Tag Archives: foreign languages

Methodological Coda: The Three-Layer Protocol Beyond Catalonia

Posted on August 29, 2026 by nathanalbright

Placement. Late in the methodology book, after the negative-space apparatus is established and before the abandoned-project material. It functions as the generalization test: a method derived from one case earns its place only if it deforms predictably across others. Chapter … Continue reading →

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The Logic of en and et: Gender Assignment in the Danish Indefinite Article

Posted on August 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Danish presents the learner with two indefinite articles, en and et, where English offers one. The usual explanation — that Danish nouns have two genders and one must simply memorize which is which — is true but unhelpful, and … Continue reading →

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The Intertwining of Hope and Waiting: A Cross-Linguistic and Theological-Philosophical White Paper

Posted on November 12, 2025 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper explores how the semantic fields of hope and waiting converge across languages and cultures. Using Spanish esperanza—which simultaneously evokes “hope” and “expectation”—as the central case, we trace similar patterns in Indo-European, Semitic, and East Asian languages. The … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Hebrew For Dummies

Posted on May 8, 2024 by nathanalbright

Hebrew For Dummies, by Jill Suzanne Jacobs This book is one that desperately wants to be hip and to show that a language that had been moribund for centuries, limited to liturgical use, had been resurrected like the Messiah as … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Lingo

Posted on January 11, 2024 by nathanalbright

Lingo: Around Europe In Sixty Languages, by Gaston Dorren I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more had it not been for the very beginning and very end of the book. In the first paragraph of the book proper, the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Ethnologue Language Family Index

Posted on May 10, 2023 by nathanalbright

Ethnologue Language Family Index To The Thirteenth Edition To The Ethnologue, by Joseph E. Grimes & Barbara E. Grimes As this book consists of more than a hundred pages of languages listed one after another included as part of various … Continue reading →

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Babies, Bathwater, And Babel

Posted on March 15, 2022 by nathanalbright

For those of us who are interested in the Tower of Babel project [1], it is common that we will read writings that have been translated from Russian that seek to discuss the long-term history of human languages. Various different … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Fluent Forever

Posted on November 2, 2020 by nathanalbright

Fluent Forever: How To Learn Any Language And Never Forget It, by Gabriel Wyner This book is sort of a sequel to that of many other books that discuss how it is that one gains fluency. This particular book discusses … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Fluent In 3 Months

Posted on November 2, 2020 by nathanalbright

Fluent In 3 Months: How Anyone At Any Age Can Learn To Speak Any Language From Anywhere In The World, by Beny Lewis This book has at least a little bit of the gimmicky nature of it, and it participates … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Through The Language Glass

Posted on October 16, 2020 by nathanalbright

Through The Language Glass: Why The World Looks Different In Other Languages, by Guy Deutscher This book rather thoughtfully engages a question that is in debate in linguistics and one that I have a deep personal interest in. The question … Continue reading →

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