Language Learning & Music

I agree with Michael Hofmann, author, poet and translator who wrote in the British newspaper, The Guardian, about the importance of foreign language education. I am glad the US is not following the UK...

My hero in brain work, Dr. Oliver Sacks, shows us in his New York Times Opinion piece how learning can help us grow our brains, at any age. This Year, Change Your Mind: Don’t leave...

In his book, Healthy Aging, Dr. Andrew Weil recommends learning a foreign language as a way to prevent Alzheimers. From the ABC News story, "Learning a Foreign Language Can Help You Live Longer": "Weil believes that...

As part of the Smashwords.com ebook retailer's Summer Sale, my ebooks are free during the month of July!

A couple weeks ago, I got some criticism for my imperfect Russian in a Russian-language Facebook forum that had linked to my Russian language video about using music and media to learn languages. Here's my...

We've probably heard of people improving their conversation skills in a language over a meal. I'm reversing the trend. Portuguese vocabulary goes up and the inches melt away. (Let me be ambitious and count in...

Learning a language with various regional varieties or dialects means choosing which accent(s) to learn. In this video with Richard Simcott and Luca Lampariello, we talk about how we chose which accent to learn...

January not only brought in a new year, it brought in three new books! First, I updated Language is Music with about 30 new tips on language learning using music, TV, radio, movies and other...

This Daily Show clip is hilarious! There is controversy at Hacienda Middle School in California. Some adults are afraid that having kids learn Mandarin will indoctrinate them into being Communists. It's sad to see that people are actually scared about this. McCarthyism all over again? Thanks Aasif Mandvi of the Daily Show for pointing out their idiocy.

Here’s a great show in Portuguese about the healing effects of music. Musicoterapia e a energia que vem dos sons (Music therapy and the energy that comes from sounds) from Caminhos Alternativos from the Brazilian...