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Malay vs Indonesian: How Close Are They, Really?
Malay and Indonesian share most of their grammar and core vocabulary, then diverge in loanwords and false friends. Here is what differs and which one to study.
8 articles
Language Learning
Beginner-first courses for languages most apps under-serve.
Covering 5 apps in this category.
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Russian Cases Explained: Six Jobs, Not Six Tables
The six Russian cases, organised by the job each one does, with the animacy rule, the motion-versus-location split, and what beginners reliably get wrong.
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Spaced Repetition for Language Learning: What the Research Actually Supports
Spaced repetition rests on two findings, not one. Here is what the research supports, what it does not, and how to use it without a scheduling algorithm.
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Learn Cantonese for Beginners: What the First Month Actually Demands
How Cantonese tones really work, why Jyutping and traditional characters matter, and what a realistic first month of study looks like for an adult beginner.
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Learn Khmer for Beginners: No Tones, One Very Demanding Script
Khmer has no tones, which removes the barrier most beginners fear. The writing system replaces it — here is what the Khmer script actually asks of you.
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Learn Malay for Beginners: The Easy Start and the Part That Is Not Easy
Malay gives beginners a Latin alphabet, no tones and no verb conjugation. Here is what that buys you, and where the real difficulty actually hides.
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Learn the Russian Cyrillic Alphabet: The Shortest Hard Part of a Hard Language
The 33 letters of Russian sorted into what you already read, what will trick you and what is new, plus the stress and cursive problems nobody warns you about.
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How to Learn the Thai Script (and Why Romanisation Will Let You Down)
What the Thai writing system asks of a beginner: consonant classes, vowels that surround the letter, and five tones that are spelled rather than marked.