The LanguageGuide.org Blog

One of the objectives of the vocabulary guides is to help you become an expert in particular domains. Several years ago when I was living in France, I found that I was totally at ease conversing about certain topics, but really struggled talking about chores and housekeeping with my French roommate.  The housekeeping pages on the French Vocabulary guide were the fruit of these vocabulary struggles:  " la buanderie " (the French version of the Utility Room), Messes , Chores , and the Laundry . If you learn the vocabulary on these pages you'll be able to describe messes, cleaning and chores with sophisticated, precise vocabulary.  There are also versions for people learning English. Go to the English vocabulary guide, select your native language in the upper left hand corner, and go to the Home section.

The interface for the French complimentary vocabulary pages have been updated. Feminine adjectives now appear in a pink rectangle to the right of the masculine adjective.

A new Hindi vocabulary guide is available.

Languageguide.org  has a new more intuitive, mobile friendly interface. The changes have been progressively rolled out over the last 6 months so if you're a regular user of the site you're probably already familiar with it.  The Welcome Page The welcome page of the site has a completely new look. Every hour the background image changes, hopefully giving users wanderlust and more motivation to learn a language.   Visual Vocabulary Guide The image based pages have been refreshed. Now whenever a part of an image is referred to, for example the shell of the turtle in the Reptile & Amphibian Vocabulary , it will appear in a circle or shape that has been shaded in such a way that it appears to be floating over the page. Two red buttons appear at the top of the page - the Speaking Challenge and the Listening Challenge. Rather than trying to simply absorb the vocabulary, I encourage you to attempt each page's challenges. If you have activated game mode , yo...

A version of the pictorial vocabulary guide for learning English is now available as a free IOS and Android app . The app includes a 'game' which will soon be integrated into languageguide.org  and the interface has been revamped to be mobile friendly. More languages will be available as apps in the months to come.

The Pictorial Hungarian vocabulary guide is now available.  Hungarian is a very unique language and according to linguists isn't related to any other European language. You certainly get that idea when you hear it spoken. I had the pleasure of recording two Hungarian volunteers in Austin, Texas. Beata and Levi Peto here pictured with their pets Pupák (buddy in Hungarian) and Tök (pumpkin). Please visit the Hungarian vegetables page to hear the proper pronunciation of Tök and learn other veggies. Beata first came to the USA to meet Cesar Millan, the "Dog Whisperer" . She was invited to his dog dog psychology center where she ended up helping train two of  Cesar's dogs: Blizzard & Junior. While Cesar's specialty is making dogs psychologically normal, Beata teaches them advanced tricks and behaviors. During her stay in Los Angeles she met her husband Levi who had come years earlier as an aspiring Rock musician. ...

The Dutch guide   has been published. Translated by volunteers, the voices are all of volunteers as well. Anne-Marie Ozaki is a teacher at NTC Houston. NTC Houston stands for “Nederlandse Taal en Cultuur Houston” or Dutch Language and Culture Houston. You can hear her voice on Het Lichaam (The Body) , Het Lichaam II (The Body II) , Herenkleding (Men's Clothing) , Groenten (Vegetables) , Boerderijdieren (Farm Animals) , and Kleuren (Colors)  Her voice was recorded by her husband, Michio Ozaki, in their home recording studio.  Anne-Marie Ozaki and Michio Ozaki You can hear the voice of Cees van der Linden on Getallen (Numbers), Het Gezicht (The Face) , Fruit (Fruit) , Huisdieren (Pets) , Vogels (Birds) , Reptielen & Amfibieën (Reptiles & Amphibians) , and Zeedieren (Sea Animals) . You can hear the voice of Marion van Dijk on Zoogdieren (Mammals) , Afrikaanse Dieren (African Animals), and Insecten (Insects) . Cees van der Linden is a resident of Los Angeles...