In today’s newsletter:
🔸 How much should you spend to learn a language?
🔸 A resource for watching videos
🔸 A discussion on people who don’t learn the language of the place where they live
Hey Reader,
With the Polyglot conference global wrapped up, I’ve found myself back to focusing heavily on content for Mondecast. My presentation focused on moderating the Reddit r/languagelearning community, how and why we do it, and how the guide on Mondecast came about in the first place. If you’re interested, it actually used to be a FAQ article! Back in the earlier days, one of the most common questions was people asking how to learn, and I decided people needed a more structured and complete answer than the smattering of advice you would get if you made a post.
And then I just kept on writing. Before long it was far too big for the wiki and I moved it away, eventually making it into a book. Et voilà.
Did you know you can reply to this email? I read every response, and interesting responses can be featured in future editions.
🛠️Resource spotlight: Language Player
This neat resource helps you learn by watching videos in your target language, giving you definitions using subtitles. It features a great catalogue so is useful for finding new things to watch. The catalogue is free but using it for subtitles need a subscription.
💡Mondecast feature: How much should you spend to learn a language?
I posted this a while back, but it bears reposting for those those who weren’t around. Ever wonder how much you should spend to learn a language? At the end I come out with a handy table, which is an approximate cost combined with an order to prioritise your spending. Here’s the table:
Resource | Average cost per month | Running total per month | Priority |
All free resources | $0 | $0 | Essential |
+ 1 course app/book | $10-20 | $10-20 | High |
+ a tutor (1x/week) | $20-40 | $30-60 | Medium |
+ learner content | $5-10 | $35-70 | Medium |
+ reading/vocab tools | $5-10 | $40-80 | Medium |
+ a streaming service | $10-20 | $50-100 | Low |
+ a second tutor (1x/week) | $20-40 | $70-140 | Optional |
🌐Language learning
Luca Lampariello on how to learn vocabulary.
Over on r/languagelearning, this user thinks it’s a shame when people don’t learn the language of the place where they live. Agree or disagree?
Met a guy in Japan. He lived there for 30 years. Didn't know anything beyond greetings and thank you… THIRTY YEARS
💻From around the web:
How do we know Hindi, Greek, and English all come from the same language?
Why doesn't Chinese borrow words?
Mondecast is a bi-weekly newsletter about people: their lives, their languages, and their cultures
Follow Mondecast