Language Learning Blog

Yiddish Words and Expressions Adopted Into English

Pimsleur Approach • May 10, 2012 • Foreign Language, German, Hebrew, Language History, Language Learning • Comments (1)

Image via amazon.com Think English is the only language you know? If you’ve ever eaten a bagel, done something with schmaltz, or referred to someone’s schnoz (nose), it turns out you speak a little bit of Yiddish. Yiddish is a language that is a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Slavic influences spoken [...]

Going, Going…Saved: Four Successful Language Revivals

Pimsleur Approach • April 25, 2012 • Foreign Language, Foreign Literature, Global, Language History, Language Learning • Comments (0)

It is a statistic that has linguists and linguaphiles alike wringing their hands and furrowing their brows. Almost half the world’s 7000 languages are likely to disappear in the 21st century. Shockingly, a language dies out about once every two weeks. But does it matter? Surely, with the increasing dominance of English, Spanish and Chinese, [...]

The Romance Languages

Pimsleur Approach • December 22, 2011 • Language History • Comments (2)

Romance languages, such as French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Romanian are all ironically descendant from Vulgar Latin, or, the language of the common people of ancient Rome. Vulgar Latin is distinct from Classical Latin, a mostly written form of Latin used exclusively by the upper classes. Vulgar Latin was spoken primarily by forced ex-patriots, soldiers [...]

Language: An Ever-Evolving Creature

Pimsleur Approach • September 21, 2011 • Language History, Language Learning • Comments (1)

If you have gone through the educational system in the United States, or a variety of other countries, you have undoubtedly had a moment when you were faced with a Shakespearean play in English class and had absolutely no idea what the characters were talking about. If you were lucky, your teacher would play the [...]

5 Great Castles of Germany

Pimsleur Approach • August 9, 2011 • German, Language History, Traditions • Comments (0)

With a staggering 25,000 castles to choose from, Germany is a hot spot for the romantic in you. Let’s face it-we’ve all pretended to be a queen, king, prince or princess at some point in our lives. Who wouldn’t want to roam around a massive stone structure with turrets, winding staircases, dungeons, libraries, enormous bedrooms, [...]