learning another language

i don't think i have enough life left for my language learning needs but if i did, and i could, shona would be right up there. for no good reason other than the loveliness of it upon the tongue. check it out 

learning old english

 

i'm not going to lie, super handy as this wee vid is, starting with such an avalanche of grammar is offputting for one who suffered from an education that  put the value on fun rather than utility!

an abundances of resources here tho, from medievalists, for learning old english. if only there was something similar for middle english!

easy spanish

 easy spanish is a great way of just listening to spanish people (with a wide variety of accents) actually speaking. there's spanish and english subtitles should you need them plus it's a good way of stepping away from that constant tense learning and looking at the way people actually speak! i tend to listen more to the podcast these days than watch the youtube channel but both are equally handy in their own ways 

and in french....

 it's not that i don't listen to french, i'm just not focused on it right now. that said, if you want a bright spot in your day here's this guy. it's super simple but he's just so cheery and upbeat i make sure i have a space in my day for him. and yes, occasionally i do sing along! lol 

his instagram feed is way better. here he is with some donkeys

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CeYObFzoF1b/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D&fbclid=IwAR3IU1tKvndK6XN4HYe8booSvrIRg51zF7lmCOduiLzLV_6PrxsxxYv1Uso

things i listen to when i'm not listening in english

after the gia fu post the other day i'm realising just how useful i'm finding listening to salsa as a means to improving my spanish comprehension.  oddly i find podcasts a bit more tricky but if i watch them and i can see faces i find it slightly easier. this has been a mainstay over the giro. 

i like it because johan bruyneel is a 2nd/3rd language speaker and the other two are latin american which, as i started out with latin spanish, is easier on my ear. for full fat castilian i've been doing this. i'm not going to lie, captions are handy! 

with swedish i stick to my old favourites. youtube isn't as learner friendly as the svt.se version but that's only available in sweden for the most part.

i'm finding italian a delight but my level is much lower! lol but, you've got to start somewhere and right now matilda e filippo are about as far as i can go! 

duolingo and the like can form a good base for vocabulary aquisition (although duolingo on its own, as far as grammar goes, is a shocker) but it's useful to diversify, tune your ear, sing along!

*fear not francophones. my french isn't dead yet, i'm just not practicing much