Grandparents -

When I started learning Swedish two years ago, I learned that they make a distinction between paternal and maternal grandparents. This is not something we do in English, French, Italian or Spanish. Allow me to Illustrate

Swedish    Mormor and Morfar ( maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather)
                  Farmor and Farfar    (paternal grandmother and paternal grandfather)

Yesterday while walking with the boys, I started listening to Living Language Mandarin Chinese. I moved from Pimsleur to Living Language this week. So I started at the very beginning. They went over many words that I already knew, and then added some words that I do not know. (Remember that I always recommend using more than one language program.) I learned that the Chinese do the same thing as the Swedes. They make a distinction between paternal and maternal grandparents. 

Chinese  
                    
    祖父                      gong gong                         (informal) father´s father, paternal grandfather

外公

wài gōng

(informal) mother's father; maternal grandfather

外婆

wài pó

(informal) mother's mother; maternal grandmother

奶奶

nǎi nai

(informal) father's mother; paternal grandmother

It is a delicious idea, - some cultures find it necessary to make these distinctions while others do not. Some cultures find it necessary to be specific while others do not.  If you would like to know how your target language addresses grandparents, check out this blog Name Nerds. 

Russian Maps

One thing I have always loved doing is looking at maps. Today I made a collection of different maps of Russia. I looked at physical, political, ethnic and many more Russian maps. They are linked below for your viewing pleasure.

Thai Alphabet and Characters in Photos

How to learn French

Since the inception of this blog I have written about languages that I have never studied, like Armenian, Polish and Hungarian. I write about the philosophy and science of language learning. I have also given some great pointers about how to effectively take notes and study. Today, I decided to share with you how I came to learn French.

First, let me just say that I did not want to learn French in high school. My school only offered French and Spanish - I was interested in neither. I wanted to learn Italian. I thought Italian was much cooler and sexier than French or Spanish. Being the impractical person that I was, I chose French because it was more exotic than Spanish. I thought speaking Spanish did not make me ´special´enough. Yeah, I know what you must be thinking. How vain! I have to admit that you are right. I was mostly concerned with being unique and different than being practical. The only redeeming thing I can say about that, is that I was true to myself. I did not do things just because others did it. I followed what made me happy.

Armenian Alphabet in photos

Continue Reading This Blog for more Photos and Instructional Armenian Videos 

let the tones grow on you

The 10,000 hour rule

Outliers - The Story of Success 

The Rule of 10,000 hours states one must do a skill for 10,000 hours before they can claim Mastery. This comes from the book Outliers, by Maxwell Gladwell.Gladwell examines the factors that contribute to success of those who operate at the extreme outer edge of what is statistically plausible. Polyglots fall right into this niche.