Tyler Lau

We found 7 articles

What’s the International Phonetic Alphabet and why is it great?
Nope, it’s not the beer, though that’s pretty great too! IPA stands for the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is a standardized way to write down the sounds of any language. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? But we’ll see how this system captures nuances of sounds in the world’s languages and why this is a great tool not only for understanding ...
Should I Become a Linguistics Major?
In a previous post I explained what, exactly, linguistics is, and provided an introduction to its different branches. Now I’m asking: why should you become a linguistics major? Reason #1: To gain a better understanding of English (or any language!) Linguistics seeks to understand how languages work. Even just an introductory linguistics course can ...
A review of Duolingo: is it really worth your time?
Interested in learning a foreign language in a fun, low-pressure way? Addicted to your smartphone? Duolingo might be the app for you! As an avid language learner (avid to the point where I’m now pursuing a Linguistics PhD), I was thrilled to discover an app that allowed me to learn languages passively without feeling like I was devoting all my ...
Math Tips: Triangles
Triangles can be very different! Triangles are the most basic 2D shape that you can create and they can be found everywhere. So let’s look at some tricks and facts about triangles. We’ll start by looking at the triangle below (not drawn to scale).
An introduction to the branches of linguistics
Many students start college with no idea what linguistics is, and it’s possible they won’t even brush past it throughout their entire college career. Today, I’ll demystify and explain exactly what linguistics is and hopefully encourage you to at least take an introductory class! When I tell people that I'm doing a PhD in linguistics, there are ...
How to Solve SAT Word Problems
SAT
Slow and methodical does it... (Big Bang Theory) Word problems on the SAT can be very intimidating. A lot of students cruise along the rest of the math section and then freeze as soon as they see a word problem. Why am I being quizzed on reading comprehension??? But don’t panic! The trick is to figure out how to translate these word problems into ...
How to Learn (and Retain) Foreign Language Vocab
Julie Andrew knows a thing or two about mnemonics Learning vocabulary in a new language can be a really daunting task, especially when you think about the thousands (and that’s probably an understatement!) of words you have to learn. But language learning doesn’t have to be all boring rote memorization. In fact, unless you want to forget all these ...
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