Exhaling Words

Welcome to Pride 2021!

This year for Pride Month, I wanted to do a series of episodes dedicated to my community, the LGBTQIA+ community, aka the Queer Community. In this third part, I sit down with @multilingualmarissa to discuss the survey they conducted of the language-learning community (with the help of the wonderful @the.far.see). Together we dive into queer identities among language learners, representation, and feelings of belonging to the larger community. You can check out the full details of the survey at http://relearnalanguage.com/who-are-language-learners/.

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

Welcome to Pride 2021!

This year for Pride Month, I wanted to do a series of episodes dedicated to my community, the LGBTQIA+ community, aka the Queer Community. In this second part, I talk about grammatical gender as a concept, gendered language, non-binary pronouns, and how we can appropriately navigate the difficulties of gendered language, and de-gendering language, as language learners and users. Stay tuned throughout this month for more queer-focused episodes, an Instagram Live event with @multilingualmarissa, and other great Pride Month content and events for queer language learners!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

Welcome to Pride 2021!

This year for Pride Month, I wanted to do a series of episodes dedicated to my community, the LGBTQIA+ community, aka the Queer Community. In this first part, I talk about my journey with my queer identity and how it interacted with my language learning throughout the years. I also get into how we can handle studying languages belonging to environments that may not be accepting of queer folk. Stay tuned throughout this month for more queer-focused episodes, an Instagram Live event with @multilingualmarissa, and other great Pride Month content and events for queer language learners!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

Some of the most common questions that I receive are: Should I study MSA or colloquial Arabic? Which dialect should I pick? Which should I learn first- MSA or colloquial? So join me in part 3 of this series looking at Arabic dialects and diglossia, where we'll discussing how to choose between studying MSA or colloquial (or both), which dialect to learn, and how to approach the Arabic-learning process. Check it out!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

One of my favorite topics to discuss is Arabic diglossia and dialectology! So here is the second part in a multi-part series looking at Arabic dialects. In Part 2 I’m talking about the different dialects of Arabic and some of the things that make them different. In coming episodes, we'll be talking about how to approach studying Arabic and its many forms. Check it out!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

One of my favorite topics to discuss is Arabic diglossia and dialectology! So here is the first part in a multi-part series looking at Arabic dialects. In Part 1 I’m talking about what it means to be a diglossic language; and in coming episodes, we’ll be talking about Arabic dialects and how to approach studying Arabic’s many forms. Check it out!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

We all joke about the Duolingo owl and its fake threats to remind you to study your target language daily. But what is the real value of Duolingo? Can you learn a language from the platform? Can it help? Is it good and effective? This week I dive into my feelings around, and critiques of, Duolingo, and how I believe we can use it to aid in our language-learning goals. Check it out!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

One of my favorite topics to discuss, and something I get asked about a lot, is the influence of Arabic on the Persian language. This is the topic that first really got me into language contact, historical linguistics, and Iranian linguistics; so, it’s very close to me heart. Check out this long episode of me getting very excited and talking very fast!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

Something I often get asked about is the differences between the 3 major dialects of Persian: Iranian (Farsi), Afghan (Dari), and Tajik. This is a topic I’ve studied a lot, as a student/speaker of Dari and Tajik who had to learn Iranian Persian in a pinch. So, I’ve tried to work through the major differences between these three dialects in a 2-part series. Check out Part 2, which focuses on differences in vocabulary and grammar between the three dialects!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)

Something I often get asked about is the differences between the 3 major dialects of Persian: Iranian (Farsi), Afghan (Dari), and Tajik. This is a topic I’ve studied a lot, as a student/speaker of Dari and Tajik who had to learn Iranian Persian in a pinch. So, I’ve tried to work through the major differences between these three dialects in a 2-part series. Check out Part 1, which focuses on script, phonology, pronunciation of grammatical forms, and colloquial sound shifts!

Connect with me on social media:

Graphics by Marissa (@multilingualmarissa)