Luciano Latouche
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lucianolatouche.bsky.social
Luciano Latouche
@lucianolatouche.bsky.social
I'm a writer on Medium.com. I write about languages, language learning, and linguistics.
Read my stories here: https://medium.com/@latoucheluciano1
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Only 1-4% of adult Americans dedicate their morning to education. So, the time for #languagelearning shrinks even more. In this story, I highlight all the reasons why to start learning a new language as soon as possible:
medium.com/language-lab...

#Writing #Dataviz #LangSky #languages #Writer
The number 'zero' is expressed differently across languages and domains. It may be expressed through words like 'nil', 'null', and even 'love'.

Full story:
medium.com/language-lab...

#writing 🐦🐦 #linguistics #writingcommunity #language #langsky #writesky #Dataviz #languagelearning #Datavis
November 16, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Some #languages, like French, use the vigesimal (base 20) system in addition to, or instead of, the decimal (base 10) system to count. For instance, 80 in French is 'Quatre-vingts', literally 4 x 20.

Full story:
medium.com/language-lab...

🐦🐦 #linguistics #language #langsky #writesky #Dataviz
November 16, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Different languages measure things differently. Some languages will use body parts, while others will have completely different metric systems. Dive in here:
medium.com/language-lab...

#linguistics 🐦🐦 #language #languagelearning #langsky #writesky #writing #writingcommunity #languages #Dataviz
November 16, 2025 at 10:12 PM
How are numbers viewed and expressed in different #languages. Discover how the language you speak affects how you count things.

Full story here: medium.com/language-lab...

#linguistics 🐦🐦 #language #languagelearning #langsky #writesky
The Math Isn’t Mathing Across Languages
A look at how different cultures count things
medium.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:25 PM
In English, the tens are said before the units. For instance, the number ‘35: thirty-five’ can be broken down as ‘3 x 10 (tens) + 5 x 1 (units)’. This is different for a language like German.

Full story here: medium.com/language-lab...

#linguistics 🐦🐦 #language #languagelearning #langsky #writesky
November 16, 2025 at 8:18 PM
You'd think numbers would be universal across cultures. But different #languages use different numeral systems, have different number bases, and different grammatical for numbers. Full story here:
medium.com/language-lab...

#linguistics 🐦🐦 #language #languagelearning #langsky #writesky #writing
November 16, 2025 at 8:05 PM
So, is Bill Clinton Bubba? Is that settled?
November 15, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Spanish is quite similar to Portuguese. But it's usually harder for Spanish speakers to learn Portuguese than the other way around, because of the extra sounds in the Portuguese language.

Full story:
medium.com/language-lab...

#language #languagelearning #dataviz #writing #writesky #linguistics
November 15, 2025 at 8:51 PM
English is a Germanic language, but still there quite a few sounds that only exist in #English- and others only in #German.
Full story here:
medium.com/language-lab...

#language #linguistics #Languages #writesky #langsky #writingcommunity #writing
November 15, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Visualization of the sounds of the French #language vs Italian. As you can see, #French has more sounds than #Italian.

Story here:
medium.com/language-lab...

#language #Romancelanguages #linguistics #WriteSky #Writing #Langsky #Writingcommunity
November 15, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Voronoi visualization of the estimated number of Romance #Language speakers. Spanish is the most popular Romance language in the world, with 475+ million speakers. Full story: medium.com/language-lab...

#languages #Romancelanguages #writing #DataViz #Writingcommunity #LangSky #WriteSky
November 15, 2025 at 7:10 PM
A phonetic comparison between English and Spanish. The English #language has 20+ sounds that don't exist in Spanish. That's why it's generally harder for a Spanish speaker to learn English than for an English speaker to learn Spanish
Read the full story here:
medium.com/language-lab...

#languages
November 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Luciano Latouche
There is so much fun & interesting language-related research coming out recently.

A fascinating new study from the University of Exeter shows that herring gulls don’t just react to what we say — they react to how we say it.

🔗 tinyurl.com/mta7ba9f

🧵👇

#langsky #linguistics #language
Yes, shouting at seagulls actually works, scientists confirm
This is one of the few times shouting might actually help.
tinyurl.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Language learning tool of the day: FSI (Foreign Service Institute) courses. FSI is the training bureau of the US State department. In the past, they provided #language courses for diplomats. The #language training was mostly based on drills/repetitions. Check it out:
www.livelingua.com/fsi/
FSI Language courses | Live Lingua Project - Learn 150+ languages for free.
You can find the public domain FSI Language courses and audios on this site. These courses are public domain and free for anybody to use to learn over 150 languages. All the courses are part of the Li...
www.livelingua.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:15 AM
I'm a writer on Medium. I write about languages, language learning, and linguistics.
Find my work below:
medium.com/language-lab...

#Writing #writer #Writingcommunity #language #linguistics #languagelearning
How Native Speakers Shorten Words
And what does that mean for language learning?
medium.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Here's what I know about you! You use snowclones every day. You just don't know it!
Discover the ones that you use in this story:
medium.com/language-lab...

#snowclones #language #languagelearning #linguistics #Writier #Writingcommunity
Snowclones You Hear Every Day
How one line becomes a thousand variations
medium.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The phrase, 'To be or not to be,' is a snowclone. Same for 'I think, therefore I am'. Learn how to spot snowclones in literature and philosophy in this story:
medium.com/language-lab...

#language #LangSky #WriteSky #linguistics #Languages #Writing #DataViz
November 13, 2025 at 8:57 PM
One of the best places to find snowclones is in pop culture. So you'll spot them in songs, movies, and TV shows. Think of 'Orange is the New Black' or 'The Mother of all Lies'. Full story here: medium.com/language-lab...

#language #LangSky #WriteSky #linguistics #Languages #Writing
November 13, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Phrases like: 'Orange is the new black', 'MAGA', or 'In hell, no one can hear you' are all snowclones. Learn how to spot them in this story:

medium.com/language-lab...

#Language #Linguistics #WriteSky #LangSky #DataViz #Languagelearning
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 PM
3 Best Free language learning tools to learn any language in 2026 - A thread:
1) Lingq - for learning any language with audible stories. Each story comes with a transcript.
www.lingq.com/en/

#language #languagelearning #Langsky #Writsky #writing #writingcommunity
LingQ
Learning Languages Online
www.lingq.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Color is the way that our brain interprets light. In this sense, we could say that color is not an objective thing, but rather a subjective visual experience.

Read the full story here:
medium.com/never-stop-w...
#LanguageLearning #language #linguistics #Dataviz #Writing
November 13, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Romance languages are beautiful. They have a syllable-timed rhythm, which makes them sound tidy and predictable. Learn about the sounds of the Romance languages in this story:
medium.com/language-lab...

#language #Romancelanguages #language #langsky #writesky #Writing #Writingcommunity
November 13, 2025 at 4:04 AM
If you’re going to tell someone to 'speak English', you need to finish the sentence. Do say, 'Speak English because I'm too lazy and too ethnocentric to ever be interested in learning a foreign language'. Also, 'I'm a jackass!'
November 12, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Luciano Latouche
I'm so fed up with this. Languages are central to all of higher education. Everyone should be learning languages, precisely because it is hard. Not everything can be transacted in English. A monoglot English language University can only be poorer for the loss of languages.
c.org/7nQdjc7cHJ
Sign the Petition
Save Modern Languages courses at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I speak 4 languages: Creole, French, English and Spanish. Now I'm trying to decide whether to pick up Greek or German. The choice is harder than one might think!
November 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM