Hey LinguaCore Readers!

Welcome to the December 2017 edition of Language News From Around the Web!

In case you’re not familiar, Language News is LinguaCore’s monthly round-up of all the best articles, podcasts, and videos on languages and language learning, gathered from the far corners of the Internet just for you!

Let’s check out this month’s links!

Author: Kerstin Cable

Source: Fluent Language

Summary: In this episode of The Creative Language Learning Podcast, host Kerstin Cable meets with Chuck Smith, noted Esperantist and creator of brand-new language learning meet-up app Amikumu. Throughout the hour-long interview, Kerstin and Chuck discuss Chuck’s history with learning Esperanto, the world’s most popular constructed language (or conlang), and just how his experiences with that language and its community inspired him to build the Amikumu app for actually meeting up with language learners in real life and practicing languages live.

Author: Transparent Language

Source: Transparent Language

Summary: Wherever you live in the world, it’s likely you’ve experienced or been impacted by some sort of natural disaster—be it hurricanes, cyclones, floods, earthquakes, landslides, or others. Though disaster aid in these circumstances has thankfully become more international in recent years, it has laid bare one harrowing reality: “Disasters do not occur in the confines of major world languages.” This article by Transparent language advocates for the study and promotion of a wider group of lesser-known languages worldwide, so that the global community as a whole is better prepared to help natural disaster victims find the help they need, no matter which language they speak.

Author: Nisha Baghadia

Source: Addicted2Success

Summary: You can’t learn a language without making language learning a habitual part of your daily life. However, if you’ve never deliberately formed such a habit before, it may be difficult to figure out how, exactly, to make that habit last. This article, from self-development hub Addicted2Success, lays out four simple strategies that you can apply to your language learning to help you create and keep a habit that lasts for the long-term.

Author: Shannon Kennedy

Source: Eurolinguiste

Summary: Let’s face it. There are no perfectly productive language learners. We all occasionally waste time, cut corners, make excuses, embrace distractions, and procrastinate, all during the time when we should actually be learning a language. While fighting procrastination can very much be a natural and recurring part of life, it’s important to learn how to short-circuit unproductive impulses so you can learn languages regularly and obtain the results you want. In this article, Shannon Kennedy describes twelve indicators of language learning procrastination and stagnation, and twelve things you can do to get out of the rut.

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Author: Olle Linge

Source: Hacking Chinese

Summary: Here at LinguaCore, we’ve written an entire series of articles on the value of deliberate practice for language learning. Backed by research, this intense style of learning requires an expert coach, getting out of your comfort zone, setting well-defined goals, and building a strong ability to focus. Though we advocate deliberate practice as one of the best ways to learn any skill, there are other, competing schools of thought as well. These alternative pathways to skill-based learning suggest covering lots of easier material, faster, to build a more extensive body of knowledge. In this article, author Olle Linge compares and contrasts intensive (deliberate) vs. extensive learning, and gives his own opinion on which works best, and when.