Languages Online: The Best of December 2017

Happy new year, everyone! We're back this year with a look at the very last month of last year. As per usual, we have our monthly look at our 10 favourite articles, posts, or news stories from around the web. Let's get to it!

10: Language learning experts’ top tips and advice of 2017 on 5 Minute Language

Given that it's January, you might have a resolution to learn a foreign language (or another!). With this in mind, 5 Minute Language put together a list of great advice for you.

9: A totally tubular guide to the language of Stranger Things on Oxford Dictionaries

If, like me, you watched the second season of Stranger Things, you'll have no doubt picked up on some of the interesting slang and vocabulary they used throughout the show. In this article by Oxford Dictionaries, you can see just where some of the series' most important vocabulary and expressions comes from.

8: 23 Fun German Interjections: from Ätsch to Igitt! on Fluent on 3 Months

Whether you're learning German or already an expert, it never hurts to learn how to express interjections for joy, surprise, or happiness and this article has a good selection of them!

7: To save dying languages, use ‘evolutionary trees’ on Futurity

While we often say that languages are dead or living, you probably wouldn't think that biology could help that much, right? Wrong! There's an argument for using 'evolutionary trees', a tool from conservation biology, to help us save languages that would otherwise be on their way out.

6: Language of the Rohingya to be digitised: 'It legitimises the struggle' on The Guardian

The stateless Rohingya people in Myanmar cannot use digital communication in their own language since there's no digital version of their writing system (unlike the Latin alphabet you're reading now). However, plans to give them a digital script of their own could greatly help them as well.

5: 14 of my Favorite Quotes About Language on Eurolinguiste

If you've just started learning your first foreign language, this is one post that you should definitely consider looking at. If you're struggling with the language that you're currently learning, take inspiration from some of these great quotes.

4: Learn a Language By Reading: 5 Easy-to-Follow Steps on Fluent in 3 Months

If you're an avid reader, here's some great information for how you can use reading materials in order to help you learn a language.

3: How to Choose Language Learning Resources on Eurolinguiste

There are a lot of language learning resources out there. Luckily for you, this article on Eurolinguiste has advice on choosing the right ones.

2: The battle to make French a “gender-neutral language” is emphasizing the country’s inherent sexism on Quartz

The debate on whether the French language needs a gender-neutral form rages on and shows no signs of slowing down. Now people are wondering just how sexist France is a result. An interesting read.

1: Wales launches strategy to double number of Welsh speakers by 2050 on The Guardian

Our top article of the month focused on the Welsh language and efforts to make this minority language more widely-spoken as part of a number of government programmes in the UK.

If there were any great articles or or resources we missed, feel free to tell us about them in the comments below.

Languages Online: The Best of November 2017

Here are our favourite stories about language from last month. Let's dive straight in...

10: 6 Steps To Listen Your Way To A Better Accent In Any Language on I Will Teach You a Language

If you're struggling with accurately replicating the accent in your foreign language, this article shows you how to do it by just listening. While it only features 4 steps when we first published it on our Facebook Page, two more steps have been added. This article just keeps on giving.

9: Kazakhstan Is Changing Its Alphabet - Here's Why on The Independent

This article covers the news that Kazakhstan is looking to adopt the Latin alphabet. While the country has traditionally used the Russian Cyrillic script, decisions have been made to use the same alphabet as many countries in the West do in order to improve the country's global integration.

8: J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' Translated To Scots, Marking 80th Language on NPR

Harry Potter fans north of the border (if you're in the UK) should rejoice at the news that the first book has been translated into Scots. You should listen to the interview on NPR to hear a sample of it.

7: We put Google's new language-translation headphones to the test with 10 different languages — here’s how they did on Business Insider

There's been a lot of buzz about Google's headphones and how they'll do away with translators by giving everyone access to live interpreting wherever they go. However, as Business Insider found out, they're not ideal.

6: Why written languages look alike the world over on Science

While you wouldn't say that the Latin alphabet and the Cyrillic script are the same (Kazakhstan is looking to change from the latter to the former, after all), there are a number of characters in both that have very common roots. In this article, you'll find out why there are so many similarities between human writing systems.

5: No more middots: French PM clamps down on gender-neutral language on The Guardian

The French language's latest controversy comes in the form of gender. French is now trying to include gender-neutral versions of words to rectify the problem with middots, a punctuation mark that looks like a full-stop but in the middle of a line. Traditionalists, including the French PM, are not happy.

4: Five languages Brexit Britons should learn on Financial Times

Without trying to speculate on the future of the UK, it's fair to say that it probably wouldn't be able to survive as an isolated nation like North Korea. This means that languages are still going to be useful in the future and here's an interesting article on which languages might be useful for those in the UK.

3: From inboxing to thought showers: how business bullshit took over on The Guardian

If you're like me and you hate business English, you should definitely check out this article. Unfortunately, it looks like the ridiculous use of English employed in offices and boardrooms around the country isn't going anywhere, though.

2: What are the Most Spoken Languages in the World? on Fluent in 3 Months

Which is the most spoken language in the world? Should you just count native speakers or should you consider how many people speak it as a foreign language? What about those who learn the language as a foreign language? There are a lot of questions to answer just to answer a seemingly-simple question. This article aims to address a few of them.

1: A ‘critical juncture’ for language learning in the UK on Times Higher Education

Our most popular article this month was on the future of learning languages in the UK. As you may have heard, the UK is leaving the European Union. With a potentially-massive political shift occurring, the UK has a lot of questions to answer about how it's going to conduct itself in the future and how it teaches foreign languages is one of the biggest questions.

Were there any great language articles in November that we missed? Feel free to tell us and our readers about them in the comments below.

Languages Online: The Best of October 2017

Let's have a look back at the best stories from around the month of October.

10: How Italians Influenced a South American Dialect on BBC

Why is Argentine Spanish seemingly so different to a lot of the other dialects of Spanish? It might have something to do with Italian. Find out more in this article.

9: How Long Does It Take To Learn Italian? An Honest Guide For Beginners on I Will Teach You a Language

If the first article in this list whet your appetite for learning Italian, you should have a look at this article on learning Italian. The article covers the different approaches to learning Italian and the best ways to tackle it.

8: 6 Epic Translation Fails on BBC

We can't stress enough how important getting a good translation is. However, if you feel like having a laugh at when it goes wrong, you should read this article.

7: Why We Hate the Word 'Moist' on SciShow Pysch

This video on psychology has a look at the reasons behind most people's aversion to the word "moist" which regularly tops lists of the most hated words in English.

6: Mimic Method Review: Will You Sound More Like a Native Speaker? on Fluent in 3 Months

If you're thinking about trying the Mimic Method, you should read up on it on in this article. It comes highly recommended!

5: Professional translators aren't worried about Google's language-translating headphones on Business Insider

Following the news that Google's pixel buds can translate between a number of languages, it turns out that most translators and interpreters aren't starting to look for new jobs.

4: An argument over the evolution of language, with high stakes on The Economist

There are plenty of linguists who agree on when human languages developed. However, there's one who completely disagrees and says that languages evolved at the same time as humans did around 1.9m years ago.

3: The Complete Guide To French Pronunciation: Lose Your Accent & Pronounce French Words Like A Native on I Will Teach You a Language

For those learning French, this is an article you have to read. There are plenty of tips and tricks for those wanting to improve their accent.

2: Google’s translation headphones are here, and they’re going to start a war on The Guardian

With Google's new translating headphones, there's the risk of translation errors cropping up. What's the risk when this happens? This opinion piece on them has the answer.

1: 30+ Blogging Vocabulary Terms in French on Eurolinguiste

Our most popular language piece of the month comes from Eurolinguiste. If you're into French and would like to learn more about the terms they use for blogging, you should definitely give this article a glance.

If there are any other articles or links that you think we should have included, feel free to tell us about them in the comment below.

Languages Online: The Best of August 2017

It's once again time to take a look at some of the best stuff we found on languages from the last month. Let's get to it!

10: The Language Learning Curve: What’s the Best Way for You to Improve Your Language Skills on Fluent in 3 Months 

Another great article from one of our favourite language websites. If you're wondering about learning a language, how difficult it is, and what it takes, this is an article you have to read!

9: How to sound like a native speaker in a foreign language on 5 Minute Language

Getting the accent right in a foreign language can be tricky. This article includes some interesting views on accents as well as tips and tricks for making your accent better.

8: Knowing more than one language could give you an edge in your career on Business Insider

There are plenty of benefits to learning foreign languages. Find out how speaking another language could do wonders when it comes to jobs.

7: Why English is such a great language for puns on The Economist

If you love wordplay and puns as much as I do, you'll probably want to read this article on them and how there are a number of linguistic reasons why puns work so well in English.

6: 5 Books Every Language Learner Should Read on 5 Minute Language

According to 5 Minute Language, you can make things easier by reading these 5 books. Which ones are they? You'll just have to read the article.

5: Just speaking English won’t get us very far in the world on The Guardian

This article is a fascinating look at the benefits of learning languages as well as all the disadvantages of not doing so. You should definitely read this article if you're still not sold on speaking a foreign language.

4: Where speaking several languages is a given on BBC

This article from the BBC has a look at a few people from multilingual places from around the world. It's an interesting read for anyone who grew up in a predominately monolingual place like I did.

There's a reason it's Little Red Riding Hood.

3: Women in Translation Month: Books you need to read by women around the world on Metro

With August being Women in Translation Month, the Metro brought us a list of translated works that everyone should read. Check it out!

2: Why is there a difference between ‘hung’ and ‘hanged’? on Oxford Dictionaries

If you're a language enthusiast like myself, these are the kind of questions that keep you up at night. Fortunately, the Oxford Dictionaries' blog had it covered in this article on lexical differences.

1: The language rules we know - but we don't know we know on BBC

If you're a native English speaker, you can often just tell when things aren't right. There are tonnes of "rules" in this article that you didn't know you knew and we didn't either!

Were there any other interesting language articles we missed? Tell us about them in the comments!

Languages Online: The Best of July 2017

As it's the start of a new month, we're back with some of the internet's best stories and content from last month. Let's have a look:

10: Pollie-speak: 9 uniquely Australian political terms on Oxford Dictionaries

The Oxford Blog brought us some fascinating terms on Australian political speak in this article. Do you know your barbecue stopper from your wombat's tail? Don't worry if you don't! Find out about these interesting English terms in this article.

9: 7 Ways to Embrace Mistakes When Speaking a Foreign Language on I Will Teach You a Language

Anyone learning a language will appreciate this one. While making mistakes in a foreign language can be embarrassing, you should own those mistakes and use them to improve your foreign language skills. This article tells you how!

8: 5 Obscure Words For Everyday Feelings And Emotions on Mental Floss

You ever had a feeling you can't put into words? This article explaining words for weird sensations and feelings might help!

7: Raising a Truly Bilingual Child on The New York Times

Whether you're having a baby, trying to raise one bilingual, or just interested in child language acquisition, this is an article you should be reading!

ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

6: Cantonese v Mandarin: When Hong Kong languages get political on The BBC

This article discusses the languages spoken in Hong Kong and how the linguistic landscape has changed since the UK handed it back over to China in 1997.

5: Do you want fries with that? Data shows Americanization of English is rising on The Guardian

If you're American, this won't bother you. However, if you're a speaker of British English, you may feel a little annoyed. It turns out that English is becoming more and more American but that doesn't mean that there's anything to worry about.

4: End Result Irrelevant on Itchy Feet

We just love the comics on Itchy Feet. Especially this one! (You should also check out their Kickstarter for their travel card game here.

3: Bilingual Baby: How to Teach Your Baby Two Languages on Fluent in 3 Months 

Here's another article on child language acquisition. However, the article's focus is on making your baby bilingual. If you're interested in raising your child in a multilingual environment, here's how!

2: Babies can understand the difference between two languages while in the womb, scientists find on The Independent 

According to a recent study, babies can distinguish languages before they can even speak them. Check out this intriguing article about the study carried out by the University of Kansas.

1: We still have no idea why humans speak over 7,000 languages on Quartz

This month's most popular piece is an article on what would seem like a non-story. It turns out we don't know why there are so many languages in the world! If you'd like to know more about why we don't know stuff, you should check out this article.

Were there any other articles or content online this month that we should have featured? Tell us about them in the comments below.

Languages Online: The Best of May 2017

It's that time again where we have a look at some of the best language content to hit our screens over the last lunar cycle.

10 - International Greetings: How to Say “Hello” in 29 Languages on FluentIn3Months.

This content comes from one of our favourite language sites. "Hello" and its equivalents in other languages are some of the most common words we use. However, we barely think about them. In this article, you can see their origins and what they mean.

9 - CEFR Levels: What They Are, Why They Matter, and How to Test Yourself on FluentIn3Months.

Have you ever wondered why people say they're A2, B1, etc. when it comes to speaking languages? This is because of the CEFR Levels used to gauge language ability. In this article, you can find out all about them and how to find out what level you are.

8 - The Lost Cockney Voice on BBC.

This interesting radio broadcast talks about the Cockney accent, how it's disappearing, and why. A fascinating listen and something you can put on in the background while you work, too!

7 - Ill-gotten gains – why Americanisms are a boon for the British on The Guardian.

Why do the British hate Americanisms so much? It's kind of weird given how many of them are just English expressions that fell out of use. Additionally, there are plenty of Americanisms we use without even realising. This article has it covered.

6 - From rage-quit to sweatying it: the language of childhood in 2017 on Oxford Dictionaries

Not sure what kids are talking about these days? Me neither! In this interesting article, you'll find out about some of the weird and wonderful words the youngest generation are using.

5 - Why a foul mouth can be a force for good on The Guardian.

Though controversial, swearing can be a powerful thing. After an interesting psychological discovery, this author gives her thoughts on why swearing is so powerful.

(Source: Dan Chung/The Guardian)

4 - Strong language: swearing makes you stronger, psychologists confirm on The Guardian

Ever stood on a piece of Lego with no shoes on? If you didn't swear, I salute you. However, it might've been a good idea to do so since psychologists have discovered that swearing both makes you stronger and increases your tolerance for pain. Read more about it here.

3 - Acento Misterioso on Itchy Feet

Numbers 3 and 2 this month both come from Itchy Feet, a great comic about languages and travelling. If you're learning Spanish, you'll enjoy this one!

2 - Just Do It on Itchy Feet

The second comic in our list from Itchy Feet is fantastic. Remember, confidence can go a long way when speaking a foreign language!

1 - La politique: French political vocabulary in English on Oxford Dictionaries

Since France headed to the polls earlier this month, it's no surprise this article made it to number 1 this month. It's surprising how many French words and ideas made their way into English political terminology. Find out more about it here.

Were there any interesting stories that we missed? Tell us about them in the comments below.

Languages Online: The Best of April 2017

There was some fantastic language content last month. Let's have a look back at the best language and culture content from the last month!

10 - How Do Babies Become Bilingual? on SciShow Pysch

While this is a psychology YouTube channel, this month it included some linguistics content. This is an interesting video about child language acquisition and how their brains work when they learn a second language. Watch the video below:

9 - How to Speak French: The Faster Way to Learn French on FluentIn3Months

If you're struggling to learn French language and grammar, you should make your life a little easier with these fantastic tips from Benny the Irish polyglot! This article is highly recommended for any French learner but a lot of these tips could be used to gain proficiency in many different languages. Either way, you'll be fluent in no time!

8 - 8 Signs You’re Addicted to Learning Languages on 5 Minute Language

If you're like us, you're probably already a self-confessed linguaholic. However, if you have any doubts, this article should clear everything up for you!

7 - Why Games Are an Important Language Learning Tool on Eurolinguiste

Since we love languages, learning them doesn't bother us. However, not everyone acquiring a new language finds it fun. In these instances, games can be a great way to make them enjoyable. Not convinced? If you want to learn a language or if you teach one, you should check out this article on Eurolinguiste and see how games are a crucial part of language instruction.

6 - What on earth is a mugwump? on Oxford Dictionaries

With the UK going back to the polls on 8 June, the political mud is being slung. Boris Johnson took one of the first swings by calling Jeremy Corbyn (Leader of the Labour Party) "a mutton-headed old mugwump". But what is it? I have no idea and I'm a native speaker of English! Thankfully, you can find out in this article!

5 - 10+ French Books, Songs, TV Shows, and Films to Improve Your French Language Skills on Eurolinguiste

This article is great if you're learning the language of love and looking for more media. If your linguistic journey starts to plateau or your language courses need a boost, exposing yourself to media in the target language is a great way to gain fluency.

4 - What Is the Easiest Language to Learn? on 5 Minute Language

While there is no single answer, this article provides some fascinating insights into which languages might be easier for you to learn. If you're set on learning a new language, you should choose to learn a language from this article!

3 - 5 Phrasal Verbs You Need to Know to Speak English Like a Native on 5 Minute Language

If English isn't your native language, this article's for you. Those of us who speak English as our first language love phrasal verbs and if you want to learn to speak the English language fluently, here are 5 phrasal verbs you should make part of your vocabulary.

2 - Do you pronounce 'scone' to rhyme with 'cone' or 'gone'? It depends where you're from on The Guardian

In my opinion, this might be the most important language debate taking place in the UK. Like most English pronunciation, it depends on your dialect! If you're still wondering how to pronounce "scone", you should check this article out.

1 - Bad language: why being bilingual makes swearing easier on The Guardian

Finally, this month's most popular language content came from The Guardian. Bilinguals apparently find some of our ruder phrases easier to say. Why is that? Find out by reading this fascinating article.

Were there any great articles this month that our readers would love? Tell us about them in the comments!

Languages Online: The Best of March 2017

Today we're looking back at some of the best online content from last month. Here are our top 10 language articles from March 2017:

10 - No More Excuses! How to Stop Whining and Start Learning a Language on Fluent in 3 Months

There are plenty of excuses we give ourselves in order to hamper our language-learning journey. In this article, Benny Lewis tells us the common excuses made by language learners and why we should ignore them!

9 - How to Create a Language Hacker’s Cheat Sheet on Fluent in 3 Months

In another article from Fluent in 3 Months, James Granahan tells us how to create a cheat sheet, what it's good for, questions to include, and some of the "get out of jail free cards" you can use. A definite read for anyone just starting on their language-learning journey.

Photograph: David Elsworth / Alamy/Alamy

8 - ‘Golly’, ‘cassette’ and ‘croquet’: the words we no longer use on The Guardian

Words come and go. The words from this article are definitely those that are going. Those of a certain age, myself included, will be a little saddened at the loss of some of these words. However, I'm not going to lose any sleep over "golly", "gosh", and "blimey" and "gadzooks" falling out of favour.

7 - Learning a language in later life: are you ever too old? on The Guardian

Another one of the excuses we use in order to avoid learning a language. Are you ever too old to learn a language? We don't think so, and neither did Ronald Williams, who started learning Welsh when he was 70 (he's 85 now!).

6 - Can Learning Another Language Boost Your Empathy? on FastCompany

When you learn a language, do you also learn to better understand the feelings of others? This article by Eric M. Ruiz is an interesting read.

5 - 3 habits of successful language learners on TechCrunch

By looking at the habits of Duolingo users, Burr Settle and Masato Hagiwara ascertained three ways to become a successful language learner. If you're learning a language, you should take note of these habits and try to replicate them.

4 - 6 Things You Need to Stop Doing Immediately if You Want to Get Fluent on 5-Minute Language

When we're not making excuses, we may be making huge mistakes. This article by Agnieszka Murdoch includes 6 of the mistakes that we need to avoid if we're to have any chance of becoming fluent in the languages we're learning.

3 - A High School's Lesson For Helping English Language Learners Get To College on NPR

This radio segment from Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations has a look at how a programme in a high school in Indiana is helping Burmese students to learn English as well as more about the country they're living in.

2 - How to revive a 500-year-old dying language on BBC

This article by Tessa Wong tells the fascinating story of language revival. The Kristang language, which is a creole of Portuguese and Malay, has been in decline since it became economically irrelevant for its speakers.

1 -  Feel more fun in French? Your personality can change depending on the language you speak on Quartz

Fun in French? Sexy in Spanish? Do you feel like your personality changes depending on the languages you're speaking? If so, you should definitely read this article by Nicola Prentis!

Were there any interesting language articles from March that we should have included? Tell us about them in the comments below! We'd love to read them!

Languages Online: The Best of February 2017

Usually at the start of the month we do "languages in the news". However, since there is so much fantastic language content online, we're now calling it "Languages Online". Let's get started with the best stuff from February.

Cambridge University Press had a fascinating article on "uptalk", what it is, what it's for, and why we use it. If you'd like to read more about "uptalk", you can read the Cambridge article here.

The Guardian's website had an infuriating article on the office jargon we love to hate. If you have enough bandwidth, you can read the article here. There was also an interesting article on Eight words that reveal the sexism at the heart of the English language.

The Independent brought us interesting insights into "alternative facts" and the malleability of meaning in languages. If you'd like to read more on the subject, click here.

As usual, Fluent In 3 Months (FI3M) had plenty of great articles. Some of our favourites from Benny included articles on excuses languages learners make, common Skype language exchange mistakes, and German words we need in English.

There were also articles on FI3M from other writers on subjects including: how to improve your writing, top tips and reasons to learn Italian, and how to create a language hacker's cheat sheet.

Finally, Eurolinguiste brought us plenty of great blog posts. We particularly enjoyed Shannon's article on getting the most out of your language lessons and the hard truth, there are no shortcuts to learning a language!

Did you read any interesting content on languages last month? If so, share them with us in the comments below!