One year and a few days ago, I opened an account called @olga_from_crazy. This first year was very instructive, I learned quite a few language lessons from Twitter. Here is an overview of what it has made me discover about languages and the world in 2015:
Twitter newbies: click here to know about ‘#s'
The hashtags ‘#' in front of some words designate what the tweets are about. If you're interested in a particular subject (it can be #FirstTweet, but also #sodas, #planes or #whatever you want), you can use Twitter's search bar to get a list of all the tweets that contain those hashtags.
Two days later, I eventually decided not to go for two Twitter accounts (one in English and one in French). I closed the account in French and said hello to Twitter's world in the language of Molière but on @olga_from_crazy :
For newbies again : about font sizes
Sometimes Twitter writes big, sometimes it writes small. If I had to guess, I would say that it depends on the number of syllables in the tweet. So, you see, it most probably is in fact just random: sometimes it's written big, sometimes small !
Now, let's start this overview with a tweet that every one of us should meditate, whatever our first language(s) is(are) :
It was posted on Twitter by :
The Latin Programme
Twitter name : @LatinProgramme
Description : The Latin Programme is a charity working with state primary schools to improve literacy through the study of Latin. We believe Latin is for everyone!
Tweeting place in the world : Greater London
Next, please do find 7 sections containing six tweets each. (The tweets are to be found in the tabs.) Enjoy !
#1 – Language learning tweets
Asian scripts
Itchy Feet Comic
Twitter name : @ItchyFeetComic
Description : Malachi Ray Rempen's weekly comic about world travel, learning new languages, and life as a foreigner. If you like those things, you'll like ITCHY FEET!
Tweeting place in the world : Berlin, Germany
SVO
Andovar
Twitter name : @andovarglobal
Description : VP Marketing at localization agency Andovar. Loves languages, translation, books, psychology, games. From Poland, living in Thailand, world citizen. PL/EN/ES/TH
Tweeting place in the world : Bangkok, Thailand
Norsk
Philosophy
Polyglot
Twitter name : @polyglotclub
Description : Practice ALL Languages and Make Friends! 550,000 members around the world. Free meetings, parties, trips, workshops & language classes in Paris & 150 cities.
Tweeting place in the world : Paris
Ring!
James Chapman
Twitter name : @chapmangamo
Description : Illustrator, often for @BuzzFeed. I draw pictures of sounds in other languages!
Tweeting place in the world : Manchester, England
Sign
Find other very nice cat sign language drawings here : LSF Plus.
Description : Bienvenue sur la “version LSF Plus” de Élessef, le petit chat blanc aux yeux bleus qui va t'aider à acquérir un vocabulaire de LSF de base, adapté à ton âge. Avec tes parents, tu pourras apprendre de manière ludique.
Just for newbies : ‘RTs' and ‘MTs'
When you see ‘RT' in a tweet, it means that the tweet you're seeing has been “ReTweeted” and when you see ‘MT', it means it's a “Modified Tweet”.
#2 – Linguistic humor
Wi-Fi
Aprende hablando
Twitter name : @AprendeHablando
Description : Learn, improve or refresh your Spanish with our tweets. Our goal is to strengthen your skills. Live tutors from Spain for more individualized instruction.
Tweeting place in the world : Spain, Global
Hieroglyphs
Grammarly
Twitter name : @grammarly
Description : Give me your dangling modifiers, your misplaced apostrophes, your comma splices longing to be corrected.
Tweeting place in the world : San Francisco
Vegetables
Language Crawler
Twitter name : @LanguageCrawler
Description : Crawling the Internet for news, books, videos & resources about languages & linguistics for linguaphiles, polyglots, language lovers & language geeks…
Tweeting place in the world : Pangaea
Bean
Dentist
Language Log
Twitter name : @languagelog
Description : Language Log is a group blog on language and linguistics started in the summer of 2003 by Mark Liberman and Geoffrey Pullum.
Tweeting place in the world : Philadelphia, PA
Peake
Tim Peake
Twitter name : @astro_timpeake
Description : British ESA astronaut & test pilot. Living & working onboard the International Space Station for 6 months. Tweets are my own.
Tweeting place in the world : Low Earth Orbit
Just for newbies : ‘MT en2fr'
As far as I know, this is not a common practice on Twitter; it's just me: when I write “MT en2fr”, it means I'm retweeting and translating at the same time. I am thus emitting a “Modified Tweet” translated from English to French.
#3 – Serious general knowledge
French
Licogiser
Twitter name : @licogiser
Description : Language learning? Licogiser!
Tweeting place in the world : Worldwide
Grammar
Livemocha
Description : Livemocha by Rosetta Stone offered FREE online language learning, 35 languages, and opportunities to learn from native speakers.
Tweeting place in the world : Seattle, WA
Africa
Wirral Multilingual
Twitter name : @WMultilingual
Description : Wirral Multilingual promotes the use and understanding of foreign languages and cultures among those living and working in the Wirral, North West England.
Tweeting place in the world : Wirral, United Kingdom
Latin
Jesse Sheidlower
Twitter name : @jessesheidlower
Description : Overdressed. Past President, American Dialect Society. OED. The F-Word. Likes cooking, wine, cocktails; (motor)cycling, squash; novice Oly lifter; Perl, Emacs.
Scribe
Week
Fiche maternelle
Description : Vous trouverez des exercices de maternelle Grande-Section, Moyenne-Section et début CP pour enseignants et parents.
Just for newbies : how to tweet ?
When you're logged in Twitter, you just need to click on ‘Tweet' and write a less than 140-character message that you then send to the world. You can also include links and images.
#4 – Beautiful images
Cars I
ClassicPics
Twitter name : @History_Pics
Description : ClassicPics tweets historical photos of the good and bad, fun and sad moments from bygone times.
Cars II
M. Refik YILDIRIM
Twitter name : @MrY_Photography
Description : Photography (amateur photographer), Coffee, Travel, Movie, Cooking (fajita), Hotpepper (carolina reaper), Mountains, Dark chocolate with sea salt
Eiffel tower
History in Pictures
Twitter name : @HistoryFlick
Description : Sharing pictures of world famous figures, events, and moments in #history!
Rivoli
(Re)découvrez PARIS
Twitter name : @parisvisites
Description : #Paris hier & aujourd'hui…Vs cherchez un #cadeau perso(anniv,mariage, Noël…)ou d'entreprise?Pourquoi pas une visite privée d'un quartier mythique de Paris?
Tweeting place in the world : Paris
Classy
Piccsy
Description : Piccsy helps you discover the images you love.
New York
Luxury
Ex-Twitter name : @ViesDeReve
Just for newbies : how to re-tweet ?
Well, click on the little arrow under a tweet that you like and you'll see it appear in your timeline. All your followers will see it too !
#5 – Around the world
Mexico
Anthroponatura
Twitter name : @anthroponatura
Description : Association for the study of the links between human diversity and biodiversity. UNESCO Chair Initiative
Tweeting place in the world : University of Salamanca
Rumania
Dowin Photography
Twitter name : Dowin seems to have deleted its account
Description : Experiencing the world and sharing our dreams through #photography. Based in #Florida, we're fortunate to be able to share the land of summer all year long.
Tweeting place in the world : Palm Bay, FL
Babylon
Fact Guru
Twitter name : @factguru91
Description : I'm crazy for some weird / crazy facts and stuff from the past.. Join me if you are aswell.
Tweeting place in the world : Birmingham
Galapagos
Atlas Obscura
Twitter name : @atlasobscura
Description : The definitive guide to the world's hidden wonders.
Tweeting place in the world : Everywhere
GPS
Alexandria
All That Is Interesting
Twitter name : @ATInteresting
Description : The premiere creator of the most fascinatingly cerebral content on the web.
Just for newbies : what's ‘via' ?
‘via' is used by a third person to indicate who is the second person who discovered the first person's tweet. In the ‘GPS' tab above, I used ‘via' in a different manner, to indicate where I had found the image and page link. These three little letters could be
#6 – Maps !
Russian
One Europe
Twitter name : @One1Europe
Description : European #media raising #debates on the future of #Europe & the #EuropeanUnion | #Volunteer for OneEurope | #Europeans #Europa #Evropa
Tweeting place in the world : Europe
Español
Silicon Valley Spanish
Ancient Twitter name : @SVSpanish
Description : Spanish as a Second Language, Business and Medical Spanish, Conversation. Private, Face to Face, or Online Instruction.
Tweeting place in the world : Gilroy, CA
America
Kem Opperman-Torres
Twitter name : @SraTorres
Description : Middle School Spanish teacher using @AIMLanguage | Co-moderator #Aimchat | Study Skills Teacher | Digital Citizenship Certified Educator | Member LFLTA
Tweeting place in the world : Metairie | New Orleans LA
Europe
Language Crawler
Twitter name : @LanguageCrawler
Description : Crawling the Internet for news, books, videos & resources about languages & linguistics for linguaphiles, polyglots, language lovers & language geeks…
Tweeting place in the world : Pangaea
Hippo
Maps on the Web
Twitter name : @onlmaps
Description : News on maps, online maps, route planners from around the world. Tweeting about geography, space, science, news, and occasionally affiliates.
Putain!
LingaLift
Twitter name : @lingualift
Description : The language learning site you'll actually use. LinguaLift is the easiest way to learn how to speak, read and write a new language.
Just for newbies : why Twitter ?
Because you get in one place the latest and most varied about what you love. Point !
#7 – Alphabets
New
Omniglot – Simon Ager
Twitter name : @Omniglossia
Description : Linguist, Musician, Juggler, Procrastinator
Tweeting place in the world : Wales / Cymru
Vision
Language Crawler
Twitter name : @LanguageCrawler
Description : Crawling the Internet for news, books, videos & resources about languages & linguistics for linguaphiles, polyglots, language lovers & language geeks…
Tweeting place in the world : Pangaea
Arabic
UIC Languages
Twitter name : @UIC_FL
Description : We are a Foreign Languages school based in central London
Tweeting place in the world : London
Wood
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Twitter name : @metmuseum
Description : The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Tweets by Taylor Newby (@taylorcnewby) and Kimberly Drew (@museummammy).
Tweeting place in the world : New York / NY
Devanagari
sloth unleashed
Description : >the laziest blog on earth…
Mayan
Phys.org
Twitter name : @physorg_com
Description : Science news, Technology news. Physics, Space, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering, Math, Electronics, Nanotechnology, Materials, Computers, Health, Earth Science.
Language lessons from Twitter – the end !
Let's finish this overview with a tweet that every one of us should meditate (yes, whatever our first language(s) is or are) :
And this was brought to us by :
Website name : Dancing commas
Description : have you ever noticed that quotation marks look like dancing commas?
You've liked this overview ?
Then, head over to the one of 2016 !
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