From the internet to the classroom, we’re bombarded with reasons as to why learning a second language is anywhere from challenging to impossible. You’re old or you’re too young; you’re too close to the language or you’re too far away. But is there scientific evidence for any of these claims? Here are some of the most common myths about second language learning.
This fall, during my Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals fellowship, I learned about overcoming my inner Schweinehund, which means my inner Pigdog. No, not CatDog, the beloved Nickelodeon character. Pigdog. Please Google “Schweinehund” for your entertainment. Basically, it’s the inner voice that keep us in our comfort zone and continuously sets our course on autopilot. Don’t cross boundaries, don’t try something new, stick-to-the-status-quo kind of stuff. Sometimes it can be very helpful and knows that jumping off that cliff is indeed a dangerous (possibly fatal) idea. But many times, it is the knot in our chest or the whisper in…
Sometimes, words aren’t enough. That’s why we’ve started collecting untranslatable words and concepts from different languages and translating them on our Instagram page. Here are the words we’ve collected so far. Which words did we miss? Comment on one of the Instagram posts below to let us know.
They say immersion is good for language learning. That’s why I was sent, not to Berlin or Munich, but to a small town called Mosbach in the Neckar-Odenwald valley of South Germany. Through this experience, I learned some tips that helped me become nearly fluent in German.
U.S.-German relations remain essential to addressing global issues. Our long history promoting educational exchange and professional training programs between the two nations, such as the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange and the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program, is why Cultural Vistas is particularly invested in the promotion of transatlantic partnerships. Such programs have left an indelible impact on countless individuals, myself included, and institutions on both sides of the Atlantic, and are important means to maintaining a strong alliance for generations to come. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Berlin to attend a conference organized by the American…
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