TEDx: Music + language (songs) activate our brains, hearts and souls.
Alas, my TEDx talk on why we need to learn foreign languages and save endangered languages via music has been posted online.
Ode to imperfection: why trying to be perfect is counter-productive to language learning
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...
What does it take to keep a language alive?
Minde, a Portuguese village of 3000 people, has its own language, Minderico.
DSCN1304Minderico developed as a secret language of the textile merchants in the town of Minde. When I heard it, I couldn’t understand anything even though the language has Latin roots.
Video: Why learn Portuguese? Brazil’s economy is flourishing and its culture and people are...
When I first began learning Portuguese, it seemed odd to many people because few American schools, if any, offer Portuguese language classes. Brazil's economy is growing an incredible rate. Foreign investment is flowing in,...
Why you should care about endangered languages
Endangered species. Endangered whales. Endangered languages?
What's an endangered language?
About half of the world's 6000 languages will be extinct in 100 years unless we act to preserve them.
In this video, I explain why you should...
You don’t have to go to Brazil to speak Portuguese or move your hips...
I am constantly working on improving my Portuguese by finding Brazilian cultural events to attend to practice the language, dance, sing and enjoy the company of Brazilians and Brazil lovers.
A typical excuse I hear...
Russia through French eyes: Experiencing life anew in a different language
Rare is the book which envelops my attention, delights me in its prose, makes me re-read passages both for the joy of the flow of the sentences and for the content and strikes a...
Portuguese via Brazilian music
In this lesson, Luciana Lage (of Street Smart Brazil) and I use the song Toda Sexta Feira to teach the days of the week in Portuguese, how to use the words todo/toda, and pronounce...
A musician and polyglot discuss how to learn languages with music
While in Sarajevo last month filming the documentary Saved By Language (about how the endangered language of Ladino saved a Jewish boy's life in World War II), I spent time with my dear friend
Damir...
Listen first, learn later! Research proves my thoughts
Article: New study may revolutionize language learning
The teaching of languages could be revolutionised following ground-breaking research by Victoria University, New Zealand, PhD graduate Paul Sulzberger. Dr Sulzberger has found that the best way to...
