct state, you learn grammar and writing, not only spoken skills.

Of course, the funniest way to take the learning process of the French language outside of the class room is to take it into the great wide open! Visit France, visit Paris, pick up words along the way, find a French fiancé, eat baguettes with Brie Cheese, enjoy a piece of tarte au citron (lemon pie) and just have fun, every moment of it! You'll literally feel your French get pumped up with each day that catches you on French soil.

If you read this and you still feel like going to class, c’est la vie, mon amie! (that’s life, my friend) you’re no fun at all!

Learning German Through Traveling

2008-04-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

Let's be honest: German is not the easiest language to learn, in fact, despite the similar roots to the English language, German won't be a walk in the park even for the most experienced polyglots. But this doesn’t mean that you cannot do your best to improve your conversational skills at least. Even if you are not able to write very good, because it’s indeed complicated, we will try to give you some hints on how to be able to have a conversation in German.

I strongly believe that the easiest way to improve your German language is to plan a trip over there! Germany is a great place to visit, there are some wonderful things to see: castles, gothic churches and domes, historical sites and so on. Once there, don’t be afraid to use your conversational guide and start pumping up your vocabulary.

Germans will honestly appreciate your effort to talk in their own language (even if you may mess up every now and then) and they will help you so that you get the right pronunciation or will teach you new words to improve your vocabulary. One of my funnies days spent in Germany was when we visited The Village Titisee, in the Black Forrest Mountains. There was a group o students singing around the fire, when they understood I was really doing my best to learn German, they wrote me the lyrics of the song so that I could sing along. It was not only funny but a good lesson of reading and pronunciation. And you know what they say, when you have fun learning something, it sticks!

Also, traveling in Germany will give you the opportunity to converse with a native speaker. The advantages for this are multiple: not only they tell you the proper way to pronounce words, but they give you immediate feedback, so that you don’t perseverate in your mistakes. Plus, it’s a known fact: learning along with people is a far better way then learning by yourself, while reading a book. The social aspect of learning is important for it relaxes you and creates the proper climate to assimilate new language. Besides, you won’t find the slang and the colloquial usage of German inside the conversational guide, will you?

In order to improve your reading skills, I strongly advise you to read and type the text that you encounter. Since you’re traveling and visiting all sorts of locations, take the opportunity to read directions, info panels, brochures on all the sites. I remember I was so willing to learn German, that I ever read the door signs. I still remember the “druken” for push and the “zien” for pull on the door of each shop. Never let any detail slip by you, it's the only way you can truly increase your German vocabulary.

Last, but not least, remember that your trip is not just a study tour, but also a holiday, so try to relax as much as you can, don’t ever be embarrassed to talk in German and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Each one of us needs to make mistakes in order to learn by correcting them. Always remember how easy it is, for a prescholar, to learn a foreign language! Because he is not ashamed to mispronounce, because he repeats words exactly as the teacher says them (your teacher for the trip is any native speaker you meet) and because he has a lot of fun during the whole learning process.

In order to make the whole lesson fun, don’t forget to sing the world renowned preschool song and do your best to understand them:
“Ich bin Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil.
Komm aus Ägypten, das liegt direkt am Nil.
Zuerst das ich in einem Ei,
dann schni-,schna-,schnappte ich mich frei”

Learning Spanish for Everyday use

2008-04-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

First of all, let’s get things straight: most of us don’t want to learn Spanish so that we can get a career in politics, so that we become good public speakers or for writing sensible and deep poetry. No, we want to learn Spanish in order to COMMUNICATE. Spanish is the second spoken language in the US, so why not try to get along with our Latin fellows?

As I said, I will try to give you a few tips for learning Spanish so that you understand what people talk to you about and even try to give a pertinent answer.

First of all, don’t forget to read the labels of the products you use. Most of the products, whether they are cosmetics, cleaners, food, clothes, have a bi-lingual label, so that it is very easy to associate words or phrases and understand their meaning. The more various the products, the more you learn words from different categories. Fox example, on the label of a cleaner, you will read in English “grease-cutting formula / long lasting fragrance” and underneath the same phrase in Spanish “formula corta grasa / fragrancia duradera”. On all sort of products you will find some words that are very useful to us all “no se deje al alcance de los ninos” (keep out of the reach of children).

Once you get a few basic words, try to use them as often as you can and don’t be afraid to use them in public. For example, when you go out to eat to a Latin fast food (like El Pollo Loco) try to order your meal in Spanish. Even if you don’t get the right pronunciation or you don’t get the grammar right – most of the employees are Latin and will help you get the pronunciation right. You should know Latin people are very friendly and willing to teach you their language!

And to prove how nice Latin people are why not joining a Latin group over the internet? Don’t forget they already speak both English and Spanish so they can understand everything you say and will help you in every aspect of the learning process: reading comprehension (they will know you don’t understand when you don’t laugh at good joke), spelling (a Latin girl will always correct you when you don’t spell “mamacita” right) and pronunciation (it’s Pedrito, not Pedro, ok?).

Who doesn’t love Latin music? If you are a man, you must like Shakira and for the ladies, you must love Alejandro Sanz, don’t you? The best thing about artists like Shakira, is that beside their great music, they have albums in both languages – “Oral Fixation Vol.2” and the Spanish version “Fijacion Oral Vol.1”. This way you will better understand al the lyrics and learn a whole bunch of new words that will permanently improve your vocabulary! Plus you get to have fun and learn to do Shakira’s belly dance!

And last but not least: go out, make new friends! I bet that at least one of your co-workers is Latin and if you ask politely, will agree to teach you a few words and tips, or better yet, you get to practice conversation, with the advantage of being corrected any time you pronounce something wrong. It's really the best way to learn Spanish, by practice.

So, these are my advices for now, and if you read them closely you will see they are not only practical, but also fun. Just try them, one at a time, and you will see that step by step, your Spanish will improve.

Organize you own Spanish classes

2008-04-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

First of all, do we really need an introduction to explain why we would like to learn Spanish? The answer is really simple: it is the second most spoken language in the US and one of the most spoken around the world! So let us get down to business and I’ll try to explain how to use these simple methods for learning Spanish without taking long and boring classes!

First of all, you need to ORGANIZE your study! You must decide how much time a day or a week you want to spend studying and at the begging of each week, you must also decide the topic for that particular week. Always make sure you pick a topic which is interesting enough to keep you fully awake and attentive and also a topic that you can use later. What’s the point in choosing “nuclear chemistry” if you are a dentist?

Once you made up your mind on the subject, try to figure out a way for practicing and improve each one of the following: comprehension, reading comprehension, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, writing.

To improve your comprehension of Spanish native speakers, try a quick search on youtube for some bits of “telenovelas” (the Spanish word for soap operas) and you will surely find ones with subtitles. Try to just listen to the conversation and write some ideas you heard there. Then play the video again, reading the subtitles, and see how much you really understood. Always look up in the dictionary the word you didn’t understand, write them down and repeat them a couple of times. This method also improves your vocabulary and pronunciation, for you can play the video over and over again, until you say the word in the right way.

If you want to work on your vocabulary, there are also many sites which have words in Spanish divided in categories such as “words to describe physical appearance”, “list of human body vocabulary” and many more. So choose a category for each day of your study, read the words in both English and Spanish, write each one of them a few times, read them out loud. This is good for vocabulary, reading, pronunciation. If you can’t find such a site (I doubt it, but still) you can chose a category, for example “words relating clothes”, make a list of all the words you can remember in English and use a dictionary to translate them in Spanish.

As far as the grammar is concerned, you will find in any library, as well as online, several books and e-books on “how to Learn Spanish without a teacher”. These books explain simple grammar rules and you can take one lesson at a time.

In order to make your classes at home more fun, invite over a friend who also wants to learn Spanish and work together on this. Your conversational skills will be greatly improved, you can have immediate feedback on any mistake you make and last but not least, you don’t get to talk to the walls, alone!

No matter which one of the methods you chose for organising the classes on your own, remember that at the begging of each one, you must take a few minutes to review the last class’s information so that it sticks to you. And let us not forget: don’t be afraid to give yourself homework and minus Ds when you fail in completing them. For this, you might need a friend, as we said, so you won’t do it all by yourself and you will be more motivated. Well, good luck and remember to relax – learning Spanish, as learning any language, is a long process that must be conquered one class at the time!

The Best Language Learning Practices - Divide and Conquer

2008-04-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

The Roman Empire’s battle philosophy was that no war should be fought heads-on, but rather the territories that were about to be conquered, or the forces that were about to be taken on should be divided and conquered separately. Well, language learning might not necessarily be a war, but it’s definitely a battle with a force to be reckoned with. Many people quit after the first months, or even weeks after starting a language course, because they’re overwhelmed by the complexity of this task. Obviously, it can and WILL get overwhelming if you take a language heads-on, that’s why the Roman tactic of divide et impera is a great way to get a hold of it.

First off, you should break down the language you’re trying to learn in components. Not all languages will have the same components and not all components will have the same difficutly. For example, learning Japanese will obviously have more elements than learning French, because you’ll have to learn the alphabet, gender structure and writing style in addition.

Some common language components include:

Grammar – the glue that keeps a language together. Learning grammar is a structured process and leaves less room for natural assimilation.

Common Nouns – A good part of a language’s alphabet is made of common nouns. People only use around 10% of a language’s vocabulary and most of these are nouns: common nouns.

Common Phrases – this part of the vocabulary is something that could really get you started in a new language. Oftentimes, we start our learning process by memorizing simple phrases like “hi, how are you”, “thank you”, “what’s the time?” and the likes.

Numbers – numbers are another good way to start off and they have the advantage of being memorized in a particular order, making them easier to remember, through association.

Alphabet – even sister languages might have alphabet differences and it’s important to learn of these small variations right off the bat. Obviously, trying to learn german and it’s few new letters won’t be nearly as tough as learning Russian, or Chinese; languages with a completely different alphabet, with completely different sets of rules.

So, take each of these components one step at a time and handle them individually and you’ll notice it makes a world of difference. The trick is that while learning one individual component, you’ll also be practicing several others, so you’re attacking your objective on several levels. Good luck, soldier!

March 2008: New Release - Game Improvements

2008-03-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

We've just deployed a new version of the web site. The main changes are in the Games:

- now games play sounds - you can control if you want them to be played or not
- now games show images
- a new mix game - mixing guessing, matching and typing games
- a system of hints
- now you can see the last played lessons and start them again after a while
- now you can login during the game without having to go to the login page

Don't forget that it's better to be a registered user of Internet Polyglot because in this case the program will be able to save results of your games in the database and show you the words that you know worse more often.

Enjoy your staying with Internet Polyglot! Happy language learning!

Misha

P.S. If you see any problems with this new version or with the site - please post a message on the forum.

How I Learned English

2008-02-25T20:39:00.000-08:00

By Kate Z.

First time I started learning English I was 11 years old. Then I was at 4th grade of a secondary school in Obninsk, Russia.

I don't remember my first English teacher. I suppose she didn't do a very good job. She taught us for several years but apparently we didn't know English after that.

In 7th grade I started working with a private teacher, coming once a week to her home for one-hour one on one lessons. That was very intense and efficient but I had to do a lot of homework and reading and formal writing. Most of the exercises were from that one text book everybody knew - it was very reliable but no fun. I was also reading abridged books like The Quadroon by Thomas Mayne Reid and had to write down all idioms and learn them by heart. At the time I wished I was reading something more modern - and something about teenage girls or boys.

When I was taking exit exam at high school I knew English good enough not to take any time to prepare when I got my assignment and English texts to translate - I went straight ahead with my translation and speech and got my straight A.

Then in college I had to take English again - but it was mostly translation of very technical books and articles. We didn't get to speak English at all. So after graduating I knew how to write in English and translate from it but speaking and understanding from listening English speakers was almost non-existent.

During my first job after graduation I attended one of those so called intensive English courses where we at last had fun: we played games, sang songs, did inventive exersises in small groups, tried on different roles - and adored our teacher. The effect was tremendous and I understood that was the way to learn a language. But it was hard to find good courses like that and expensive too - although I tried many. I remember one of the best pieces of advice I got at that time: If you don't remember a word (or don't know it in English) - don't stumble upon it, you can always rephrase the sentence, say it differently, using the words you know.

Polish Audio Is Ready

2008-01-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

Polish Audio is ready. Visit Polish Lessons and enjoy Polish pronunciation! Huge thanks to Baggeroli for making it happen!

Turkish Audio is Ready

2008-01-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

Hello my dear Internet Polyglotters!

For those who are learning Turkish: audio is ready. Go to any Turkish lesson, like this http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-4904301145 , scroll down to the list of words and click on the "Play" icon next to any Turkish word.

Enjoy!

5 Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary

2008-01-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

I won’t give you the whole “each word in a language’s vocabulary is a brick that works towards building up the entire structure” kind of speech again (I did it in another post on the blog), but I have to emphasize on the fact that without a proper vocabulary base, it’s a lot harder to learn the other components of a language: grammar, syntax and even spelling and pronunciation. Since a lot of modern courses and exercises (including some that you can find on www.internetpolyglot.com ) focus on vocabulary so intensely, I thought about making a list of 5 of the most important techniques that you could use to increase your word count and make your vocabulary in a foreign language flourish.

Repetition

Our memory can be quite a rudimentary process at times and the only way we can get things (literally) in our head is by repeating them over and over again. Repetition can be helpful for assimilating harder words that you wouldn’t be able to pick up from context in a sentence, or if you’re using the phonebook method (having a list of words that you want to learn and trying to memorize them top to bottom).

Contextual Assimilation

Whenever you read a text in a foreign language that you’re studying and you find a word that you don’t understand, try to pick up its meaning from the context it’s placed in. The same process can be put to work when watching a TV show in that particular language.

Personal Relevance

Our memory, again, works in very mysterious was sometimes. It seems that the memory has an internal parsing process that blocks out information that is not personally relevant. For example, if you’re not especially interested in koala bears, watching a show on Discovery about them won’t allow really get you a lot of information, because the subject is not personally relevant. However, seeing Rex Hunt’s Fishing Adventures (with you being a huge fishing fan) will stock in a lot of information on the subject because, you guessed, this time it’s personally relevant. If you can make words personally relevant, you’ll also learn them better. This is where association and mnemonics kick in.

Visual Imagery

We store information a lot faster if it is transmitted to us via a visual signal than if it’s written or heard. Some may argue that in fact writing makes use of visual memory, since the characters you use in writing are graphical symbols. True, but it’s better if you associate words with objects that can be traced with more ease. Use flash cards if needed with this learning technique.

Word Games

Did you know that children learn words almost 30 times faster than an adult? That’s because children, at an early age, are actually “forced” to learn new words, in order to communicate. Obviously, as an adult, this need slowly fades away, which also degrades the word assimilation process. In order to hasten up your language learning, you could try and go back to being a kid and play some word games. These include puzzles, translation games, scrabbles and many others. You can find a lot of these fun word games at www.internetpolyglot.com .

Best Languages to Learn as an English Speaker

2008-01-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

I’ve read some authors that bragged about how they can learn any language they set their minds to, regardless of cultural background, in a matter of months. While this seems unreasonable solely on the fact that it’s impossible to actually KNOW a language in that short a time span, the most outrageous fact that they claim is that they can learn languages at the same pace, regardless of what they’re actually learning. This means that in a few months, you could learn French and in that amount of time you could also learn Chinese. This is a rather silly thing to say come to think of it, since any language that isn’t at least related to English, not to mention having its own alphabet, scripts and specific grammar rules, will be tough as hell.

Ok, so we’ve established that languages like Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Arabic are hard to learn because they don’t use many of the values that Western languages abide by. But which languages are easiest for an English speaker to learn, in contrast? Let’s take a looksie…

German

German is by far the easiest language to learn if you’re already familiar with English, since the two are closely related, having the same Anglo Saxon ancestry. Many German words are very similar to English ones (haus – house, maus – mouse, etc) which makes it a lot easier to understand the German vocabulary and also pick things up from the context they’re placed in. However, one of the biggest problems with learning German (actually this is probably the ONLY problem) is the word combinations that are usually formed in conversational German. To give you an example of what I’m talking about, here’s one of the longest words in German and its meaning:

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz means “Beef labeling oversight transfer law”. Admittedly, it will be hard to spot the actual words in there (beef = rind, fleisch = meat, etikettier = label, etc) but believe it or not, for a German that actually makes sense. I could hurt your eyes even further with worse examples, but I’ll just keep it at that.

French

Well French is considered a language that’s easy to digest by many cultures, not just by English speakers. French has a lot of influences from English but in turn, it influences it back. The numerous wars between France and England throughout history sparked this cultural exchange. Although English has an Anglo-Saxon background and French is mainly a Latin language, there’s still a lot of resemblance in the two, as they share the same language layer created by nomadic tribes like the Celts or Gaels.

Spanish

Spanish might not have that much in common with English as the above mentioned languages, but it’s easy to learn because it’s an international language that can be picked up from the TV, music and newspapers. In addition, if you’re an American, you’ll have a lot of Spanish-speaking neighbors that you can engage in conversations with and that will help you out when learning this new language.

How to Learn French the Easy Way

2008-01-15T15:23:00.000-08:00

French is one of the easiest languages to learn as an English speaker. Is it? At least that’s what all the experts are saying, but on the other hand, not everything that applies in general is bound to apply to you. Some have it easier learning Japanese than French, simply because they can’t stand the language’s “softness”. If that’s not your cup of tea, then I suggest that you step off the French course and hop on to a Russian or German one, as those languages are definitely tougher and more rigid.

One of the first things you need to do in order to learn French properly is immerse yourself in the language. By spending more and more time reading in French and listening to French words, your brain will automatically try to mimic the informational input that it’s getting. Just like a baby, you’ll need to adapt to the new language, memorize the words and try to reproduce them. Can you say Ma-Ma? Don’t worry, you’ve been through this process before when you were a child and although adults lose their ability to learn languages as they grow older, you’ll still have the advantage of being there before.

From a grammatical point of view, French is not all that much different from English or any Western culture language (Latin or Anglo Saxon). Just like with German, French and English have several look-alike and sound-alike words, called cognates. Admittedly, the number of cognates in French is not as big as in German, when relating to the English language, but still, the few that are there make for a good building point.

One of the biggest problems that English speakers stumble upon when learning French is word pronunciation. Like I said earlier, French is a “smooth” language, words are pronounced in a much softer way than in English. It’s usually rather difficult for an English native to adapt to these pronunciation rules, so you’ll require a lot of practice. And don’t be content with the fact that you’re listening to French words being pronounced; you should also voice them out yourself. Don’t worry; no one will think you’re crazy if you talk back to your TV, if it’s for the purpose of learning French.

My suggestion is this: find a great online French course to work with, try it out for a couple of weeks and see where your starting point is. Are you a complete French newb that needs to take things slow in order to understand things? Or are you the type of learner that can skip a few chapters and still learn the language properly. Once you’ve settled this out, you can start with increasing your vocabulary (you can find several methods to do so at www.internetpolyglot.com ) . Good luck!

Accents in Romanian

2008-01-11T18:41:00.000-08:00

A quick update: some our users pointed out that Romanian lessons don't have accents in Romanian words. Now they do! Tudi did the corrections and I uploaded them today to the site.

The 100 Crucial Words

2008-01-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

Reading Tony Buzan’s book, “Using Your Memory” a while back, he mentioned something that I found strange: people only use up to 100 basic words in conversational speech, the rest of them being fillings. The number seemed awfully low, but as the author explained his reasons for reducing this to 100 words, it started to make sense. Truth is, we could get a conversation going with just these words, although not a very good one. These 100 crucial words do not include technical words, adjectives or slang, obviously.

When you’re starting out with learning a new language, these 100 crucial words should be your base point. From there on you can build up on your vocabulary, work on your grammar and polish out your pronunciation, slowly eliminating all the mistakes that can affect your language learning process. But what’s the most efficient method of memorizing these words? Does the phonebook method actually work? Or is it better to try and learn them in context. I’d say both techniques work and both have advantages and disadvantages:

Phonebook Method Pros and Cons

The phonebook method basically has you learning words from a vertical list, just like you would learn the numbers from a phonebook. Each word should have its corresponding translation on the same line and you should read the list by focusing on each word and its translation at a time, for around 10 seconds and trying to push it in your memory.

Usually, language specialists recommend against using the phonebook technique when trying to learn vocabulary, because if you’re dealing with a large list of words, by the time you manage to actually go through the list, you will have already forgotten the words at the beginning. However, seeing how we’re only dealing with a list of 100 words, the phonebook might just work.

Contextual Learning Method Pros and Cons

Learning words by deducting them from their context is a great way to improve vocabulary, but when you’re dealing with such a small word base as the crucial 100, it might be harder to create the context needed. Instead, what you could do is take sentences consisting mostly of words from the 100 list and try to contextually understand the OTHER words.

Both methods work quite well with the list and some people even prefer combining the two for great results. Personally, I find that both have flaws and tend to try and learn vocabulary through more diverse means, but if you think traditional learning methods may apply to you, then the above mentioned techniques should hold most of your focus, at least for the first 100 words.

The CUTE Way of Learning Languages

2008-01-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

In a guide written by Greg Thompson and his family, they talk about 4 main principles that make learning languages a lot cuter. The CUTE technique is called so because the acronym stands for 4 of the most important elements that come into play when learning a new language:

- Communing
- Understanding
- Talking
- Evolving

Let’s see what Greg was talking about and how you can benefit from these CUTE principles.

Communing

Communing refers to working with others towards l earning a specific foreign language. This principle is based upon the belief that a language is not something that can be studied scientifically, but something that can be grown organically and only in collaboration with other flesh and blood people.

I agree that a foreign language cannot always be learnt by reading textbooks. However, while learning organically does have certain advantages, you can easily go overboard and get used to a lot of common mistakes that people usually slide by in conversations.

Understanding

This might seem like a no-brainer (and it is!). Of course understanding what people say will help you learn a language faster. The trick is to “understand” words that you don’t actually understand. Confused yet? What I’m talking about is picking up new words from sentences that you understand and deducing them from their context. For example, if someone says “words are harder to remember because they are long” you will have learnt a new word, by deducing what adjective means from the context. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Just make sure the context processing mechanics are well in place for when it does work.

Talking

This third principle is actually a third step in language learning. After understanding and being able to “think” in a foreign language, it’s time to start talking. You’ll be surprised to find out that it’s actually harder than it sounds in your head. Many times, when you’re faced with the need to speak in a foreign language without prior practice, you’ll think that it won’t be a problem, because in your head, you can “talk” perfectly. Your mouth and your brain will think otherwise when you’re actually going to start talking.

Evolving

This is not necessarily a requirement in learning a language, but rather a requirement if you want to keep up with that language and where it’s heading. A language is organic in nature, it changes, it adapts to current social standards, and it metamorphoses along with its speakers. Knowing how to evolve at the same pace with the foreign language you’ve studied is important, although not as CUTE as the other three factors I mentioned above.

Obviously, these principles need to be backed up by months, if not years of practice, exercises and studies. A language can’t be learnt in 10 days, despite what all those crappy language guides say. At least not if you’re serious about it and want to have control over that language, not just learn the basic vocabulary and be off to something else.

5 Ways NOT to Learn a Foreign Language

2008-01-09T06:59:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know it’s a weird title to use, but bear with me, I’m trying to make a point. I often talk to people trying to learn a new language and they complain that they’re using some popular methods and are not getting the results they paid for. They got the “Learn Russian in a week” book and, oh my God, after a week, they’re still at basic vocabulary (if at all). This sparked the idea to create this article, where I’ll talk about 5 very “popular” ways of NOT learning a foreign language and messing up your language assimilation process:

1. Playing by the rules with a blindfold – I’m not at all against popular learning methods, in fact we promote quite a few of the tried and tested ones on www.internetpolyglot.com . However, I do believe that not all learning programs are suitable for everyone. A lot of people will just buy a book, or get an online language course and wait for the cherry to drop right in their mouth. Truth is, you’re better off thinking for yourself than letting someone else do the thinking in terms of what’s good and what’s bad for you. Did you try some word games and they were fun and you felt like you learnt something in the process? Then continue to try them, despite the experts saying that they’re useless. Did all the language gurus tell you to study after a stepwise plan but it’s not working for you? Then simply take off the blindfold and study with the help of the methods that you feel are right.

2. Grammar obsession – This is so common it’s becoming tragically funny. People are perfectionists and they’re trying to get everything right from day one. I agree that works with many fields in life, but language learning is not one of them. Learning a language is something organic, something that can only be grown through experience. Being obsessed with getting the grammar perfectly from day one is a serious time waster, since you’re going to assimilate all the grammar rules naturally, while reading, listening or talking to someone. I’m not saying it’s not ok to learn the basic rules and think them through, just don’t overdo it.

3. The “I Must!” Theory – Setting yourself up with a learning plan from day one is definitely great: “1 hour per day, from 8 to 10 PM, I will study” is a solid statement. However, this doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to skip a day or two, or you need to use those specific hours. If you study just because “you must” do it, you’ll probably not have explosive results. Studying when you’re not tired, when your attention span is maximized and when there aren’t any distractions is the way to go. Being too obsessive about your language learning schedule is definitely a great way NOT to learn that foreign language.

4. Lack of Reviewing – Every now and then, you should test what you’ve learnt so far, or you might end up having more lose strings than you can handle. Learning for a whole year without reviewing what you studied every now and then is awful. You’ll think you know a particular subject, because, after all, you studied it, but when you’re faced to use it in “real life” you’ll notice that there’s no shortcut on the desktop for it. Constantly reviewing and testing what you learned is the key here.

5. Lack of Diversification – This is also related to point 1. If you find a method that works for you, great! But don’t focus strictly on that one. Try to diversify your language learning, make your exercises fun, try reading, listening, talking, writing or a combination of the above. You can very well learn a language without diversifying your techniques, but when you’re faced to do something that you didn’t study for, you’ll be in trouble. For example, you can definitely learn a language just by reading and writing it down, but when you’ll be faced with actually talking it, you’ll have wished you diversified early on.

Hopefully you’ll be able to avoid these mistakes if you start up on learning a new foreign language. Although there are other traps and mistakes you should worry about, I feel it’s the above 5 that have the greatest negative impact on one’s learning process.

Finding the Time to Learn a New Language

2008-01-09T01:36:00.000-08:00

I can’t stop smiling every time I browse the Internet or visit a local book shop and see those “Learn Chinese in 10 days” types of guides. It’s just silly, but people still fall for it, because learning a new language is a rather time consuming project and we’re all looking for ways to make it shorter. But seriously, 10 days? Anyway, if you’re looking for methods to cut down your learning to a couple of weeks, simply don’t. There are none. Your best bet is to try and structure your time so that you can learn over a longer period of time.

I’m a strong believer in online learning (obviously, otherwise we wouldn’t have started www.internetpolyglot.com ) and from the perspective of time consumption, it’s probably the best you’ll get. Sure, face to face language courses can be very useful, but they require you to relocate and for the most part, you can’t set your own time schedule. It’s difficult if you have to go all the way to a course when you’re feeling down and you’re not in the right move to learn. With online learning, you can simply put down the mouse and pick up from where you left earlier when you’re in the right mood again.

My suggestion is to break down your learning session in short chunks, over a longer period of time. Instead of hauling all that new information in your head 6 hours each day for a month, you’re better off taking smaller bites, say 1 hour each day, for 4-5 months. If taken in smaller chunks, information can be stored more easily and you won’t have to worry about learning saturation, tiredness or information overload. Don’t subestimate this aspect, having fun (or at least not feeling stressed out) during the learning process can do wonders.

At Internet Polyglot, we also focus on the fun aspect of language learning as a means to get information across and stored. Anything that’s fun in learning can be done in 10-15 minutes, such as playing a short word game, vocabulary quizzes, using some flash cards or playing language related puzzles. If you don’t have a lot of time at hand or if you’re just not feeling in the mood to start with an online course, those 15 minutes of playing during your lunch break will still be helpful. Obviously, the learning frame will be longer, but then again, it’s not like you put a lot of work into it :).

The only disadvantage of Internet language learning from a time-wise perspective is the many distractions that can appear on a computer. Instant messaging, online flash games, social networking sites and whatnot. They can all be very time consuming and they can easily redirect you from learning to wasting time. My suggestion is that whenever you start learning, regardless if you plan on doing it for 15 minutes or 1 hour, you turn off everything that can be a distraction. Close all tabs of addicting websites and try to fight to urge to “just check up on them” for the next hour. Close MSN, Yahoo Messenger or AOL so that no one bothers you. Myspace, Facebook and hi5 won’t miss you if you’re gone for an hour either :)

How to Learn the Vocabulary of a Foreign Language

2008-01-09T01:05:00.000-08:00

A language’s vocabulary is its foundation, each word being a brick that can help you build vertically towards your goal. Unlike other concepts in the language learning process, such as grammar structure, pronunciation or spelling, learning vocabulary is not a one-time thing that you can study for a couple of days and understand. Your vocabulary in a foreign language will expand organically as you talk, read, write and listen. Let’s take a look at some popular methods that can help you improve your vocabulary in the language that you’re studying.

Keeping a Word Log

This is a tried and tested method that can help you out in the long run. What you need to do is this: each time you learn a new word, write it down in a log (a journal, a notebook, just make sure it’s something you don’t lose over time). Don’t explain the word, don’t give it a definition and don’t associate it with anything, just write it down. Now, every once in a while (2-3 months) go through the log and read each word and see if you remember what it meant. Chances are some of them might have been lost on you, especially if you haven’t used them again since you logged them, so get a dictionary and again, find out what they mean. This is not so much a method of learning new words, but one of storing the new words better in your memory.

Learning Words in Context

This technique is extremely beneficial and it can mostly be done through constant reading in the foreign language you’re studying. This is how it works: when you already have a basic word base, reading a sentence like as their smell is divine> will usually allow you to logically deduce the word from the context. This will help you create association links between words, helping you understand new concepts quicker if they are next to already known ones.

Read. Listen. Write!

Reading and listening will be your main channels of vocabulary improvement. They can get you a solid word base to use, but it’s also important to use that word base every now and then! If you don’t write and use what you’ve learned it might as well be lost on you. Talking can also help out, but writing is better purely from the vocabulary’s point of view (writing something down rather than saying it gets stuck better in your memory, because of the visual stimuli).

Hopefully these techniques will be helpful throughout your language journey. If you need more similar techniques, word games and useful (and practical) vocabulary improvement methods, try out www.internetpolyglot.com . You’ll find a vast base of exercises that have helped thousands of people struggling with a new foreign language.

Top 5 Reasons to Learn Spanish

2008-01-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

With around half a billion speakers world wide, you wouldn’t expect Spanish to be the subject of a “Why learn” type of article. Still, numbers aren’t always everything and some of you might want some more specific advantages of learning Spanish. Personally, I had great advantages from my Spanish language skills and throughout time, I noticed that a few patterns apply to people who learn this language. Most non-native Spanish speakers are people who travel a lot. Some of them learn it because they want to, others learn it due to necessity. But let’s assume you’re learning for fun, for the time being. What would be the main 5 reasons that could convince you to start up on Spanish? Let’s see:

1. Spanish is Easy – No, seriously, it is. It’s actually one of the easiest languages to learn for native English speakers. Spanish is quite common throughout the World and ever since you were a child, you were exposed to the Spanish language on TV, radio or, in some parts of the United States, in the community. This makes it a lot easier to learn the language later on, since you already have the “ear” to learn it.

2. Spanish opens the door for other languages – it’s true, once you learned Spanish it will be a lot easier to go for another language with a Latin substrate. Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, anything that’s related to Spanish will be a walk in the park. These languages can be learnt using the same language patterns, so once you got the hang of how Spanish needs to be assimilated, you will find it quicker to adapt to its cousins.

3. Travelling – Obviously, if you travel to South America or Spain, you’ll need to speak Spanish fluently if you want to make it a pleasant stay. Otherwise you’ll be going to your hotel room with your arms aching every night, due to the extensive body language that you used throughout the day. People in Spanish countries aren’t particularly keen on learning English and you can’t ask that from them anyway. It’s you who’s visiting their country, so it’s you who has a duty to perform in learning their language.

4. Business Opportunities – Regardless if you’re from Europe or North America, there are some very rich neighbors standing right next to you. Mexico for the US and Spain for Western Europe are two markets that need to be tapped, because they offer huge potential. If you want to conduct business in Spain, Mexico or any other Spanish speaking country for that matter, you’ll make a great first impression if you can speak the language of the persons you’re dealing with.

5. Cultural Understanding – The Spanish culture has been incredible throughout history and Spanish authors have left behind hundreds of thousands of books filled with interesting information. However, information is lost during translation, so if you really want to enjoy a book from a Spanish author, you’ll learn the language and read the book the way it was meant to be read: in the Spanish language.

I hope I made my point with these advantages of learning Spanish. If you need a starting point for your language efforts, visit Internet Polyglot and start the ride!

5 Advantages of Being a Polyglot

2008-01-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

I read on someone’s blog a while back a few journal pages where the owner made a sort of wish list for the next 5 years. Her main wishes were to learn 5 languages in the next 5-10 years, including Arabic, French, German, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. When someone commented on the post, asking why she wants to be such a big polyglot, she simply replied: to be a citizen of the World.

I agree that the only true way we can be citizens of the World is by knowing each other, our languages and our cultures but I’m sure there are many other reasons an individual would want to learn a foreign language or two and become a polyglot. Here are mine:

1. International Business – I-business is more common than ever nowadays, with the Internet allowing us to outsource, freelance and close deals overseas without too much trouble. Being a polyglot and being able to speak in the language of the person you’re working with, or the person you’re working for weighs heavily in how the deal will end. Remember, not everyone knows English and you shouldn’t expect others to speak your language if you don’t put at least some effort to speak theirs. Check out these free online courses if you’re planning on learning a new language.

2. Travelling Opportunities – How many times have you thought about travelling to a remote, exotic country, but worried that you’ll have a hard time there due to lack of communication? It happens everywhere, regardless if you’re going to a country in Africa, or somewhere in Europe. If you can’t talk their language and they can’t talk yours, you’d best learn body language. Or, you can take up these free language courses.

3. Personal Impression – Let’s face it, when you hear a foreigner coming to YOUR country and speaking YOUR language, I’m sure it tickles your ego a bit. The same thing would happen if you would travel to another country and the natives would hear you speaking their own language. It can really bump your image (positively) in a native speaker’s eyes.

4. Social Status – Does making a lot of money automatically make you a great person? No, because money can be the result of luck or theft. Does knowing 3-4 different languages earn you this social status? Yes, because being a polyglot is clearly the result of some hard work and you can tap in on that aura that you’ll be surrounded with, regardless if it’s simply to gain an edge in society, in business or at work.

5. Explosive Learning – Learning a new language is a tough process that involves both short and long term brain cells to work full time. The reason the first language is hard to learn is that we’re not used to the learning process itself. Most polyglots will find that it’s easier to learn their 3rd or 4th language than the first ones, because by the time they reach number 4, their language learning process is already in full motion and is capable of assimilating information much quicker, through the patterns you already established with the other languages.

Are these reasons enough to become a polyglot? I hope so. But even if it’s for one of the above reasons, or just for the heck of it, becoming a polyglot is a great achievement and something that is heightening for any human being. So if you want to become a better human and a true citizen of the World, start by learning a few languages to back you up.

Greek Audio

2007-12-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

Audio has been enabled on Greek lessons . Enjoy!

A huge thanks to George (the voice) and Baggeroli (audio processing) for making it possible!

What's next: Polish audio, game improvements (adding audio and images in games). Stay tuned!

Portuguese and Japanese Audio are On

2007-12-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

Portuguese audio has been recorded by Baggeroli and Eliana and enabled on the site. Enjoy!

Visit Portuguese lessons.

Previously, we recorded and enabled Japanese audio, visit Japanese lessons.

In process: Greek is recorded, now in the post-processing stage, will be enabled in a week or so.

New Version of Site. Spanish and Ukrainian Audio.

2007-11-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

The past month we've done the following changes:

We developed a new version of the site
Added Spanish and Ukrainian audio

The new site's version's changes are the following:

Renovated home page that allows easier starting of language learning games
Transliteration for Chinese (Pinyin), Japanese (Romaji), Russian and Ukrainian (Translit), Greek (Greeklish) so that the words pronunciation can be seen by those who don't know the alphabets. Transliteration can be turned on/off
Some changes that should make the site running faster
Some other minor changes

We also recorded and published audio files for Spanish and Ukrainian languages.

If you haven't visited our new forum yet, here it is: Internet Polyglot forum
It's a new forum so you won't find many discussion topics there - but you can ask any questions and expect a quick answer. Especially, if you have any suggestions about the building of the site please be welcomed to write to us on this forum.

What's next:

Next is working on more languages:

Japanese audio has been recorded already but is being currently in the process of producing mp3 files
Greek audio will be recorded soon too, meanwhile we brushed through the Greek lessons and removed many errors

Stay tuned!

New Release, New Cool Features

2007-09-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

New version is developed and deployed. The new features are:

- Tutorial Slide Show
- User Game Statistics

Example of Tutorial Slide Show: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/play_slide_show_lesson_-2104301010 (make sure that you have your sound turned on, turn on your speakers or put on your headphones). I have long been thinking that we have games on the site, which is the way to drill words that you've already seen but we didn't have an efficient way to see them first. The Tutorial Slide Show does exactly that: it teaches you new words, shows the image for the word, pronounces it and its translation. You can go from word to word and enjoy it. After you finished with the slide show you can start playing games with this lesson.

User Game Statistics. You've been working hard on learning new words but we didn't have a way to show your progress. Now we do. Go to http://www.internetpolyglot.com/userGameStatistics.html and see your progress. Please remember that you have to be logged in when you go to this page.

Also recently the site was translated to Ukrainian.

Plans for the near future:
- Chinese (Mandarin) is almost done. The vocabulary is uploaded, it even has pinyin (roman transcription). What left is to upload audio files. The site is also translated to Chinese (some corrections are to be done though).
- Improvements of the games. Show pictures, play pronunciation.
- New games.

Stay tuned!

New Version of the Site. New Awsome Features.

2007-07-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

My dearest Internet Polyglotter!

At last, with a great honor and deep moral satisfaction we announce that a new version of the site has been developed and deployed on http://www.InternetPolyglot.com !

The new version has a number of new features:

1) Typing Game - a new game where you are presented with a word in your language and you have to type its translation in the language that you learn. We hope this game will be a good addition in the language toolset that we provide for our users.
2) We bought and uploaded more pictures so that the majority (95%) of all lessons have images associated with the words. Enjoy a more colorful experience in learning new words!
3) New improved chat. Now the chat page has multiple channels so that you can chat with other people in your native language or about a language that you learn.
4) "Jump to a lesson" link. Now when you go to a lesson detail page you can see a new link "Jump to a lesson". When you click on it you see a popup list of all other lessons that are of the same word language and translation language.
5) Romanian audio pronunciation on Romanian lessons.
6) Other minor improvements that should improve your staying with http://www.InternetPolyglot.com .

Now a little bit about our plans. We are working hard now on a new "game-like" page which we call a slide show. We think that it should improve the initial learning process - instead of just jumping to games, go through all words in a lesson as a slide show: each word will be presented as a picture with the word and translation and the word and translation will be pronounced. We hope to develop the slide show in a month or so. As soon as it's ready we'll gladly notify you of that.

Now enjoy learning languages with http://www.InternetPolyglot.com and have a great time!

Internet Polyglot team.

Italian Audio. Benvenuto!

2007-05-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Great news for all Italian learners! Now you can learn new words on Internet Polyglot with audio pronunciation! Simply go to any Italian lessons like http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-3202101130 and click a green "Play" button next to any Italian word.

Enjoy the fine quality Italian pronunciation! The voice recording was performed by a professional voice actor and as usual, huge thanks to Baggeroli who helped with audio post-processing.

Visit Italian lessons on Internet Polyglot and learn Italian efficiently and with fun!

Permanent link to this post: http://internetpolyglot.blogspot.com/2007/05/italian-audio-benvenuto.html

Word of the Day: a snail

العربية:	الحلزون
Nederlands:	een slak
English:	a snail
Français:	un escargot
Deutsch:	eine Schnecke
Ελληνικά:	ένα σαλιγκάρι
עברית:	חלזון
हिंदी:	घोंघा

Italiano:	una lumaca
日本語:	蝸牛
Latin:	cochlia
Polski:	Ślimak
Português:	um caracol
Română:	un melc
Русский:	улитка
Español:	un caracol
Türkçe:	salyangoz

The benefits of learning Japanese

2007-04-01T13:08:00.001-07:00

The Japanese language seems at first impossible. Not only does it sound and feel completely different from any kind of western dialect, but there three different writing systems! However, it is not as incredible a feat as it seems to learn Japanese. Learning this language is both extremely beneficial, and practical.

First of all, Asian languages make up almost a third of the languages spoken on the Internet. English takes up another third, and the European languages bundled together take the last. Japanese is the most prevalent language of all the Asian languages, so it is clearly an important language to know. But why does the internet matter when learning a language? There are a few reasons for this. Japan has the second largest economy in the world, which means that its residents are not stingy about what they buy. If you are a salesman, or someone wanting to get as many people to buy your product as you can, then investing in learning Japanese will increase your success as much as twofold, because you will be able to sell your product to all those Japanese-speaking consumers that were blocked off from you previously.

If you are not looking for business, then there is still a wide open door of opportunities to enjoy the benefits of learning Japanese. If, as stated previously, Japanese is the third most widely used language on the internet, then by learning Japanese, it will be possible to communicate with these people, who may potentially have radically different experiences and beliefs than people brought up in Western cultures. By bridging the language gap between you, the different parties can share their experiences and get a taste for what the culture on the other side of the world is like. Thus, even if business and making money is not your top priority online, learning Japanese can bring much excitement and many new experiences into your life.

Now we have arrived to the logistical reason why learning Japanese isn’t as hard as it seems. First of all, the Japanese writing system has a phœnetic alphabet, which can be used in place of all Chinese characters to help beginners. This alphabet is very helpful, because, unlike English words such as “acquiesce” or even “mice,” there is no ambiguity in how to pronounce a written Japanese word like there is in English. Secondly, Japanese grammar can be a lot simpler than English grammar. For example, the verbs only have present and past forms, unlike English, which has perfect, imperfect, pluperfect, future, &c. Similarly, the nouns do not have genders or plural forms, and the accompanying articles such as “a” or “the,” which are always impossible for English learners to master, are absent in Japanese. Overall, Japanese may look baffling when briefly glanced at, but most of it is quantity, and not complexity. Therefore, learning Japanese is a relatively easy task, especially compared to an ambiguous and almost completely random language such as English.

There is no doubt about it: one way or another, learning Japanese will make your life richer (in any sense of the word) and more satisfying. And since you now know that it’s not such a difficult task to learn it after all, why not go for it? There is nothing to lose in learning Japanese, and everything to gain. Bridge the gap between yourself and all those Japanese speaking people on the internet and all over the world in general, and make friends with people who you never thought you would be able to speak with before. And if you are really serious about learning that vocabulary, then try www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-ja-en, a website devoted to creating flashcards to aid the memorization process so you can get to using your new skill as fast as possible!

French and German audio

2007-03-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Two more languages now have audio in their lessons: French and German.

French: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-fr-en . The recording was performed by Annie.

German: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-de-en . Recorded by Tilmann.

And as usual refining the sound and cutting mp3 files are done by Baggeroli.

Annie, Tilmann, Baggeroli, huge kudos to all of you!!!

English Audio [New Feature]

2007-02-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

Majority of people who go to InternetPolyglot learn English. English is a "lingua franka" in the modern world - it means that it is used everywhere on Earth as a common language for communications. And at last you folks can start learning English with even better results because now each English word in our lessons has an audio pronunciation.

For example, go to the following lesson: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-2102001130 and press any green button with white triangle on it.

Now you can hear the pronunciation of this word!!!

The recording was done with an American guy, so the accent is American therefore. Also there were some decisions that we had to make and these decisions are described in the following essay that this guy has written after we finished recording:

Creation of English audio clips for Internet Polyglot

We began the reading of the English words for the Internet Polyglot early in the morning when the male human voice is still deep and resonant. Using a simple uni-directional microphone plugged into a laptop which was running an audio recording and editing program, we began the task of reading and recording hundreds of words in English.

Early on, we realized that when practicing English words, we don't generally use the article ("the" or "a") preceding a noun. For example, in other languages it is very important to include "the" or "a" before a word because there may be many different forms of that word depending on the gender of the noun. But in English, the articles are always the same and so we made an executive decision not to include them. However, we found that when it came to verbs, that it made more sense to include the helping word "to" before each verb. For example, "to wet" is a much better translation than simply "wet" which could be misinterpreted as a descriptive adjective.

On a technical recording note, we found it difficult at first when reading words that had the hard sound "p" at the beginning without creating a Pounding sound on the recording. Holding the microphone further away to artificially soften the "p" sound changed the volume of the sound being recorded and was inconsistent with the rest of the recorded words. So each time we got to such a word, it was simply softened vocally so as to avoid this recorded unpleasant pounding sound.

We also avoided having the words read so that they had any down-inflection to them. For example, if reading down a list of 30 words, it's important not to read the last word of the list as if you're finishing a sentence. For the person later listening to this individual word while studying the English lessons, it would give that particular word a strange down-inflection. We found it better to read each word as if it was the first word on the list so that they all had the same level of vocal importance.

It was an honor to be the "voice of English" which will be listened to by people all over the world who are practicing their pronunciation using the brilliant program, "Internet Polyglot".

As a side-note, this guy has his own blog which might be of an interest for many of you, here it is: http://healthyspine.blogspot.com/

Dutch Audio Lessons

2007-02-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

A good friend and active supporter of Internet Polyglot Baggeroli did a great job in creating audio files for Dutch lessons. The quality of sound and the voice are amazing! So if you learn Dutch, go ahead and visit http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-2002101130, click on the "Play" button (green button with white triangle) and enjoy learning Dutch pronunciation!

Publication about Internet Polyglot

2007-01-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

One prominent Russian news site published an article about language learning (http://www.3dnews.ru/editorial/it_lingua/) - why, where, how and so on. I was amazingly impressed finding a good portion of it was about Internet Polyglot. So if you can read Russian - please visit this article http://www.3dnews.ru/editorial/it_lingua/ , scroll down about 2/3 of it and you'll see a review of Internet Polyglot that recommends using it for memorizing new words.

It might be a good chance that you came to Internet Polyglot from this article. Welcome and good luck in language learning with Internet Polyglot!

Internet Trips That Perfect Your Foreign Language

2007-01-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

It has been stated on numerous occasions and in most specialty books and courses that the best way to learn and to build up on a foreign language is to live in an environment where this language is constantly present. The most obvious choice would be to visit or even move in a country that speaks that particular language but this often involves great costs and requires that you sacrifice a hefty amount of time for the trip (staying there for 2-3 days won't help too much, obviously). However, there is an alternative that can get you surrounded by the language you're learning without involving the costs and time requirements of actually visiting a foreign country: the so called "Internet Trips".

Internet trips will have you surfing the Internet for a learning location that is completely covered with the foreign language of choice. Using your favorite search engine, you could type in a common phrase in that language and click through the various sites resulted, in search of one that has some interesting information to read, view or listen to. If possible, try looking for a site that is completely built in that language, with as little English as possible. You need to feel "abroad" on this site, so it needs to be as foreign as possible in what regards its content.

Forums are also a great place to arrange an e-trip on. It doesn't really matter what the forum's subject is, as long as everyone or most of the participants in the discussions on are speakers of the language you're learning. Getting involved in the discussions, or even simply reading what others have to say about a subject will boost your vocabulary and general knowledge of that language. However, please note that it's a common fact for forum users to use slang, grammatically incorrect expressions or even common spelling mistakes.

The third option is to visit a "live chat" channel using one of the various programs designed for this purpose, or programs that offer live chat channels as an addition to their real purpose. Amongst such programs, we can include the IRC, DC and all of their variations. Visiting such channels gives you a chance to dynamically engage in conversations with native speakers of the language you're learning, but the same hindrance as in the above mentioned forum case remains: grammar and spelling are often sacrificed in favor of faster typing or simply commodity on these channels. Not to mention that sometimes the chat can get overly trivial for no reason, so you might be building on the wrong side of the vocabulary :).

This said, I wish you a safe journey. If you're after a more focused location for the language learning subject, you can skim through the numerous sites offering such services. If you find the language you're learning amongst those covered by these sites, try combining them with the above mentioned methods to get a better overall experience of your trip :).

Russian Lessons in Audio [New Feature]

2007-01-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

Do you learn Russian? If yes, this new feature is for you! Go to this lesson: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-4302101130 and you'll see a "Play" button next to each Russian phrase.

Press this button and you'll hear the pronunciation of this phrase. You'll need to have your earphones speakers on of course. More Russian lessons can be found here: Free Russian Lessons Online. All of them now have their words pronounced.

Please also visit our articles about Russian in different languages: The Russian Language (in English); Lengua Rusa (in Spanish); Langue russe (in French); Russische Sprache (in German); Lingua russa (in Italian); Russische Taal (in Dutch); Língua Russian (in Portuguese); Limba Rusa (in Romanian)

Also there is a large collection of articles about different languages written in Russian:

История английского языка
Корни испанского языка

Три причины, чтобы начать учить французский
О китайском языке
Что хорошо было бы знать о немецком языке
Язык Восходящего Солнца
Сведения об итальянском языке
Голландский язык – от истоков до наших дней
Выучить русский – «зачем» и «как»
Краткий обзор истории португальского языка
Краткие сведения об арабском языке
Полезные советы изучающим иврит
Истоки цивилизации
Хинди. История и факты
Корни польского языка
История румынского языка
Турецкий язык. Исторические факты
Происхождение и история чешского языка
Корни украинского языка

New Language Lessons: Hebrew

2007-01-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

New language lessons have been uploaded today to the Internet Polyglot site. This time the new addition is Hebrew lessons. So if you are interested in learning this ancient language, please be very welcome to http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-he-en .

History of the Hebrew Language

Hebrew is one of the world oldest languages and it’s one of the few languages that kept its composure and structure for the most part, since it is written and spoken today almost the same way as it was more than 2,000 years ago. For example, the style and structure of the Hebrew language that is used today in most books, newspapers and magazines published in Israel is very similar to the one used in the Bible. A strange fact in the history of the Hebrew language is that it ceased to exist as a spoken language for almost 1,700 years ago, being reborn as a modern language around the 19th century. Nowadays, Hebrew is the official language of Israel and it is spoken in the large Jewish Diaspora.

The comeback of Hebrew as a spoken language in the 19th century is often attributed to the name of Eliezer ben Yehudah. Eliezer was a visionary linguist and polyglot that devoted his entire life to the revival of his ancestors’ language, adapting it to the rigors and rules of modern society as well as allowing a substantial vocabulary increase through foreign words. Following Eliezer’s efforts, Hebrew gradually came to use among Jewish settlements around Palestine and when the State of Israel was created in 1948 it became its official language.

Tips and tricks for learning Hebrew

One of the fastest ways to learn Hebrew is over the Internet (for example, on Internet Polyglot Hebrew Lessons), where you can find a lot of free Hebrew lessons online to start off with. If these don’t cut the mustard for you, you could always try a local “Learn Hebrew” course or start studying it from a course book. However, these methods should only be considered a starting point to help you grasp the basic notions of Hebrew and help you improve vocabulary. Direct communication is always a great teacher, so you can try finding a Hebrew conversation partner to help you out, or even try out learning through video conferences with an online teacher (they could cost quite a bit though).

The grammar of the Hebrew language is usually considered easy to understand by most students, however the major problem is spelling and pronunciation of words. These can be improved through several of the above mentioned methods, but if you find those too boring or stressful, you might want to try out a few Hebrew vocabulary games that you can find in books, on audio tapes or over the Internet. These games improve both spelling and pronunciations and they will also allow you to memorize words easily.

Take note that these tips and tricks don’t apply STRICTLY to Hebrew, as they can be used in studying a number of other languages. Remember that learning skills grow up directly proportional with language skills, so the more you learn of a language the better you are at learning a different one in the future. Once this happens, becoming a true polyglot is only a matter of time and ambition.

You can also read about Hebrew in these articles in different languages:

History of the Hebrew Language (in English)
Lengua hebrea (in Spanish)
Hébreu (in French)
Hebräisch (in German)
Ebraico (in Italian)
Hebreeuws (in Dutch)
Hebrew (in Portuguese)
Limba Ebraica (in Romanian)
Полезные советы изучающим иврит (in Russian)
تأريخ اللغة العبرية (in Arabic)

Learning A New Language To Create A Bilingual Household

2007-01-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

Learning a new language as a family can be a wonderful and rewarding thing to do, especially if you have small children at home. For them, learning at smaller ages will be much easier than learning later in life. It will also be more rewarding for you, as a family to be able to have that extra cultural exposure that another language makes available to you. Most children will grow up learning both languages naturally, at the same time if they are used constantly near him. However, if you want to speed up the process or make it more effective, there are several techniques that you can try out.

For example, there are many online programs that can assist you with learning a new language for yourself as well as making the process fun through the use of games for the entire family. In addition to the ability or need to memorize words, you will find that these online programs will actually teach you to analyze and choose the correct words in the first place. This is done through the use of flash cards, matching games, word scrambles, and tons of other games that make the learning process seem much less like learning and much more like fun.

If you are having fun learning something, chances are that your children will wish to learn as well. Keep reminding them how fun it will be to travel to the land of the language and speak like a native or go out to dinner in a new town and pretend to be foreign by only speaking to each other in the language you've learned. Not to mention the fun they will have on the school bus when no one else really understands what they are saying.

Raising a bilingual family in today's world has many benefits that go far beyond knowing a second language. In addition to the languages learned you are increasing their ability to learn more languages, as each subsequent language is easier to learn. While at a young age, children may have a tendency to mix languages or switch back and forth that is something that will occur less frequently in time.

The process of creating a bilingual household also requires a considerable amount more effort on the part of the parents. Not only are you learning a new language and committing to learning it well enough to teach to your children and speak on a regular basis, but you are also committing your child to another language as well. This can be confusing to him or her at times and overwhelming at others. Be careful that you don't overload them, which may cause them to stop speaking all together and that you are patient with them offering support and kind words when needed. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give your children and they will understand that in time.

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody!

I'd like to thank you all for showing your support for Internet Polyglot, for using it for your language learning and just for your many feedbacks. It was very exciting year for us and for the site - it grew from 15 visitors a day to 1100 visitors a day and keep growing. More and more language learners find this method of memorizing words useful and start playing with our games.

I would cordially like to wish you happy Holidays, peace in the whole World, love to you and your family. And of course, Happy Language Learning with Internet Polyglot!

Now it's time for some fun. These videos virtually made my month! They can be even considered a language learning videos, hehe :)

Let's start with Learning Dutch. Hilarious girls teach us some useful Dutch words and phrases: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGzwZH03QLE

Learning French? Here some funny guys from Russia will sing you a very popular song by one of my favorite singers In-Grid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJRTpgE0dY

And here is the transcript for this song:

Tu m'as promis
et je t'ai cru

Tu m'as promis le soleil en hiver et un arc en ciel
tu m'as promis le sable doré j'ai reçu une carte postale
tu m'as promis le ciel et la terre et une vie d'amour
tu m'as promis ton coeur ton sourire mais j'ai eu des grimaces

tu m'as promis
et je t'ai cru

tu m'as promis le cheval ailé que j'ai jamais eu
tu m'as promis le fil d'Ariane mais tu l'as coupé
tu m'as promis les notes de Mozart pas des plats cassés
tu m'as promis d'être ta reine, j'ai eu pour sceptre un balai

tu m'as promis
et je t'ai cru
tu es foutu
tu-tu-tu...
tu es foutu
tu-tu-tu ...

je ne sais pas ce qui se passe
mais je sais pourquoi on m'apelle mademoiselle pas de chance

Learning English, huh? Yeah, me too :) Have been learning English for almost all my conscious life, hehe. Here is a fiery Irish song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6A-ucLv44Y

And finally, here is a Holiday song for all of you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owK5tHjL0aE

Happy Holidays!!!

World Map of Internet Polyglot users

2006-11-22T11:58:00.000-08:00

I have configured a world map of Internet Polyglot users. Now if you are an Internet Polyglot user, you play with its games, learn languages using its lessons, you can add yourself on the world map (if you don't see the map, go here):

This page is also added on Internet Polyglot here. The permanent location of this map is here. When you go to this map you can add your shoutouts, your pictures, chat with other Internet Polyglot users. Have fun!

Learning A New Language Makes The World Seem Smaller

2006-11-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

The Internet is becoming a massive force in the lives of many people around the world. It is used to connect to the world at large, to communicate for the purposes of business, family, and friendships, as well as to find entertainment. The Internet is quickly replacing the television as the preferred medium of entertainment around the world as well as opening doors to new cultures, ideas, and beliefs as well as new opportunities.

As a result of this, we've seen an abundance of people interested in learning new languages as they meet friends and build relationships across the cultural and language barriers that once seemed so much larger than they are today. With the global community literally at your fingertips it is great to know that you can get free language lessons online or that you can easily find courses and books to help you skill up in a foreign language, regardless of its popularity across the Globe. You'd be amazed to find out how many sites offer such great services for free. Not only are these lessons free, but you can also find programs that offer fun matching games, flash cards, and word game worksheets to help you build your skills.

Not only will you learn the basic vocabulary of other languages, but also how to improve your existing vocabulary skills in your own language. You will study language arts activities, pronouns, adjectives, and common slang terms of the language you are studying. You will be able to travel with the ease of a native without the worry of needing translations of road signs and simple instructions thanks to flash cards, and free language lessons online.

When used alone, the results of this will be slow and not provide a comprehensive learning experience, but when you combine the power of such an interactive site with your other language courses, you will be amazed at how quickly your progress and even advance in your studies. Play games designed to improve vocabulary while receiving a top-notch foreign language education. In fact, you have the ability to teach yourself at your own pace and learn far more than you would ever learn in a traditional classroom. It is well known that learning through entertainment is the easiest and most effective way of dealing with any given subject, even more so with a foreign language, since it requires a lot of assimilation to be done.

After completing your lessons you should be able to speak your new language like a native while having a better understanding of how your own language works. Perhaps what you learn about yourself and the language you know already is worth just as much if not more than the priceless gift of learning a new language and opening a window to the world.

Articles about English in different languages:

English Language (in English)

Historia de la lengua inglesa (in Spanish)

Anglais. (in French)

Englische Sprache (in German)

Lingua inglese (in Italian)

Engelse Taal (in Dutch)

Língua inglesa (in Portuguese)

Limba Engleza (in Romanian)

Do you like Internet Polyglot? Then vote for it!

2006-11-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

My dear language learning friend! You've been working hard on learning your language and I hope Internet Polyglot has been helpful for you all this time. If you like Internet Polyglot now you can help us too!

Here is what you can do: just click on the following link and vote for Internet Polyglot by Digging it!

Please note that if you don't have an account on Digg you'll have to register there in order to vote for Internet Polyglot.

We'll greatly appreciate your vote, it'll help us immensely to improve Internet Polyglot's visibility in language learning community. Thank you!

And to make your life funnier here is the daily joke:

Speed Trap

A state trooper spied a car puttering along at 22 MPH. So he turned on his lights and pulled the driver over. Approaching the car, he noticed that five old guys were inside, and they looked wide-eyed and terribly pale.

The driver pleaded with him, "Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?"

"Sir," the officer replies, "You weren't speeding, but driving slower than the speed limit can also be dangerous."

"I beg to differ, Officer, I was doing the speed limit exactly: twenty-two miles an hour!" the old man said.

The trooper, chuckling, explained to him that "22" was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the man grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out his error.

"But before I let you go, Sir, I have to ask... Is everyone in this car ok? These guys seem awfully shaken."

"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute," the old man said. "We just got off Route 119."

Enjoy your day folks and don't forget to vote for Internet Polyglot and after that visit Internet Polyglot for language lessons!

Google Helps Learning Words [New Feature]

2006-11-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

Today I deployed a new version of http://www.InternetPolyglot.com - it has some nice improvements like better positioning of popup images so that they don't disappear under the bottom of the browser window.

Another one is a new page that describes how you could help Internet Polyglot - if you like it, of course :-) . So if you do like Internet Polyglot - please visit this page: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-helping-internet-polyglot.html and decide what you can do to make our life happier. Anything you do from this list (placing a link on your web site, telling about us on your favorite forum or newsgroup, simply bookmarking us with del.icio.us, and, well, ghm..., donation) will be greatly appreciated!

But the main improvement of this version is adding Google Search capabilities for words that you are learning. The word/translation list on lesson detail pages now has a new icon, move your mouse over it and you'll get Google's search results for this word: web sites, videos, blogs. I expect it to be a very useful new feature of Internet Polyglot - it should help learning words in context. Just go ahead and play with this new capability, I think it should be fun.

Below is a screenshot that I made on one of the French-English lessons :

As you can see mousing over the "G" icon next to "un employé" display a popup window with Google search (web, video and blog) results for this word. Now just use any of those results and increase your knowledge of what "un employé" means.

Happy languge learning with Internet Polyglot !

Free Language Lessons Online

2006-11-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Learning a new language is never easy, despite any common roots that your mother tongue and the language you want to learn might have. If you've recently moved to a new country, the learning curve will be a lot faster than if you would try to learn that particular country's language at home, since no lesson can compensate for the benefit of being constantly surrounded in people speaking that foreign language. Still, since most people will want to start taking language lessons from the comfort of their home, so they can be prepared when they move or visit a foreign country, we'll focus on them and offer you some tips on how to get free language lessons online.

Whether you want to learn English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, Latin, Hindi, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Czech or Ukrainian, there's a site out there that can fulfill your lingual learning needs. www.internetpolyglot.com is a compilation of free language lessons that can be taken online, through an intuitive and easy to use system.

Actually, when learning a new language with Internet Polyglot, you get to create your own lessons, focusing on what you need more: expanding your vocabulary, memorizing words, pronouncing words, learning the common acronyms of communication, avoiding syntax errors in second language learners, learning that particular language's slang and so forth. This way, you can make up your own strategy for learning a foreign language and effectively learn in the rhythm that you see fit, instead of getting overfed with all sorts of bits and pieces of new information about that language.

Among these free online language lessons, you will be able to find some that come under the form of games and fun activities. These are aimed for children learning new languages but they can also be helpful to adults that have just started learning one. Actually, scientists agree that it's a lot easier to learn a language if its lessons are presented under a fun, enjoyable wrap, rather than if you would have to sit down at a table or in front of your PC and simply start memorizing, getting you utterly bored in a matter of hours probably.

Last but not least, www.internetpolyglot.com offers the possibility for simple surfers that had success in learning a new language, to post their own lessons on the site, helping others in their learning process. Of course, what might have worked for someone else in matter of learning speed might not be totally appropriate for you, or at least not in the same manner. But most of these users will offer interesting alternative learning methods that you should at least take a look at, since they might prove to be just the boost you need to your language learning efforts.

Visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com for free online language lessons.

Drunk Driver

2006-11-06T15:46:00.000-08:00

Aren't you getting fed up with all this serious stuff that you receive from InternetPolyglot on a regular basis? Here is some joke for you so that you don't get too bored :)

A policeman pulls over a driver for swerving in and out of lanes on the highway.
He tells the guy to blow a breath into a breathalyzer.
''I can't do that, officer.''
''Why not?''
''Because I'm an asthmatic. I could get an asthma attack if I blow into that tube.''
''Okay, we'll just get a urine sample down at the station.''
''Can't do that either, officer.''
''Why not?''
''Because I'm a diabetic. I could get low blood sugar if I pee in a cup.''
''Alright, we could get a blood sample.''
''Can't do that either, officer.''
''Why not?''
''Because I'm a hemophiliac. If I give blood I could die.''
''Fine then, just walk this white line.''
''Can't do that either, officer.''
''Why not?''
''Because I'm drunk.''

Learning A Foreign Language Will Open A Window To The World

2006-11-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

If you've ever had the urge to travel around the world, visiting exotic places, and ordering authentic local cuisine, then you've probably considered the fact that it might help if you were able to speak the language. Even if only to read the menu at your favorite French Bistro or Italian Restaurant, it is amazing how much more of the menu you will understand simply by learning a few key phrases in a foreign language.

Learning a new language is almost always a thrilling prospect, even better when you can learn a new language for free. In fact, at this price why on earth would anyone stop at just one language? Many of these online language programs are not intended to work as a sole source of language education, but when used in conjunction with other language learning programs can produce amazing results.

If you use the flash cards and matching games that are available on this site, you will be speaking your new language like a native in no time, better yet, you will understand it like a native as well. Have you ever envied those that speak several languages with as much familiarity as their own mother tongues? Be jealous no longer. Apply these lessons, study diligently and you will notice a significant improvement in your vocabulary.

Learn an Arabic language conversation free with lessons online. In fact, learn a few. Take a look at the free online "Learn Spanish Video" and see how many new words you can learn in a short period of time. Take lessons with a friend and have competitions to see who has learned the most new words. Playing games is a great way to learn and still have fun being competitive with one another.

Remember though that the overall goal is learning a new language. Whether your goals are Russian, Hungarian, English, French, or some obscure tribal language on the moon, you might be surprised at the selection available. You can even use this program to help you avoid the syntax errors in English second language learners. This will make an incredible difference in how you are accepted globally as well as corporately.

There are several sites out there that deal with teaching a foreign language and you're bound to find something suitable for your needs even after a few minutes of electronic surfing. Although most will focus on popular languages such as English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian or Portuguese, other "smaller" languages are not left out in the cold either. Regardless of what language you're aiming for, chances are that you can find a site that covers it and offers some learning courses for it.

For free online language courses visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com

Articles about Spanish in different languages:

The Spanish Language (in English)
Las raíces de la lengua española (in Spanish)
Langue espagnole (in French)
Spanische Sprache (in German)
Lingua spagnola (in Italian)
Spaanse Taal (in Dutch)
Língua espanhola (in Portuguese)
Originile limbii Spaniole (in Romanian)

Language Learning Key In Higher Education

2006-10-30T21:06:00.000-08:00

Learning a new language can be frightening, exciting, fun, and unfortunately sometimes boring. Taking free language lessons makes the boring part of that equation obsolete by using games, flash cards, and word scrambles in order to help you memorize words and learn vocabulary. It's not that hard to prove that if you're learning something by having fun, you will assimilate a lot more information (in this case grammar, spelling, vocabulary, etc) than if you would simply learn it "the hard way".

Having fun while learning is a great way to build your marketability, not only in the career world but also the collegiate world. You will qualify for far more study abroad programs if you can speak the language of the land you will be visiting for a semester or summer term of your educational experience. Taking free language lessons online through many of the great language learning programs available can also help you brush up on your vocabulary and memorize words by having you play educational games and use flashcards. This is better than taking a new course in a language simply to improve your existing skills or walking around with a dictionary handy at all times.

In addition to study abroad programs, language skills are necessary for entrance into many graduate school programs. Some programs, even require fluency in not one, but two foreign languages. The good news is that once you've learned one new language, learning another language is easier. If the two languages share a common lexical foundation (such as Slavic, Latin, Anglo-Saxon languages) then it will be even easier to "jump" from one of them to the other. The even better news is that with these free online programs you can learn as many new languages as you would like.

If you are planning to take your LSAT online, free practice tests can be found here as well as. You can also find bilingual legal dictionaries on CD format if you know where to look. This will help those who are learning English as a second language and hope to attend law school as well as those who simply need to learn American laws for the sake of legal work they are doing in other countries.

For the sake of education, learning a foreign language is becoming less of an option and more of a requirement. In addition to learning about other languages and cultures during the course of studying new languages, you also learn a great deal more about your own language and culture as well as how the world views you, often by default. There are very few things you can learn that will have as great of an impact on your life as a new language.

For free online language lessons visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com

Articles about French in different languages:

The French Language (in English)
La Lengua Francesa (in Spanish)
Langue française. (in French)
Französische Sprache (in German)
Lingua francese (in Italian)
Franse Taal (in Dutch)
Língua francesa (in Portuguese)
Limba Franceza (in Romanian)

Building Up Your Vocabulary In A Foreign Language

2006-10-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

You can't say you have a solid grasp on a foreign language unless you have a solid vocabulary to back your claims up. Grammar, spelling and pronunciation mistakes might slip every once in a while, but if you're reading a text or listening to a conversation and can't understand a third of the words used there, what's the point? There are several techniques that are used in building up your vocabulary in a foreign language and we'll try to cover some of the most common, which you can practice without spending too much or looking too far for them.

Reading new texts and their translation

A lot of language learning books rely on this technique to get the student's vocabulary up and running from the first lessons. The students are given a rough text in the foreign language (the difficulty level of the test is dependant on the level the student is considered to having reached so far) containing some new, more complex words with each sentence. Below the text, an exact translation is given, with contextual annotations if it's the case. After the translation, the words that are being considered as "new" are usually given a definition of and if they are used in a specific context in the above mentioned text, this is also mentioned.

Picking words out of the context

Oftentimes, you'll be reading a text or listening to someone speak in a foreign language that you know and spot a word that you don't understand. Focusing on the context in which it is told however, will often give you a clue about what it means. If this doesn't happen and you're totally in the dark about what that particular word means (oftentimes convoluting the entire context too) you can look it up in a dictionary.

Visiting the native speakers

Nothing will boost your vocabulary faster and better than a visit to a native speaking country of the particular language you want to expand in. Even a one-week trip will teach you more new words than an entire course in that language, not to mention spending a few months out there with the natives. This obviously perfects your grammar, spelling and pronunciation of words together with your vocabulary, which can only be beneficial. The only problem might be the costs such a trip would take and the amount of free time you will need for it.

This said, feel free to skim the Internet for any sources that can help you expand your vocabulary in a particular foreign language. After all, you can't simply take the dictionary and start learning new words by heart; you need to learn them naturally, out of their context. Even if you learn one new word per day this way, in the long run you'll surely feel the difference.

For building your foreign language vocabulary visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com.

Adjusting To The Cultural Shock Of Moving Abroad

2006-10-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Whether you're going to move abroad for a fixed amount of time for school education, business issues or simply for a better/new type of lifestyle, you're going to be hit by what most people call the "cultural shock". This involves hitting yourself to a new lifestyle, new ways of handling issues, sometimes a new type of currency, but most importantly, a new language. Actually, the biggest shock will be this language barrier, especially if you're moving to a country where the mother tongue is no where near your own language's lexical foundation. For example, switching from an Anglo-Saxon based language to a Slavic, or Latin one (or vice versa) can be extremely unpleasant, since you won't be able to understand any bits of a conversation. What this article will aim for, is try to give you a few tips and tricks on how to start learning this new language faster and how to adjust to the new culture through language.

Let's say your native language is English and you move to Germany (the German language is of the same lexical foundation as English). Even though you might not know the slightest thing about the German language when you move there, you will still be able to take out bits and pieces out of writings, conversations (well admittedly, maybe less from conversations, at least not until you get used to the local accent, talking speed, etc). The reason for this is that many words are quite common in both German and English. Take "house" for example, which is translated as "haus". Although the spelling is slightly different, the pronunciation and the morphosyntax are almost the same for these particular cognates.

The first thing that you could do in this case is grab a list of English - German cognates off the Internet and give them a read-through so you can recognize them in a text or spot them in a conversation. This will also help in dealing with the so called "false cognates". False cognates are words that look alike and sound alike in both languages, but actually have a different meaning. For example: the German word "eventuell" might seem like the English word "eventually", however the meaning in German is quite the opposite. Eventuell means "possibly" or "perhaps". Another good example of these false cognates is "brave" - "brav". You would thing that the German "brav" means "brave" in English, however its correct meaning is "well behaved". The German word for "brave" is "tapfer".

As you can see, this is a starting point for your cultural shock adjustment in what regards the language of the foreign country. Of course, the example above is very particular, but it applies to many other situations. And since language is such an important step in understanding a new culture and adjusting to it, it is advised that you start learning it even before you move abroad if possible. Even if you don't have time to take some local courses, the Internet can be a good source to start learning. There are several learning websites out there that can help you do so and some of them offer quality free online language courses that can give you a heads up on a language in a matter of days.

To reduce your cultural shock long before visiting another country visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com for fun and efficient language lessons.

[New feature] Words With Sounds - Practice Pronunciation

2006-10-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Today is a new milestone in the history of Internet Polyglot. With a huge help of our old friend Baggeroli (he is the author of Dutch lessons and some of German lessons) I added a new very interesting and useful functionality: sounds. I have been oftenly asked why Internet Polyglot doesn't have a way to teach language learners pronunciation? Why doesn't it have word transcriptions? And so on.

And look at it now! Visit http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-1202101200 - this is one of Arabic-English lessons. You can see a green button next to each Arabic word.

Click this button and you'll hear this word pronounced in Arabic. Of course you need to wear headphones or have your speakers on. Do you like it? These words were pronounced and recorded by a native Arabic speaker, so if you are learning Arabic then you'll be able to hone your pronunciation against these records.

At this moment Arabic is the only language that was recorded for Internet Polyglot lessons as a pilot project. We expect that eventually all languages that have lessons in our site have their words pronounced, recorded to sound files and placed to the site. Stay tuned!

Internet Polyglot News: Site Is Translated to Greek and Arabic

2006-10-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

The site has been translated to two new languages: Greek and Arabic. So if you are a native Greek or Arabic speaker you can enjoy visiting and learning new languages in your native language.

To see the site in Greek: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/greek/mainMenu.html?locale=el

To see the site in Arabic: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/arabic/mainMenu.html?locale=ar

To return to English: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/mainMenu.html?locale=en

Just as a reminder: you can switch between languages using the links right under the Internet Polyglot logo:

Language Lessons Get Your Trip Abroad Off To A Great Start

2006-10-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Start your dream vacation experience early with language lessons. Many of us spend a good portion of our lives dreaming of that one huge trip abroad that will take us too many places and expose us to many new people and cultures. However, we often fail to see how important knowing the language of the lands we are visiting is to our overall vacation experience. Even the most basic needs we have while vacationing can be negatively impacted by having no understanding of the language: hotel check in, taxi rides, directions, and fares, ordering food, and getting from one place to another.

One of the biggest mistakes that English-speaking people do is assume that they will have no trouble finding someone that speaks English where they are going. Although English is the most commonly spoken language right next to Spanish, you can't assume that (or ask of) the natives will be able to communicate with you in your own language. That's why you need to make the first move and start learning theirs.

Language lessons are a great way to improve your understanding of the native language of the places you will be visiting. You can take language lessons online. These lessons are not meant to replace traditional language learning processes but to enhance the learning experience by using games, flash cards, and word scrambles to teach you the vocabulary of the language you are trying to learn and helping you to memorize words.

It doesn't matter if you want to learn French, Hindi, Russian, or improve your English skills, there are wonderful lessons and games that will help improve vocabulary while building strong language skills. You will enjoy your vacation so much more if you have at least a basic understanding of the language. I recommend at least being able to ask and understand directions, order food, and find a restroom in addition to having a basic understanding of the local currency and basic counting (this lessens your risk of being taken advantage of by not so honest vendors).

We rely on our language skills for the most basic of tasks each and every day. If you've never been in a situation where communication was impaired by a language barrier, then it is nearly impossible to explain how difficult it can be to find your way around, get food and water, and deal with monetary transactions. Knowing the language also means you can read the signs to get where you're hoping to go, find neat little places along the way you didn't know about, and have a greater overall enjoyment of your vacation experience. It's also great fun to be able to talk to people in their own language while vacationing in order to really have an authentic travel experience.

Please visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com for free language lessons online.

Early Language Learning Is Best

2006-10-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

We all know the importance of play in early childhood and research shows that childhood is the best time to learn new languages. For this reason alone, the Internet has a great deal to offer young children developing foreign language skills. By using flashcards and matching games, children are able to build their vocabulary skills and memorize words according to the picture they belong to. Children love to play games and education can go hand in hand with the games they play. This is indeed a great combination of factors that can lead to a solid foundation for a child's language learning skills.

You cannot simply learn basic language concepts - learning to read is an added bonus. By reading recreationally in another language you are building, perhaps the greatest skills in that language and fostering a love of reading at the same time. The best of all worlds really as so much gets lost in the translation of great literature. Reading in and of itself is a great vocabulary builder in any language. As you come across a word you don't know the meaning of, look it up in the dictionary. You've just improved your vocabulary without even going to too much effort. Even if you can't be bothered to look up its exact meaning, you will be able to deduce it from the context on most occasions. This is even more important to children, who will form up a solid vocabulary early on (they'll improve their native language vocabulary at the same time as they improve the foreign language one).

You can find free online courses in many different languages. While these courses are meant to be used along with formal language lessons, they are still a great source of knowledge and education about other languages. I highly encourage you to take it one step further though and actually study the culture of the people whose language you are learning. It is so much more interesting when you can put faces to the words you are hearing.

Childhood is by far the best time to learn a foreign language. By teaching and encouraging your child about other languages and cultures you are opening the doors of the world of learning and understanding to them. Take care that you make the process fun and game like so they will wish to continue their language studies and perhaps some day surpass the lessons you are able to provide them with. If you can give your child one gift a love of learning is the best gift you can offer. Foster it early and promote it often. Your child should be successful in every endeavor with these early lessons.

Greek Lessons

2006-09-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

If you are learning Greek, we have a good news for you. Now you can learn more Greek words on Internet Polyglot: visit http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-el-en and start memorizing new Greek words!

The fascination for Greece and the Greek language

The history, landscape, culture and people of Greece all have their fair share of increasing our fascination with this beautiful country. The same goes for the Greek language, which was once one of the sturdiest „lingua francas” (dominating languages). For a large period of time starting with antiquity, a true polyglot was only considered that if he knew Greek to perfection.

Comparing it to other languages Greek is not as large or widely spoken, the number of total speakers reaching somewhere up to 11 million, most of which are the native inhabitants of Greece and around 80% of the entire population of Cyprus. So despite the fact that in terms of number of native speakers the Greek language doesn’t rank to high among other languages, culturally it scores a lot of points. As the language of classical Greek philosophy and literature and, later, as the language of the Christian Gospels and the early Church it has profoundly shaped Western thought.

Learning Greek through free Greek lessons online

Despite its cultural importance, Greek is still not widely spread among organized education centers, so your best bet is to try and learn it on your own. For this, you may want to check out a few free Greek lessons online before diving into more complicated „Learn Greek” courses or books that could cost you quite a penny.

Speaking of your standard „Learn Greek” course, in the past most of them focused intensely on teaching grammar rules to the students, neglecting other aspects of the Greek language. This produced generations of so-called polyglots that would know every detail of the Greek language but whose reading, writing and speaking skills were only slightly above average. For this reason, in the latter half of the 20th century, most of these courses tried to open up the variety of exercises the students would have to complete, focusing on other aspects of the Greek language such as vocabulary increase, spelling and pronunciation.

Alternative ways of learning Greek

Besides taking free Greek lessons online or subscribing to the many „Learn Greek” courses out there, you could try some slightly more relaxing alternative ways of learning this beautiful language. Vocabulary games can be a great boost to your Greek word database and playing them could also be a means of relaxation between some work sessions. Although their main purpose is to improve vocabulary, you will also get a better grasp on Greek spelling and possibly pronunciation as well.

Articles about Greek in different languages:

The Fascination for Greece and the Greek Language (in English)
Lengua griega (in Spanish)
Langue grecque (in French)
Griechische Sprache (in German)
Lingua greca (in Italian)
Griekse Taal (in Dutch)
Греция и греческий язык (in Russian)
Língua grega (in Portuguese)
Fascinatia pentru limba Greaca si cultura Greaca (in Romanian)

Arabic Lessons Are Loaded

2006-09-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Please visit http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-ar-en to see the whole new set of cross-language Arabic lessons.

Arabic is spoken by roughly 270 million people in many countries mostly in the Middle East and Nothern Africa.

Translation for these lessons was done by a Syrian so some dialectic particularities may be encountered. Enjoy your language learning with InternetPolyglot!

A short history of the Arabic language

The Arabic language is spoken by roughly 220 million people spread along more than twenty two countries, from Iraq to as far south as Somalia, Sudan or on the Northern African shores of Morocco. Arabic is the language of Quran (which is the Holy book of Islam, an equivalent to the Christian Bible if you wish) and it is considered as an official language in Muslim states throughout the world. The history of the Arabic language starts in Saudi Arabia in pre-Islamic times, from where it spread hastily across the Middle East, Northern Africa and other locations where it is still spoken today.

Linguists have separated the Arabic language into three major categories. These are the following: classical or Qur’anical Arabic, formal or standard Arabic, and spoken or Colloquial Arabic. Among the three, classical Arabic is the form of Arabic that is literally found in the Qur’an, hence the category’s name. Quranical Arabic is only used in religious institutions and sometimes in education, but is not spoken in general. Formal Arabic on the other hand is the official language of the Arabic world and it is used in non-religious literature, institutions and so forth. Lastly, colloquial Arabic is the “slang” of the language, spoken by the majority of people as their daily dialect. Colloquial Arabic is different from area to area, more or less like any similar dialect of any other language.

Learn Arabic course

You can find a huge amount of free Arabic lessons online, as the fascination for this language has made many westerners interested in studying and teaching it. Most lessons will start off by teaching you basic sentences, how to write, how to count and with a scaling introduction to Arabic grammar. If you're absolutely fresh to Arabic, don’t fall in the trap of trying to learn too much at the same time. Take it slow as the Arabic language is not one of the easiest around to grasp. Focus on pronunciation and basic language rules first and then, if you think you got to a point where you can handle it, try what is perhaps the most fun part of learning Arabic: learning how to write.

If you want to try out a “Learn Arabic” course, you should complement it by finding a native Arabic speaker and asking him to help out with short conversations. Large Arabic communities can be found in most areas of the World and with Arabic being one of the official languages of the United Nations, there are more and more polyglots around that can speak it to perfection and help you out.

Improve your vocabulary while having fun

The technique of improving your vocabulary through fun games such as word games, puzzles, quizzes or language exercises can be applied to most languages and Arabic is no exception to the rule. Playing vocabulary games is a great way to memorize words and it also makes the overall learning process much easier. However, take note that improving your vocabulary skills requires constant attention so make sure you get a steady vocabulary increase each day.

Articles about Arabic in different languages:

Arabic Language (in English)
Una historia corta de la lengua árabe (in Spanish)
Langue arabe (in French)
Arabische Sprache (in German)
Lingua araba (in Italian)
Arabische Taal (in Dutch)
Língua árabe (in Portuguese)
O scurta introducere a limbii Arabe (in Romanian)
Краткие сведения об арабском языке (in Russian)

Articles in Arabic in dirrerent languages:

تأريخ اللغة الإنجليزية
جذور اللغة الإسبانية
عالم الفرانكوفوني
سحر اللغة الصينية
أشياء مهمة يجب معرفتها حول اللغة الألمانية قبل البدء بتعلّمها
لسان الشمس المتصاعدة
الحقائق حول اللغة الإيطالية
اللغة الهولندية، من بدايتها حتى اليوم
تعلّم الروسي - كيف و لماذا؟
نظرة خاطفة إلى تأريخ اللغة البرتغالية
السحر لليونان واللغة اليونانية
مختصر تاريخ اللغة العربية
تأريخ اللغة العبرية
جذر الحضارة
هندي - تأريخ وخصائص
جذور اللغة البولندية
تأريخ اللغة الرومانية
الحقائق التأريخية حول اللغة التركية
جذور وفروع اللغة الأوكرانية

Learning A Foreign Language

2006-08-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

The speed and consistency at which you assimilate a foreign language depends on a lot of factors, including:

1) Whether or not your mother tongue and the foreign language you're learning have a shared lexical family and glossary (Latin or Germanic languages for example)
2) Your own ability to assimilate new words and think in the new language, rather than translate everything in your mother tongue, translating everything to the new, foreign language afterwards
3) The amount of contact you're receiving with that particular language, externally (for example, English is a lot easier to learn than other languages for most foreigners, since they receive a lot of external contact with it from movies, computer activities, commercials and so forth).

Regardless of the fact that the language you're trying to learn fits into any of the above categories, make no mistake about it, every language is learnable if you follow a few important steps and if you invest a constant stream of time in the learning process. Taking medium to long breaks from learning will be extremely negative in the long run, since it will be harder to get back on track and "re-learn" what you've once assimilated. Think of learning a foreign language as taking care of a huge furnace. You need to place a huge amount of coal in it in order to get it started and then you need to keep the fire burning by constantly shoving medium amounts of coal. If you stop shoving and let the fire go out and the furnace go cold, you'll have to invest almost the same amount of work to get it back on.

So you might be wondering how to start learning a new foreign language, what should be the base point for the learning process. Well, some basic vocabulary will get you started with understanding and pronouncing the language as well as give you something to work with later on. Language learning games are extremely useful in this first stage, since the correlation between images and words will get them to print easier in your mind. Using flashcards is also a good option and although learning what "duck" is in German for example, might not be that satisfying, think about the fact that the whole game thing has a higher purpose. And if you're an adult, try getting past the inherent awkwardness and silliness of this first learning stage as it is proven to be one of the most efficient yet. And who knows, you might even have some fun while you're at it :).

After you're familiar with the new language, after trying out pronouncing what you've seen on the flashcards, or in the game (by the way, always keep a "mother tongue - foreign language" dictionary close to you, since you'll want to check on pronunciations often) you should start off with a couple of translated texts that you can compare. Don't worry about the subject, reading "Little Red Riding Hood" with the annexed translation will be equally helpful as reading a technical view on computer architecture with the relevant translation (actually Little Red might be even more useful, since it will be easier for you to relate the words). Try reading the foreign text, sentence by sentence and then re-reading it in the translation. While doing so, try and spot the similarities in grammar and sentence structure and focus on noun gender, and plurals. It's extremely helpful to get used to the new language's gender and plural system early on or you might get the "habit" of mixing them up, sounding funny at best.

The above-mentioned method of learning a foreign language might not necessarily be the one most appropriate for you. Still, it simulates the way we learn our mother tongue, which makes it easier for us, your brain adapting easier to the new learning process since you've "already been there and done that" once. If you're looking for alternative ways of learning a foreign language, be it Spanish, German, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish, Hindi, Polish, Greek and many more, you could look up one of the many sites out there offering free or paid lessons and tutoring services.

Learning A Foreign Language Through Educational Games

2006-08-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

If you have children of your own, or if you have a little brother or sister that you've watched growing up, you might have noticed how they started learning your native language. The first words they usually speak out are the ones that they come into contact the most often, usually the name of their parents, parental appellatives such as "mama" or "papa" or "dada" and so forth. Later on, as they are encouraged to express verbally, their vocabulary base will consist of words that they meet in their "daily activities", which for most children simply include eating, sleep and... playing. This is where I actually wanted to bring the discussion to, learning a language through playing and especially through educational games that are specifically aimed for this purpose.

Since most children follow the above mentioned pattern when learning their native language many scientists claim that simulating the process at an older age can produce the same learning effects with a foreign language. The reason for this is that the brain already got used to that specific type of learning and it will adapt easier when confronted with a similar situation later on in life. That's why learning a foreign language through children's games has become increasingly popular among adults, despite the slight awkwardness of the situation. Flashcard games are such an example, a flashcard being a small piece of material with a picture of an item printed on it and a related word (or small text) describing the picture. The image-text correlation is extremely potent when having to memorize words. Using flashcards is a good way to start building the basic vocabulary for the language you're learning and it gives you a first contact with the language pronunciation (you'll need a dictionary for this of course).

Another great way to learn a foreign language is by playing computer games. Although most games are in English (and if you're reading this, you already know English I assume...) some computer games have translated versions for specific languages (mostly German, Spanish, French or Italian). If you can get a copy of one of these translated games it could be a great way to start learning that specific language and have fun at the same time.

A study exists in this sense, where a young English boy that couldn't speak any language but his native one was invited to play a popular online PC game on a French server. Although he was extremely confused at first, the constant contact with the other human players in the game, combined with a natural correlation between what he saw on the screen and the game chat gradually helped him understand the French language. The game experience was almost like throwing him in the middle of say, Paris, with no knowledge of the French language. After living in a foreign environment, hearing and reading a particular language at all times and instinctively correlating words with actions and images one actually starts learning that particular language, a fact proven by the above experiment. This just proves that online educational games (well not necessarily educational ones, but simply "games") may yet become the future language learning centers of tomorrow. To the same extent, millions of players all around the world learn and perfect their English language skills while playing the numerous online games available today.

Of course, there are still "classic" educational games out there that you can try out. Some sites offer several such educational games for languages ranging from English, German, Spanish or Italian to Polish, Romanian, Turkish or Ukrainian (and many more). If you're thinking about beginning to learn a new language, these educational games might prove to be starting point that you need. Some are actually fun and quite addictive and they are a surefire way towards boosting your vocabulary in that particular language.

Some nice pictures

2006-08-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hey! Since we have pictures on Internet Polyglot I thought you'll like some of them. Here are my favorites (so far):

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1060140

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1060250

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1060270

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1060370

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1010260

http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-image.html?imageId=1010300

[New feature] Chat page

2006-08-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

A new addition to the collection of Internet Polyglot features. If you like online chatting and also think that it can improve your language skills, please be welcomed to the Internet Polyglot chat page: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/public-chat.html

More images! Random word on home page.

2006-08-20T14:59:00.000-07:00

A new feature has been added today: a random word on the home page. When you press an icon with two green triangles pointing to the right you see a randomly picked word in all languages of InternetPolyglot. And it has a picture too! It looks like this:

Now you know what is "to be sleepy" in many languages :) . Press the "Next" icon, learn another word and enjoy a fine picture.

Images in Lessons

2006-08-18T16:51:00.000-07:00

Now some of the language lessons have images in them. There are only a few now but their number started growing and very soon almost all of them will have pictures that will help visualizing your learning process and make it more fun and efficient.

To take a look at the pictures go here: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lessons-es-en or any other list of lessons and move your mouse over one of the icons of a photocamera. Voila, you'll see something like this:

It means that this lesson has images associated with its word translations. If you click on the large image that is opened in the popup, you'll enter the lesson. For example this one: http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-4602101010 and you will see that all words there have this camera icon. Move your mouse over it and enjoy high quality pictures that, we are sure, will improve your abilities to memorize more foreign words.

How to Memorize Words

2006-08-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

One of the first steps we take when learning a language, be it our mother tongue as children, or a foreign language later on in life, is expanding our vocabulary by memorizing words (usually nouns and adjectives at first). Memorizing is done naturally when we're living in an environment that forces that particular language on us (such as our homes as children, or as visitors in a foreign country) but it can also be "forced" through several methods. The following article will try to present some of these methods that could help you learn how to memorize words faster when learning a foreign language.

Flashcards

Flashcards are the basic tools for word memorizing and although they are used mostly with small children, they can also be useful for grown-ups when learning a new foreign language. Basically, a flashcard is a piece of carton containing an image of a noun (usually nouns, although they can oftentimes contain colors, actions and so forth) with the appropriate word describing it and possibly, a small text that explains what the object is. They are a good way to take your first step into the vocabulary of the foreign language you are learning and they can be fun to use together with your children.

Using Mnemonic Links

A mnemonic is generally described as an abbreviation or a symbolic representation that helps humans memorize a certain "something" easier. Mnemonics are used to enhance and develop the assimilation of data into memory and there's no better use to them than in learning a new language. Since when you're gradually building your new vocabulary for the new language you will inevitably translate and think those words out in your mother tongue, you can use such a mnemonic to make this translation easier to memorize. For example if you've just learnt how to say "seaside" in the foreign language you're studying, imagine a picture of the seaside and then switch back between the native and foreign language words of what you're seeing. The image, which is easier to remember than a word, will act as an intermediate between the two languages.

Memory Enhancement Medication

There are several natural supplements out there that help you memorize stuff faster and for a longer period of time, as well as help with concentration during the learning process. Some of the herbs that are known to have a memory enhancing effect include Ashwagandha, Reishi, Ginseng, Bacopa, Mucuna Pruriens or Fo-Ti. Ginseng is one of the most popular in the list and it is widely used as a supplement in language learning classes as well as generally used by students before exams or during the school year. There are no side effects to these herbs but you might be allergic to one, so it is best if you visit your medic before taking any of them, asking if you are allowed or not to start a long or short-term memory enhancement plan.
There are also several vitamins and nutrients that could help out with memorizing new words, the list including: carnitine, lecitine, carnosine, choline, inositol, tyrosine and several others, but these are not the point of our discussion.

Visit http://www.InternetPolyglot.com for word memorizing lessons and games.

New button in the menu

2006-08-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've just placed a new button at the bottom of the left menu. The button looks like this:

My dearest Internet Polyglotter, if you like the site, if you think that using Internet Polyglot helped you in your language learning endeavor, if your vocabulary increased because of using of Internet Polyglot, you know what to do, right? :D

Let me tell you how your donation will be used:

1. We have long lasting plans to place pictures on the site so that words and translations have colorful, eye-pleasing images.
2. We want to have sound in our lessons.
3. We want to improve the game statistics - organize contests.

And lots of other cool things are waiting to make your language learning more efficient and fun. This donation will help make it possible.

How to Improve Your Vocabulary

2006-08-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

Picture learning a new language as building a house from scratch. You can't wait to handle the design, buy the furniture or decorate the rooms, but first you need to go through the hard process of actually raising it from the ground. The vocabulary of a language is both its foundation and it contains the words that you will have to use as "bricks" when building it and although it's not crucial to have a huge amount of bricks, the more you have the bigger the house, hence the higher the comfort. Actually, taking the discussion back to the linguistic field, studies have shown that we only need 100 or so "core words" from a language's vocabulary in order to be able to handle basic communication. But that's comparable to having a single room apartment, when you might need a 2 story villa, so we need to see how we can improve the number of bricks we can use :).

I'm presuming you already have a relatively solid grasp of the basic vocabulary of the language you're trying to enhance, or we wouldn't be talking about "improving" one's vocabulary but rather on how to learn it from scratch. If you've learnt the language from a course book or with the help of some online lessons, you probably have a limited amount of basic words, since these courses focus on a little bit of everything, including spelling, grammar, pronunciation and so forth, leaving little room to concentrate strictly on your vocabulary.

Reading and listening are two of the most important ways of increasing your vocabulary in a specific language. Whenever you have the chance to listen to someone speaking that language, or if you get your hands on some article written in it, make sure you do your best to understand it, focusing on the words that you don't know. If you can't "guess" them out of the context, have a dictionary near you to help you out with these new words. Especially if you're reading instead of listening, make sure you get the pronunciation right for the new words (dictionaries usually offer the pronunciation of the word besides its translation).

Another good way to increase your vocabulary is to engage in interactive activities in that particular foreign language. Educational games can be a fun way of expanding your word pool as well as playing a computer game in that language, trying to relate what's happening on the screen with what you're reading/hearing in case you stumble on some new words.

Last but not least, you could practice what language courses call the "A new word each day" game. Make it a habit to look up a new word in the dictionary each day and memorize it. Of course, you shouldn't stop at rare, practically useless words; instead, focus on commonly used words that are new to you, words that you actually have the chance of using in day-to-day conversation. If you combine this method with other vocabulary improvement ones, the daily amount of new words will probably be high enough to make it count, but small enough to not overload your memory with stuff that you are just going to forget the next day.

Increase your foreign language vocabulary at http://www.InternetPolyglot.com by playing online games. The site contains thousands of lessons in different languages from English, Spanish, French, Russian to Hindi, Turkish, Ukrainian and many others.

Home Versus Travel-based Language Learning

2006-08-03T15:50:00.000-07:00

When you’ve set your mind on learning a new language, you are in the position to choose how to start learning it. You basically have three options: starting a practical home-based language learning course (possibly an online one), starting a so-called “travel-based” learning experience that would have you travel to a country speaking the language you intend to learn for at least a couple of weeks, or a combination of the two. We’ll try to dissect these two language learning methods and compare them to see which one is best (or which one is more appropriate for you).

First of all, home-based language courses have two great advantages: they’re cheaper and they’re more comfortable. Regardless of the language you’re learning, you’ll most likely find dozens of “Learn it yourself” course books as they are in high demand. If they’re structured correctly, these courses can actually build a solid foundation for the foreign language you’re learning if you can spend enough time and energy to truly focus on each lesson and tackle any problems you might be hindered by.

If you prefer, you also have the option of taking a free online language course provided by one of the many sites focusing on language learning (such as Internet Polyglot for example). These free online courses are even more comfortable (and cheaper of course) than if you would learn from a course book but they can sometimes be less structured, which makes it extremely important to focus on finding an excellent course to take on, rather than simply start with the first one that turns up in your search engine for the phrase “free online language course”. If possible, find an online language course that offers both written lessons and spoken ones (through E-media). They are extremely useful in correlating spelling with pronunciation and generally getting you used to the language you’re about to learn (not to mention that stimulating two senses, hearing and seeing, doubles the effect of the learning process).

Travel based language learning methods on the other hand are definitely more expensive and they might disrupt your daily routine. They are usually taken in vacation periods, but if you work online for example, you might even set up a small “office” in the country you’re aiming to learn the language of. This way you can keep to your daily duties and start learning at the same time.

The advantage of a travel based language is obvious. By getting plunged straight into an oasis of foreign words, your brain will focus on adapting and understanding the new language a lot better. Correlations between images and words are made a lot easier in this case and even a short trip to the supermarket for example, will get you to learn a few words and get you used with the new language. In a couple of weeks, you’ll already be able to say some of the basic words and some phrases and if the travel period is longer you have every chance of being able to conduct a short conversation with basic words successfully.

To conclude, it must be said that neither of these methods can guarantee you’ll be a fluent speaker of the new language after they are “complete”. Their purpose is solely to create a basic foundation for the new language, a foundation that will be useful later on if you want to further focus on the language and actually learn it in detail. Each method has some strong points (grammar and spelling for home-based, pronunciation for travel-based) and some weak points (pronunciation for home-based and spelling for travel-based for example), which may lead to the idea that a combination of the two is the best way to go, since they complement each other quite well.

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