language hacking
Fluent Serbian in 20 Minutes — Fake Your Way Through Any Rakija-Soaked Conversation
Effortless, fluent, minimally communicative Serbian with the Tipsy Pilgrim Language Method
The Outstanding Russian Gestures that Should Be Adopted by Everyone
Your buddy is tipsy. Would you rather express this with a gesture referencing an 18th-century alcoholic carpenter’s tzar-given neck tattoo, or just mime tipping a bottle to your lips? Almost invariably, Russian gestures are more interesting and/or emphatic than their international counterparts. We suggest that the following be immediately adopted into everyone’s physical vocabularies, whether …
On Learning Just Enough Bosnian Slang to Toast, Gripe, and Propose Marriage
Bosnian is uniquely rich among its Slavic brethren in shortened informal expressions. Here’s a quick guide; master these few words and you’ll sound like a local.
My “Fluent Forever” Results: Review and Key Takeaways for Language Learning
I’ve been constantly learning, teaching, and maintaining various languages over the last two decades and so was certainly aware of Gabriel Wyner’s Fluent Forever as a website, , and now, app. I’m a long-time avid language learner, but there were still plenty of new hacks for me to experiment with in Fluent Forever. In fact, …
What Scientists Know About Learning Languages that You Probably Don’t
I’ve compiled dozens of strategies from scientific studies on language learning from multiple resources over the years, and I may as well make them public for you here, dear language voyagers. This includes hacks for learning more quickly and efficiently, as well as for retaining what you learn over the long term. As we’ll see, …
I Learned Six Languages as a Befuddled Adult with a Crappy Memory
A screenshot from a recent class. My Anki decks for memorization are on the left, and on the right a Skype session with one of my favorite Serbian teachers from Italki. I record some of the new words and phrases from each class into my Anki decks. A Skype lesson with my self-teaching guide close at hand I’ve …
Can You Count to One in Serbian? It’s Fucking Harder Than You’d Fucking Think!
Today we’ll learn to count in Serbian / Bosnian / Croatian. But this South Slavic linguistic shitshow is crazy, so all we’re really going to understand is the number one. If we get really masochistic, we may cover the numbers two, three, maybe even four and more in some other article. This is a grammar …
Više vs. Još in Serbian/ Bosnian/ Croatian: The Differences and When to Use Each One
The horrors of Serbian/Croatian/Bosian hit you one after another: cases, verb aspect, and conjugations… And then at some point, probably later in the process, the bizarre and seemingly random distinctions between više and još will also start to get on your nerves. These words can be translated, variously, as “more”, “even more”, “yet”, “any more”, “still”, etc. …
The Best Gift Ideas for Language Learning: Spanish, French, Chinese, and Anything Else
Got a special someone in your life who wants to take on a new language? Here’s a look at how to give the gift of learning a foreign language — what works best, what is the most fun, and what will be the most motivating as the receiver sets out on their journey. Why take …
For Gringões: 20 Minutes to Feigning Fluent Brazilian Portuguese
As part of the our Fluent in 20 Minutes, this post provides EVERYTHING you need to participate in conversations with Brazilians, whether or not you have any idea what anyone is saying. Why learn (a bit of) Portuguese? Well, there’s good evidence that this language has the best music, and then there are other aspects of Brazilians …