Merry Christmas!

A little language boost and some more gratitude

Merry Christmas, aspiring polyglot! Whether you celebrate or not, I wanted to take a moment to reiterate my gratitude for you. It has been quite the year and much has come of it, but nothing quite as incredible as thousands of people wishing me Merry Christmas in various languages they are now learning. What a treat for this old language professor.

If you had told me this time last year that my little idea to teach languages online would grow into something this incredible, I would have smiled at you very skeptically. It has been an incredible year, in large part due to those of you who come to read me. Though, getting married was quite the life highlight, too! If you have been here for any or all of it, I am eternally grateful to you for showing me that I do have something worth sharing. If you used the tools here to learn a new language, thank you for putting in the work and setting yourself up for success long-term. I cannot learn the language for you, but I can celebrate with you!

What’s to come?

The new year will bring many, many things. Zero to conversational in Spanish course, CLEP exam preparation, English as a second language content for those who do not speak English natively, perhaps even a book or two. While it will take most of the year to get all of this done, I look forward to every step of the process. As per usual, if you have any requests you can simply reply to the email you received with the post and I will work on it for you. The year 2023 was big, but 2024 will make it seem small.

If you have been waiting to learn a language, this is your call to action. I can give you the tools and strategies, but you have to learn the language yourself. If you know anyone else who could benefit from any of the above or anything from before, share this with them. Speaking multiple languages is way more fun when you can do it with friends!

To close out, here are just a few different ways the community here says, Merry Christmas:

English: Merry Christmas

Spanish: Feliz Navidad

Italian: Buon Natale

Korean: 메리 크리스마스

French: Joyeux Noël

Polish: Wesolych swiat

Vietnamese: Em chúc bạn một giáng sinh vui vẻ

Russian: С Рождеством

Turkish: Mutlu Noeller

German: Frohe Weihnachten

Portuguese: Feliz Natal

If you do not see your target (or native!) language here, please add it in the comments! As you can see, while I primarily talk about the languages I speak, these strategies work for any language. I hope the year 2024 is the year you take the leap to bilingualism and beyond, if you have not already.

Learning a language is no easy feat, but with hundreds, even thousands of people in the trenches with you it does not feel so cumbersome. It is a long road, but a worthwhile one and I look forward to seeing all that you accomplish in and outside of languages in the coming year. Enjoy your time with your family, finish the year strong, and teach someone a word or two in your target language today.

Much love for you all,

-BtOdin