About

Hello, my name is Tim and I enjoy learning languages! The two languages I’ve studied most are Russian and Korean. One thing I noticed was that, as I studied and got better at Korean, my Russian was getting worse and worse. This blog is partly an excuse for me to rekindle my abilities in Russian language in a fun way while also hopefully providing an example to others in an effective method of improving language skills.

I am from Seattle, Washington in the USA and graduated with a MA in Slavic Languages and Literature in 2009 and earned another MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in 2015. Currently, I teach a TESOL certificate course in Seoul, South Korea.

Music is in my background as well. I played the tuba and baritone horn from 5th grade until the end of high school and have played bass and sung in several bands from my high school days until the time I moved to Korea in 2015. The last band I was in is called Brides of the Lizard God. Take a listen. It’s a lot of fun.

One thing that people frequently ask me about is how they can increase their vocabulary in English and I always tell them one thing: read English language books or articles, listen to music with English lyrics or watch movies or TV shows in English. Especially as we enter intermediate levels in a language, these can be the best ways for us to learn! They allow us to learn about culture, and help us to greatly expand our vocabularies and understanding of grammar because we see it in a real context. Come with me as I watch, listen to and read popular Russian movies, music, TV shows. I’ll maybe even read a book or two.

I want to provide useful reviews of these media as well as show you what I’ve learned through consuming them. Hopefully this can encourage you to try something similar!