Travel is much more rewarding if it involves something more than getting sloppy drunk on a beach.
That’s not to say we’re against drinking and partying. In fact, a drink or two has been scientifically shown to improve your ability to pronounce a language you don’t know (just don’t expect it to do anything for retention or grammar). And partying and flirting are great ways to really get into a culture and discover new things.
Even small experiences, like learning to toast, dance, or string together a few words to tell a joke in a marginalized language, can make a vacation into an enriching, memorable experience.
Articles About Learning Languages, Dancing, and Generally Living it Up While Traveling
A guide to audio learning options for Italian, quick reviews, and suggestions for how to build an effective, time-efficient learning plan
Read more… How to Best Learn Italian While Commuting, Doing Housework, or Exercising
A guide to fascinating Italian podcasts that also help with learning and maintaining the language
Read more… The Best (Most Intriguing, Fun, Informative…) Italian Podcasts that I Listen to
These are the best books—out of the many I have tried—for learning Turkish on my own
Spanish grammar and vocabulary are hard. Our playful Spanish-learning app, in development, teaches through flirty phrases and sexy situations.
My reading in Spanish, Italian, and French harnessing a Kindle to build vocabulary. Plus using the built-in flashcards, exporting to Anki, and learning more.
Read more… Reading in Foreign Languages: The Kindle as an All-Powerful Language-Learning Tool
Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian slang for love and sex: sweet nothings, exclamations of pleasure, and phrases for asking about and giving consent.
A very nerdy way to hack your term searches as a language learner and get the best definitions and contextual images and texts for a single word
My review of “Fluent Forever” and the key takeaways for those who want to learn languages efficiently
Read more… My “Fluent Forever” Results: Review and Key Takeaways for Language Learning
How can you turn a noun into a possessive adjective? A guide to the Serbian / Bosnian / Croatian equivalent to English’s apostrophe-S.
The language learning methods that actually work best according to science—and how to harness them
Read more… What Scientists Know About Learning Languages that You Probably Don’t
The key phrases in Mexican Spanish for expressing love, lust, and other slang related to your sexual and romantic escapades.
Read more… Important Phrases for Boinking Your Lover(s) in Mexican Spanish
How to find gifts for someone learning a language that will actually go to good use
Brazilian vs. European Portuguese: the key differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar if you speak one and want to understand the other.
Read more… Brazilian vs. European Portuguese: Key Differences to Learn in Grammar and Vocabulary
Plan a trip to Brazil just to dance: where and when to go for samba, forró and more, finding dance schools and lessons, and what to pack.
Read more… Go to Brazil Just for the Dancing — How, What, & Where: Complete Planning Tips
The lyrics for Magnifico’s tune “Ubiću Te” can tell us some things about Serbian grammar.
Read more… Love = Murder? Balkan Romance (and Serbian Grammar!) as Understood in the Song “Ubiću Te”
The most annoying and useless phrases Brazilians say, collected over many long stays in Brazil and translated with affection (and some exasperation).
Forró has both some inherent advantages and disadvantages, according to top world teachers
How forró suffers from gender norms, and why the dance is poorer because of it
A guide to forró and its place on the world stage, for newbies and experts alike
Read more… What is forró, and how is it taking over the world?
Counting to one in Serbian is harder than you’d think: jedan in every case, its surprising plural forms, and other uses like ‘some’ and ‘only’.
Read more… Can You Count to One in Serbian? It’s Fucking Harder Than You’d Fucking Think!
How does Portuguese handle forró body parts, forró quivering and wiggling, and a female perspective on the dance experience? A look at the lyrics of Nosso Xote.
Read more… A Secret Brazilian Body Part — And More Wisdom from “Nosso Xote”
Više vs. još in Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian: the key difference between them, with clear examples of when to use each one.
Read more… Više vs. Još in Serbian/ Bosnian/ Croatian: The Differences and When to Use Each One
I’ve tried out all of the best learning books for Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian—here’s what to use and to avoid.
Read more… The Best Books for Learning Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian
Fake fluent-ish Sicilian in 20 minutes: introduce yourself, order wine (and spleen sandwiches), make a Sicilian toast, and own up to your mistakes.
Read more… Minchia ch’è beddu! 20 Minutes to Feigning Fluent-ish Sicilian
Learn the basic, funny, and very useful expressions for a bit of partying, complaining, and joking in Neapolitan
Read more… Neapolitan in 20 Minutes: Learn Just Enough for Any Conversation in Southern Italy
How can you take a dance style that is unknown in your area and create a thriving community with parties, workshops, and classes?
Just enough Bosnian slang to greet people, toast, gripe about life and, why not, propose marriage: a quick, fun guide to everyday informal Bosnian.
Read more… Learn Just Enough Bosnian Slang to Toast, Gripe, and Propose Marriage
Sound just like a perfect French speaker with a few filler words and cultural tidbits.
Are you pretentious, angry, well-known, a coward, or a worrywort? All this and more should be expressed in Catalan with words for “shit”.
Read more… You Can’t Speak Proper Catalan without These 53 Expressions Involving Excrement
A great video of samba de gafieira, Brazil’s flashy answer to tango, danced at a party rather than on stage, plus one of our favorite performances.
Learn some informal Brazilian Portuguese with the lyrics to one of the greatest samba rock songs ever
Read more… An English Translation of the Samba Rock Classic “Segura a Nega” — “Hang on to Your Girl”
A few quick tips that can completely change your language learning adventures
Why the best travel adventures happen with elderly locals: their dances, drinks and stories beat anything you’ll find with the backpacker crowd.
A minimalist language method for gringões for sounding fluent and aware in Brazil with just a few phrases and gestures
Read more… You Can Sound Faux-Fluent in Brazilian Portuguese with Just These 14 Words and Phrases
Russian gestures are weird and tell you a lot about the language; don’t attempt to speak it without them!
Read more… The Outstanding Russian Gestures that Should Be Adopted by Everyone
An investigation of the many Catalan cultural traditions involving poop
Read more… Catalonia: Behold the Most Shit-Obsessed Culture on the Planet
Key phrases that can make you sound like an American
Is it random luck that so many of the world’s great songs are in Portuguese, or does the language itself have something to do with it?
Women recount their experiences with one of Brazil’s more sensual dances
Read more… Dançar Gostoso! Europeans Tell of their Sexiest Forró Dances
Effortless, fluent, minimally communicative Serbian with our minimalist language learning method
Read more… Fluent Serbian in 20 Minutes — Fake Your Way Through Any Rakija-Soaked Conversation
All about the science behind “speaking better” after a bit of alcohol and what this really means for language learners
Read more… Science Shows Why Drinking Helps with Language Learning—Up to a Limit
Learn to speak languages without pesky bullshit like comprehension or communication.
You can’t speak Portuguese without moving your hands. Brazilians have a grand repertoire of unique gestures; here are the top 25.
Read more… The 25 Most Important Gestures in Brazilian Portuguese
Things in Catalan make their own unique sounds for bops, bangs, farts, and plops.
Galician seems to have a unique obsession with jokey, sex-obsessed pickup lines, somehow involving especially farm stuff.
Read more… “Marry Me, Darling, for I Have Cows!” — Picking Up Girls in a Disappearing Tongue
You can’t speak French without knowing about the sounds that boom, toot, and bop from French stuff.
Read more… French Noises: How Do Inanimate Objects Communicate in French?
A complete catalog of traditional Catalan dances from a century back that are done while drunk or drinking
Read more… How to drink while dancing: Traditional Catalan wisdom for prancing drunks
Verlan explained: the French slang that flips words backward, where it came from in the Paris suburbs, and Verlan words for sex, drugs and complaining.
Read more… Verlan: French Slang for Sex, Drugs, and, of Course, Complaining
What are the cheesiest things that Catalans say in the pursuit of love/banging?
Read more… Flirting in Catalan: Pickup Lines that Are Ridiculously Cliché, Stupid, and Fun
The Brazilian finger snap (estalo): how to do it, what it means, and why this gesture for ‘hurry up’ or ‘fast’ is never taught in Portuguese class.
Read more… Brazilians Even Have Their Own Finger Snap: Here’s How to Do it and Why
The ways that world languages discuss the hangover are pure poetry. Do you have howling cats, rats, or hammers in your brain?
Read more… How Do the World’s Languages Evoke the Misery of a Hangover?
The Germans have an efficient way of leaving the party without making a fuss.
Read more… Saying Goodbye in German: Leaving the Party Efficiently
