The PolyBlogon
Tommy’s Home for Language Geeks
What language should I learn?
There are many practical obstacles that language learners face on a regular basis. Between figuring out grammatical minutia, finding time to practice, and figuring out how to best retain vocabulary, it's fair to say that there's a lot that any aspiring polyglot has to...
Why are Americans so terrible at learning languages?
I was born and raised in the United States. Growing up in a rather rural area of the country, I didn't have a whole lot of cultural exposure or top-grade resources for learning a language. So it wasn't until I got to University and started studying German that I...
The one thing every aspiring polyglot must do online to increase their abilities and confidence!
I've often told people that the most difficult obstacle that any aspiring polyglot or language-student will face is learning to be okay with making mistakes in front of people. In fact, learning a language without ever being corrected by somebody is nearly impossible!...
I fell in love with my native language first
Long before I fell in love with the polyglot lifestyle or had studied even one secondary language, I had an absolute infatuation with my first language - English. I loved finding new words with which to express myself; I loved analyzing how various authors and poets...
Why I stopped answering the question “Are you fluent?”
So how do you know when you’re fluent? What does “being fluent” even mean?
How to stop switching back to your native language when practicing a language with native speakers
One of the most difficult things about learning a new language is overcoming the nervousness that one feels when trying to converse with native speakers. In fact, I'd argue that the biggest obstacle facing anyone trying to learn a foreign language is their own fear of...
Start speaking when you aren’t ready
The first foreign language I ever studied was German. As soon as I had started learning, I became absolutely enchanted by this newfound art of communication! Everything I did and everything I loved for several years involved German somehow. Every conversation I had...
The most important noun you’ll ever learn in any language
When taking on a new language, we often pour most of our energy into learning verbs and pronouns. And for good reason - learning personal pronouns and a handful of the most common verbs unlock hundreds of possible sentences. "He trusts her." "I see it." "I love you."...
“Is that a word?”
One of the funniest things about the human race, is how much time we spend arguing over whether or not things we say qualify as words. In fact, if I were to ask everyone reading this whether or not terms such as "yeet," "funner," or even "ain't" are actual words,...