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Honorific suffixes, or simply honorifics, are appended to the names of people who you are addressing or referring to. Although not technically part of Japanese grammar, correct honorific usage is an essential component of proper Japanese cultural etiquette. Improperly using honorifics can result in everything from a minor misunderstanding to a major faux pas.  …

Today we’re going to explore the world of Spanish-English partial cognates. Back in our first lesson, we talked about the difference between cognates and false friends. Cognates are words that share a common etymological origin across languages. They are spelled similarly or identically and have identical or nearly-identical meanings. False friends are words in different…

This exercise tests your knowledge of twenty-six core French words that beginning speakers should know. Match the French words on the left with their English equivalents on the right. Remember to watch out for false friends! Then check the answer key at the bottom of the quiz to see how well you did.   [twocol_one]…

Today we present a quiz on twenty-six common words that beginning Spanish speakers should know. Match the Spanish words on the left with their English equivalents on the right. Then check the answer key at the bottom of the quiz to see how well you did. [twocol_one] 1. ahora 2. bien 3. muy 4. más…

False friends are words in different languages that look similar but have different connotations or entirely different meanings. French-English false friends, or faux amis, are especially tricky because modern English contains many words of French origin. It’s only natural to assume that a French word has the same meaning as a similarly-spelled English word. Watch…

Today we’re going to cover some of the major differences between Russian and English. Russian forms part of the Slavonic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Closely related to other Slav languages, including Polish, Czech and Serbo-Croatian, Russian is the mother tongue of some 150 million people in Russia and the various republics that…

We’re going to start off a new year of the Language Island blog with a few useful pieces of advice for anyone considering learning a new language. These general tips are applicable regardless of the language you are learning or are planning to learn. If you’re new to the blog I’d recommend reading this entry…