Category: General Languages

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Meet Reed!

We asked Reed, our beloved Spanish tutor, a couple of questions about language acquisition, how he came to become a tutor and what kind of advice he would give for beginner students.

  1. When did your interest in your language start? 

My first language is Spanish! Both of my parents are from Argentina, and my mom is a Spanish teacher, so there was no way for me to get out of learning Spanish.

2. How did you decide to become a tutor?

I was a tutor in high school, and I really enjoyed getting to help other students. Additionally, I really enjoy a lot of the readings and movies watched for Spanish classes here, and it’s fun to get to talk about with other students.

3. What’s your favorite/heart-warming memory about either being a tutor or learning your language of interest? 

It’s always fun when you get to see a student have that ‘aha!’ moment, where everything suddenly clicks. Also to hear other people like your favorite authors or movies!

4. What advice would you give to folks who are just starting to learn the language you’re tutoring?

Spanish is a language made up of a lot of rules and grammar that we don’t have in English! That’s part of the fun. Focusing on grammar can be a bit taxing sometimes, but it’s such a representative way of how the language works and how people express themselves, it’s worth it in the end.

5. Favorite/fun fact about the language you’re tutoring?

Spanish has over 15 past tenses, future tenses that don’t exist in English, and a bunch of other ‘modes’ that make the language a lot more expressive than English. Also, it’s more compact. Verb can carry a lot of meaning beyond just the action that is being done. It can carry the tense, who is doing the action, and who is receiving the action

Reed tutors Spanish every Wednesday from 6-8pm! Come by to learn, do homework or simply chat 🙂

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Fall music must-listens!

Despite rising temperatures and rather sunny days, LangLabbies are still feeling the fall spirit approaching! In honor of our upcoming event we decided to share some of music recommendations that we believe would amplify your fall and help unwind from these academic routines

  1. Send the pain below (Chevelle)

A traditional post-grunge and alternative metal, anything rock has become the fall anthem with its gloomy undertones yet loud lyrics. “Send the pain below” is undoubtedly Chevelle’s most beloved song, so it’s a must to give it a try!

2. Ozin Gana (Moldanazar)

A soft, lyrical and bone-crushing melody that’s is the total opposite of most songs in this list but perhaps it’s exactly what we all need in this cold weather full of dark days. A perfect song for slow mornings or cozy nights with barely noticeable notes of Turkic vocals.

3. Прочь из моей головы (Сплин)

The anthem of post-modern Russian rock that dominated the late 2000s and became a cult classic for all listeners of post-Soviet countries. The uncertainty of one’s future mixed in with a strong sense of hope and full acceptance and embracement of the state of the country is what made “Прочь из моей головы” such a popular hit for most teenagers and young adults of the former-USSR.

4. CORALINE (Måneskin)

Do we even need an explanation? It’s Måneskin! Just go ahead and play it.

5. La llorona (Chavela Vargas)

La llorona is the most famous Hispanic folklore character. If you want to learn more about it (in Spanish!) come to our event on October 8th from 6-8pm! More details in the next blog post!

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Let’s Get Spooky!

Remember: Feed the lantern!

Are you terrified of the encroaching darkness? Or perhaps you find Fall Break a week too long to wait for fun?

Then come on down to the Language Lab for our Spooky Craft Night!
Join your fellow peers and LangLabbies in making paper lanterns (supplies provided) to decorate your room and maybe learn a little about other spooky traditions around the world. And of course, help yourself to some cozy snacks!

When? October 8, 6:00-8:00 pm
Where? Language Lab, Library LL1

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You, yes, you, can go abroad!

It’s no secret that immersion is one of the most helpful methods to learning a language, and what better way to immerse yourself in your target language than spending time abroad?

Though it might be scary to think about going to a country you’ve never been to before and that speaks a language you aren’t as familiar with, never fear! Reed has many opportunities (and information on so many more) to get out there, see the world, and learn.

Continue reading “You, yes, you, can go abroad!”
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Media Resource Recommendation

Long ago in my salad days at high school, I remember using tv5monde for outside practice after I had watched all the French films my library had to offer (alas, not that many). Although you now need a subscription to tv5monde to watch shows, tv5monde edu and tv5monde info remain wholly accessible online for free; no subscription needed to engage your French. Additionally, its lessons are separated into several levels ranging from beginner (débutant) to advanced (avancé), so you can find exercises suited to you. And not all of the activities are multiple-choice blank fill-ins; little puzzles are thrown in to mix it up! My favorite part about the network is that it maintains an international focus, covering events around the world, especially, of course, francophone countries.

Whether you’re looking for news or try finding a new edutainment medium, check out the website!

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Leilani’s final blog post… it’s been a good run!

Dearest Language Lab,

It is so sad to see you go… or me go? Perhaps I’m glad and relieved that I’m graduating. I will sincerely miss this basement, with its lack of sunlight and abundance of candy. Before I leave, I would like to impart some sage wisdom (thank you Patricio for the inspiration) from someone who has taken an unreasonable number of language courses and still wants to learn more.

Continue reading “Leilani’s final blog post… it’s been a good run!”
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Writing entire papers in French… yet struggling with small talk?

Truthfully, the idea for this blog post came from my own experiences from learning French as a second language. I noticed that I could speak and write fine in my academic work, but when it came time to engage with small talk or casual conversation, I felt like a mess! There seemed to be some kind of gap between my proficiency in formal situations versus that in informal situations. On the flip side, I noticed that my peers who were heritage learners—students who learned French at home as a child, not academically as an adult—seemed to flourish in small talk, but appeared to struggle more with formal academic contexts. These questions made me curious about how L2 learners versus heritage learners approached their target language, depending on linguistic register—language used in a particular setting or context. This post is a bit more technical than the usual television recommendation, but hopefully, you’ll learn something new about how our environments affect the way we speak!

Continue reading “Writing entire papers in French… yet struggling with small talk?”
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The short and bright life of Shokan Valikhanov

Shokan was famously “besties” with Dostoevsky sparking rumors about their homoertoic relationships.

Shokan Valikhanov the father of modern Kazakh history and ethnography and simultaneously the most-known Kazakh scholar, ethnographer, historian. As a Russian Imperial officer, he explored Central Asia, mapping regions like Kashgar and recording significant cultural, geographic, and historical data while advocating for his people which didn’t save him from being a target of post-colonial criticism. Lang Labbies are starting our weekly rubric of “not-so-Russian-Russian literature” focusing on literature written in Russian by not necessarily Russian personas.

Shokan Valikhanov was born in Kostanay, Eastern Kazakhstan and spent his youth in his father’s traditional nomadic yurt. Shokan’s family was very respected by the government of the Russian Empire, and Walikhanov’s father was awarded, during his life, six appointments as senior Sultan of Kushmurun region. Born into privelege, Shokan raveled extensively in Central Asia in the late 1850s after having graduated from the military academy in Omsk.

Walikhanov collected materials on Kazakh judicial practices in 1863. This was part of a government-backed project given by Duhamel, and led to the 1864 Memorandum on Judicial Reform. In 1864, Shoqan was assigned to help with Colonel Cherniaev’s continued conquest of Central Asia. Cherniaev’s forces marched west from the fortress of Vernoe (modern-day Almaty). Chernaiev advanced towards the Khanate of Kokand, planning to attack the fort at Aulie-Ata (modern-day Taraz). Shoqan unsuccessfully pushed for a negotiated result without violence. 

Young Valikhanov was a big proponent of Westernization although was critiqued by his fellow ethnographers for “playing the double game” due to his primarily russian education and deep friendship with writers such as Fyedor Dostoevsky.

In spite of it, Shokan remained the face of Kazakh intelligentsia — his early death at just 29 years old left a large hole in the history of Kazakh ethnography written in Russian. One of Shokan works (in both Russian and English) I would recommend to our readers is “Chinese Turkestan and Dzungaria: Walikhanov and other Russian travellers”, The Russians in Central Asia, London, Edward Stanford, 1865.

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Don’t give up on Arabic!

أهلا يا أصدقاء

As an Arabic student at Reed, I’m here to commiserate. While we’re blessed with fantastic language scholars like Asma, there are very few of us and we don’t have a department like other languages. And considering that the vast majority of contemporary Arabic-language media is not in Fusha (Modern Standard Arabic), it can be hard even to just interact with the language in a natural way. Also, coming from an English-speaking background, Arabic is HARD! All this to say: I get it. You love learning Arabic, but you feel overwhelmed by endless conjugations and roots and forms and regional specificities? Allow me to present a few online resources I’ve found.

  1. Hans Wehr Online

Arguably the most reputable Arabic/English dictionary but in online form! You can even type in Roman letters and it will transliterate for you. You can type a root and it will give you all of the forms and nouns that derive from it.

2. ACON Online

ACON is a really useful conjugation tool. You select the three letters that form the root of the word, its form, and the perfect and imperfect vowel sounds, and it will list all of the possible conjugations laid out in the Western (starting with أنا) or Arabic order (starting with هو) according to your preference.

Struggling still?

Maybe you feel like you still don’t quite have enough of a grasp on things to use these tools – you might be wondering what all of these forms mean and what they’re for, or why I’m calling the present tense “imperfect”. If that’s the case, that’s totally okay too! Go visit Asma during her office hours or book a tutoring session with me on IRIS and we’ll try to make things a little clearer.

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Embrace embarrassment!

A Tweet reading: "How it feels to speak French to French people" with the cartoon image of a court jester dancing in front of a queen sitting on a throne.

Do you find learning a language to be embarrassing? It’s a very normal human emotion, but embarrassment seems to be worse than death for some. Just thinking about embarrassment makes me feel embarrassed! So why do we feel embarrassed when we learn languages, and what can be done about it?

I read a paper titled “Embarrassment in English language classrooms” by Khajavy et al. (2025) to learn more about what embarrassment is and why it stops me in my tracks during my language classes. Embarrassment is defined as “a social, self-conscious emotion in which a person feels some level of discomfort and awkwardness” (Khajavy et al. 2025:182). I hate to say it, but embarrassment is just all in our heads. It can feel difficult to even explain why we feel embarrassed since it’s entirely based on how we imagine what others are thinking. Overall, it’s an emotion that depends on how we assess situations that we’re experiencing in the moment, so it might vary from person to person. For me, I get super embarrassed when I’m unprepared for class, but others might not feel the same way. This isn’t to say that feeling embarrassment isn’t valid—we all experience it, whether it’s visible or not.

Continue reading “Embrace embarrassment!”