Language & Language Arts Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-20-2025

Whether you’re planning a trip to Germany or another German-speaking country, you’ve heard an unfamiliar German phrase and want to know what it means, or you just want to get into the spirit for your town’s annual Oktoberfest, knowing some basic German can give you the confidence you need. The first part of this Cheat Sheet includes basic German expressions, questions that let you gather information or ask for help, phrases to use when ordering from a menu, and German numbers and dates. The second part of this Cheat Sheet includes some basics of German grammar that can help you build your own sentences.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 05-20-2025

Whether you’re planning a trip to Germany or another German-speaking country, you’ve heard an unfamiliar German phrase and want to know what it means, or you just want to get into the spirit for your town’s annual Oktoberfest, knowing some basic German can give you the confidence you need. The first part of this Cheat Sheet includes basic German expressions, questions that let you gather information or ask for help, phrases to use when ordering from a menu, and German numbers and dates. The second part of this Cheat Sheet includes some basics of German grammar that can help you build your own sentences.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-15-2024

The Korean language stands out globally as one of the rare languages with its creation story on record — who made it, for whom, why, and how. Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, was developed in 1443 by King Sejong, who is revered as Korea’s most respected king, pretty much an icon in Korean history. His motivation behind creating Hangeul was to devise a written system that the commoners could easily master. Thanks to King Sejong’s pragmatism and his determination to empower the people, Korean readers and writers have a readily learnable language.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-30-2024

Writing a dissertation shouldn’t mean panicking. If you plan ahead and know how to structure your work, you’ll achieve fantastic results. And guess what? You might even enjoy yourself; writing a dissertation can be a highly rewarding experience. Follow this guide to producing the best possible dissertation.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-16-2024

Polish is a unique and immensely rewarding language to learn. This Cheat Sheet gives you a quick run-down of the Polish alphabet, Polish numbers, and handy Polish phrases to make you feel more confident speaking Polish in no time.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-28-2024

Transform your life experiences into a captivating memoir! Here’s a quick guide to get you started on capturing the essence of your story.

Article / Updated 05-30-2024

Knowing some common French greetings and good-byes will be indispensable when traveling in French-speaking countries. Saying hello and good-bye in French will quickly become second nature because you'll use them day in and day out with everyone you come across. In most French-speaking countries it's considered good manners to greet everyone. So, whether you're speaking to a clerk, a waiter, or just bumping into someone on the street, take the time to say a polite bonjour before you proceed. This also means that when step on the bus or train you should say a quick bonjour to anyone within hearing distance. The most common conversational ways to greet someone in French are: Salut. (Hello; Hi. [Informal]) Bonjour. (Hello; Good morning.) Bonsoir. (Good evening.) You might think that you can use good afternoon (bon après-midi) as a greeting the way you can in the United States, but in most French-speaking countries, bon après-midi should only be used to as a form of goodbye. Greeting with a cheek kiss Cheek kissing is another common type of greeting in most French-speaking countries. However, the rules for cheek kisses can be complicated matter. The rules change depending on the country you're in and even the region of the country. For example, in Belgium, it's customary to greet everyone in your generation or younger with one kiss, but anyone that's a generation or more older than you should be given three kiss (right cheek-left-then right again). In Paris, most people stick to a four-kiss rule, but in most of the rest of France, two kisses is the norm. If you think that's confusing, you're right. The good news is that when you meet someone for the first time, you can usually just shake hands. Then just watch how other people interact. Because it's such a common practice, you should quickly be able to determine what the standard is where you're staying. How are you? How's it going? Asking how someone is doing is a common greeting in the U.S. How many times a day do we hear or say these brief greetings at the beginning of our conversations? So many times, in fact, that half the time, we don't even pay attention. These pleasantries are common in French-speaking countries as well. The most common ways to ask how someone is doing are: Comment ça va? (How’s it going?) Comment vas-tu? (How are you? [Informal]) Comment allez-vous? (How are you? [Formal]) Ça va? (How’s it going? [Informal]) As you'd expect, when someone asks you how you're doing, there are many possible responses. Ça va bien. It’s going well.) Tout va bien. (Everything is going well.) Je vais bien, merci. (I’m fine, thank you.) Je vais très bien. (I’m very well.) Je ne vais pas très bien. (I’m not doing very well.) Je vais comme-ci, comme-ça. (I’m so-so.) Once you've said that you're fine, or good, or so-so, it is customary to ask how the other person is doing. You can do this easily by saying Et toi? (And you? [informal]) or Et vous? (And you? [formal]). Saying good-bye As many ways as there are to greet someone, you'll find plenty of ways say goodbye, as well. Au revoir. (Good-bye.) Salut. (Good-bye. [Informal]) À bientôt. (See you soon.) À tout de suite. (See you in a minute.) À plus tard. (See you later.) À la prochaine. (Until next time.) À demain. (See you tomorrow.) À la semaine prochaine. (See you next week.) À lundi. (See you on Monday.) Bonne journée! (Have a good day!) Bonne chance! (Good luck!) Bonne nuit. (Good night. Used only when someone is going to sleep or retiring for the evening.) Aside from a few exceptions, final consonants aren’t pronounced in French. Pronounce a final consonant only if it’s followed by a vowel.

Article / Updated 05-30-2024

The French indefinite article is the equivalent to a/an and some (but English often skips it). Do you ask about one thing, describe a couple of things that happened, and make plans for an outing that hasn’t yet been defined? If so, you’re an indefinite article kind of person, like the French! And as such, you should treat the article indéfini as the default article in French grammar. French Indefinite Articles French Article Usage in French English Equivalent Example un Before masculine singular nouns a/an un chat (a cat) une Before feminine singular nouns a/an une maison (a house) des Before masculine or feminine plural nouns some des enfants (some children) de, or d’ before nouns beginning with a vowel or a mute -h Instead of any indefinite article, after a negative verb no or not any pas d’ordinateur (no computer) Use the indefinite article when you talk about one or several individual things that you can count, as opposed to an entire category of things. Il y a un livre sur la table. (There is a book on the table.) Tu as mangé une banane. (You ate a/one banana.) Il a vu des lions au zoo. (He saw (some) lions at the zoo.) You also can use the indefinite articles un and une before an expression of quantity, like une tranche de (a slice of), un morceau de (a piece of), and un peu de (a little bit of). In a sentence with a negative verb, un, une, and des are replaced by de, even if the noun it introduces is plural. Here are some examples. Il n’y a pas de souris dans notre garage. (There is not a mouse in our garage.) Elle ne veut pas d’enfants. (She doesn’t want any children.) This rule has one exception. Don’t use de when the negative verb is être (to be). Just use the indefinite article as if the sentence was affirmative. Here are some examples: Cet animal n’est pas un chien. C’est un renard. (This animal is not a dog. It’s a fox.) — C’est une voiture rouge, n’est-ce pas? — Non ce n’est pas une voiture rouge! C’est une voiture noire. (— It’s a red car, right? — No, it’s not a red car! It’s a black car.) Choose between the definite article (le, la, l’, les) and the indefinite article (un, une, des, and de) to complete the sentences. Check a French-English dictionary if you need help with the vocabulary.

Article / Updated 05-30-2024

Proper English is important. The only problem with that statement is the definition of “proper.” Language has many levels of formality, all of which are “proper” at times and completely unsuitable at others. Many gradations of formality exist, but to make things easier, divide English into three large categories: “friendspeak” (the most casual), “conversational” (one step up), and “formal” (the equivalent of wearing your best business attire). Take a look at these examples: c u in 10 (friendspeak) There in ten minutes. (conversational) I will arrive in ten minutes. (formal) All three statements say the same thing in very different ways. Here’s the deal: Friendspeak breaks some rules of formal English on purpose, to show that people are comfortable with each other. Friendspeak shortens or drops words and often includes slang and references that only close friends understand. No one has to teach you this level of English. You learn it from your pals, or you create it yourself and teach it to your buddies. Conversational English sounds relaxed, but not too relaxed. It’s the language equivalent of jeans and a T-shirt. Conversational English is filled with contractions (I’m instead of I am, would’ve instead of would have, and so forth). Not many abbreviations appear in conversational English, but you may confidently include those that are well established and widely understood (etc., a.m., p.m., and the like). You may also see acronyms, which pluck the first letter from each word of a name (NATO for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or AIDS for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, for example). Conversational English may drop some words and break a few rules. The example sentence for conversational English at the beginning of this article, for instance, has no subject or verb, a giant no-no in formal writing but perfectly acceptable at this level of language. Formal English is the pickiest location in Grammarland. When you speak or write in formal English, you follow every rule (including some you never heard of), avoid slang and abbreviations, and trot out your best vocabulary. Think about your audience when you’re selecting friendspeak, conversational English, or formal English. What impression are you trying to give? Let your goals guide you. Also consider the situation. At work you may rely on conversational English when you run into your boss at the coffee machine, but not when you’re submitting a quarterly report. At school, choosing conversational English is okay for a teacher-student chat in the cafeteria, but not for homework. More on situation and language appears in the next section, “Matching Message to Situation.” Can you identify levels of formality? Check out this example: EXAMPLE: Place these expressions in order of formality, from the most formal to the least. Note: Two expressions may tie. For example, your answer may be A, B and C — in which case expression A is the most formal and expressions B and C are on the same, more casual level. A. sketchy block B. That is a dangerous neighborhood. C. Where gangs rule. ANSWER: B, C, A. Expression B is the most formal because it follows all the conventions of English. Every word is in the dictionary, and the sentence is complete. Expression C, on the other hand, is an incomplete sentence and is therefore less formal. Also, in Expression C the verb rule has an unusual meaning. Your readers or listeners probably understand that gangs aren’t official authorities but instead wield a lot of unofficial power. The statement is more conversational than formal. Expression A employs slang (sketchy means “slightly dangerous”), so it’s closer to friendspeak than to formal English.

Article / Updated 05-30-2024

In many languages, you say the equivalent of “Ate the cookie?” to find out whether your friend gobbled up a treat. In English, you nearly always need a helping verb and a subject (the person or thing you’re talking about) to create a question: “Did you eat the cookie?” (The verbs to be and to have are the only exceptions.) Notice that the combo form (did eat) is different from the straight past tense (ate). Other question-creators, italicized in these examples, change the tense: “Will you eat my cookie?” or “Do you eat cookies?” (This last one suggests an ongoing action.) In nearly all questions, the subject follows the first (or only) verb. Practice questions Rewrite the statement so that it becomes a question. Add words or rearrange the sentence as needed. They noticed seven credit cards, each with a different name. You want the reward for recovering stolen property. Answers to practice questions Did they notice the seven credit cards, each with a different name? The helper did precedes the subject, they, in this question. Do you want the reward for recovering stolen property? In this question, you add do to the main verb, want, to land in question territory.