Category: General Languages

Posted on

Leilani’s tips for keeping a language journal!

Parody of the cover of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Text has been changed to "Diary of a LangLabbie," with an image of a stuffed octopus edited over top.

I have a terrible habit of hoarding blank notebooks, fancy pens, and cute stickers. So instead of letting them continue to sit in my desk drawers forever, I decided to start a language journal! The concept is simple yet effective: try to use only your target language to fill up a journal! I’ve been writing entirely in Chinese, but this method works for any target language. Honestly, I find journaling to be challenging, but here are some tips (and prompts!) for you to begin and stay motivated to write your very own language journal!

Continue reading “Leilani’s tips for keeping a language journal!”
Posted on

Patricio’s recommendation of the week: Listen to more Spanish music!

Listening to music in the language you’re learning helps you improve your pronunciation, listening skills, and even grasp some grammar patterns. It’s fun, you can do it anywhere, and it’ll expand your Spotify playlist. Here’s some of my favorite artists broken down by genre.

Pop & Folk Music

La Quinta Estación – El Sol no Regresa, Algo Más, Me Muero

Natalia Lafourcade – Nunca es Suficiente, Soledad y el Mar, María la Curandera

Camila – Todo Cambió, Mientes, Coleccionista de Canciones

Juanes – A Dios Le Pido, Es Por Ti

Jesse & Joy – La De La Mala Suerte, Dueles, Llegaste tú

Sebastian Yatra – No Hay Nadie Más, Quiero Decirte, Tacones Rojos

Reguetón

Danny Ocean – Dembow, Me Rehúso, Mónaco, Volare, Swing, Cuando me Acerco a Tí (I love him)

Rauw Alejandro – La Nota, Todo De Ti, Algo Mágico, BESO

ROSALÍA – DESPECHÁ, LA NOCHE DE ANOCHE, BESO

KAROL G – TQG, MAMII, Si Antes te Hubiera Conocido

Oldies but goodies

Mecano – Mujer Contra Mujer, Cruz de Navajas, Me Cuesta Tanto Olvidarte

Emmanuel – La Chica de Humo, Insoportablemente Bella, Bella Señora

Sin Bandera – Entra en Mi Vida, Que Lloro, Sirena

Luis Miguel – La Incondicional, Culpable O No, Ahora Te Puedes Marchar

Posted on

This is your sign to learn Icelandic! Do it with Drops!

This week’s recommendation is to learn Icelandic. It is believed to be the hardest Germanic language to learn for English speakers. It has some intense grammar and complex pronunciation. But you should learn it anyway! Icelandic is the closest living relative to Old Norse, which was spoken by Vikings. I’ve been trying to learn it and Drops is so far the best app to do it. One of the best features it has is lessons to teach you how to pronounce the extensive alphabet, which is tricky as there’s a mix of rolling r’s similar to Spanish, the eu sounds similar to French, and the gargling r’s from German. Some fun words I’ve learned are Hjàlp! (Hee-owl-fff-p, i.e. help!), tuttugu (impossibe to describe how it’s pronounced, i.e. twenty), and sveppur (sveh-prrr, i.e. mushroom). Some not so fun words I’ve learned are matvöruverslun (…, i.e. grocery store) and sjúkrahús (shoe-crah-whose, i.e. hospital).

Posted on

Language Lab x IPO Trivia Night!

We’re going around the world in just 2 hours at the Language Lab x IPO (International Programs Office) Trivia Night! We’re serving up tricky questions, information about studying abroad, and also pizza!

When: Wednesday, March 12 from 6-8 pm

Where: Vollum Lounge

Posted on

Language Lab tabling in the GCC!

Stop by our table in the GCC Foyer on Tuesday, March 11 between 11:30 and 1:00 to learn more about what the Language Lab is, what LangLabbies do, and what fun language-themed events are on the agenda this semester!

Posted on

Language Plaza Open House!

Come tour the Language Houses as part of the Housing Application process for the 2025-2026 school year! House Advisors and Language Scholars for each house will be available to give tours of each house and answer questions about the selection process. Food and drinks will be available!

When: Sunday, March 9 from 12-2 pm

Where: Language Plaza

Posted on

Drops of God: Patricio’s Recommendation of the week!

I recently watched this show and I absolutely loved it. Drops of God is a multilingual show, which means many languages are spoken throughout the course of the episodes. Depending on which character is speaking, the show switches from English, French and Japanese. Something I found particularly interesting is how the characters’ personalities shift when speaking different languages, which is a common phenomenon in bilingual people. This show will give you a new (and kind of pretentious) perspective of wine, and will probably make you want to swirl and smell any beverage you drink, whether it’s wine or apple juice. Is that a hint of… apple I smell? With… hmmm…. limestone?

Posted on

All things Chinese literature with Deltas!

Today we’re checking in with Chinese tutor Deltas, a native speaker from Tianjin, China! Deltas has been tutoring me in Chinese this year, and I can say from personal experience that he is very knowledgeable, even when I throw a weird grammar question at him. We chatted about Tianjin dumplings, Zhang Ailing, and traditional Chinese roof tiles!

Leilani: First, could you tell me a little bit about your background? How long have you been speaking Chinese and what do you do at Reed?

Deltas: I’m an international student from Tianjin (天津), China. I’ve been speaking Chinese since I was born, it’s my native language. I study Math-Stats at Reed. I used to study literature, but I kind of found it wasn’t my thing. Too much English reading. So I switched to Math-Stats, and math is pretty fun, completely different taste. And I also do Chinese drop-in tutoring and individual tutoring. I also play for the Frisbee team.

Continue reading “All things Chinese literature with Deltas!”
Posted on

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon: Patricio’s recommendation of the week!

This week I’m recommending a French book I read a while back, which has also been adapted as a movie. I can’t speak for the movie as I haven’t seen in, but the book is beautifully written and deeply heartbreaking. The author of the book, Jean-Dominique Bauby, suffered a massive stroke, which led to him getting a condition named locked-in syndrome. Trapped in his own body, Bauby wrote this whole book by blinking with his left eye.