11 MIN READ Three long, turbulent years later, I am back in my hometown Vilnius. Its cupcake cream color and its scent of humid air and vaporating asphalt are precisely the way I remember. What is different this time is the way the city sounds. For centuries Vilnius has been a place of multiple languagesContinueContinue reading “Language (con)fusion”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Language Family Matters
14 MIN READ In January, the new language law was adopted in Ukraine to allow the Ukrainian language only to be used in the service sector, public organizations, and government agencies. Supermarkets, cafes, banks, and online shops staff are obliged from then on to communicate and serve their clients in Ukrainian only, including the informationContinueContinue reading “Language Family Matters”
Language in the news
9 MIN READ News nowadays is overwhelmed reporting about the events in the tumultuous world and their impact on it. Once in a while, when news on language sneaks in, a language enthusiast is instantly all ears and immensely intrigued and entertained. Earlier in January, the television news network Euronews reported some glad tidings forContinueContinue reading “Language in the news”
Looking back on 2020
5 MIN READ Once there was a time of a flow of events, gradual, some slower, others faster, developments and progress towards some infinite future and some kind of distant goal. Then 2020 happened, and the chain of events has cracked. Life seemed to have stopped, and things changed overnight, making some become obsolete, andContinueContinue reading “Looking back on 2020”
Even more extraordinary November 2020
WORD is a single unit of language which has meaning and can be spoken or written, a definition given by the Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Have you ever thought about what defines a word? Because “words matter,” famously said by “Notorious RBG” Ruth Bader Ginsburg who claimed she was greatly inspired by the RussianContinueContinue reading “Even more extraordinary November 2020”
The extraordinary summer of 2020
Extraordinarily slow but not at all dull. Here in Denmark, the summer warmth filled air has made it quite enjoyable and relaxing with a whole slew of strolls and bike rides, nonstop reads of summer literature, and occasional sips of refreshing cocktails. There has been time for everything, it seems. Certainly, it created an idealContinueContinue reading “The extraordinary summer of 2020”
Language Classes Online
Grammar and exercise books, exciting blogs, podcasts, and smartphone apps – are all helpful language-learning tools. The key to honing your language skills and actually mastering them is PRACTICE. I, a foreign language teacher and instructor, the writer and creator of Ventral Striatum, invite you to practice your language skills with me online. Years ofContinueContinue reading “Language Classes Online”
Vocabulary of the week
English is the most used language of today. Personally, I have been learning it since I was in the fifth grade, which makes it many, many years by now. And it is not possible to learn enough of it: different words and notions depending on a field and a situation, type of text or entertainment,ContinueContinue reading “Vocabulary of the week”
Summer of 2018
Linguistically, this summer has been rich and full of discoveries. The literal experience highly impacted this year’s holiday plans. Having read two out of four Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, the summer started in a multi-layered city of Naples which never quiets down, the opposite from now sleepy Mount Vesuvius watching undisturbed over its noisy neighbor.ContinueContinue reading “Summer of 2018”
April – the month of language celebration
The beautiful thing about the month of April is the first blooming flowers, longer sunny days in the world’s Northern hemisphere, and a non-stop celebration and events related to languages, books, and creativity. April 20 – Chinese Language Day, April 21 – World Creativity and Innovation Day, April 23 – World Book and Copyright Day,ContinueContinue reading “April – the month of language celebration”
Ventral Striatum 