Like nomads, but with more stuff

So, I'm not really writing an ode. Although it would rock. We have had experiences with Yak Trax but it was nothing like the joy th...

After just about 36 weeks, I took my language exam and passed.  This means the American government feels safe sending me out to Germany to ...

Yesterday in class we practiced some strategies for handling certain parts of the test. I hadn't been working on these particular parts...

In addition to spending our days in the classroom slogging through the language, we also have other opportunities to play with German.  Two...

This may be the longest word I have learned thus far:  Geschwindigkeitsbeschränkung It means speed limit and has 28 letters. I have to ima...

Structured Learning It's been about 12 weeks.  We have switched teachers three times.  We had our first assessment - a miniature/frien...

Language training is still wonderful. I definitely speak German better now than I ever spoke Russian, even after banging my head against th...

We've been in class about 3 weeks now and settling into our routines and slowly developing some ability.  Some highlights include: ...

We are back at work, which means we are in language training. During the next several months our full time jobs plus off-time hobbies will ...

I had my Russian language exam Friday. I went into it feeling confident - I knew I was at the right level, my teachers has prepared me well...

Background: language instruction at FSI in generally thus: 3 hours of speaking practice/lesson; 2 hours of reading practice/lesson; one hou...

Last week I began my six little weeks of Russian language training that is supposed to get me to the level I need to be to be allowed to go...

So yes, we're going to Kazakhstan. Astana, to be exact, as there is also a post in Almaty. Yes, we're happy about this. My head is ...

Today I went to the book store and found some "my first reader" type books in Russian. I know Alex is ready, I hadn't realize...

It is well known to people who have ever tried to speak Russian to a Russian that they are very particular about how their language is spok...

Awesomness is the 5 year old helping the 3 year old learn his Russian poem for his school performance next week. She already has it memoriz...

I have fallen in love, sort of. I've said before the Russian language has gotten its hooks into me in a bad way, and the love affair se...

This is why we wanted to put Alex and Zoltan in a Russian preschool.  Their ability to speak Russian and sound very close to a native is a...

The downside to the language exam being over, is that I am 95% sure I didn't pass. I now know what I need to focus on, as well as hopin...

until my language test. It's next week. My Russian teacher today gave me a mock interview, guessing at the types of questions I may get...