Simon Ager

This is tune I came up with while noodling on the piano in October 2020. This version and was recorded in December 2020 and a the sounds you hear come from the cavaquinho. For the full stereo effect, try listening on headphones. The title comes from seeing a neighbour's kittens frolicing in my garden - see photo.

This is a version of 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' I wrote in December 2020. I was inspired by a friend who re-wrote 'We Three Kings'. It references other songs written by me and my friends. Here are the words: We wish you a Merry Christmas We wish you a Jolly Yuletide We wish you Splendid Solstice And a happy new year Now bring us some silly songs Now sing us some silly songs Now play us some s...

In this episode I look back at 2020 and talk about what I've been up to this year in terms of work, language learning and other stuff.

In this episode I discuss success and failure, particularly in relation to learning languages. Are they just different ways of look at the same thing? At what point can you say that you have succeeded to learn a language, or have failed? Does it matter?

In this episode I discuss which languages are hardest to learn, and what makes some languages more difficult to learn than others. It’s not possible to provide a definitive list of the most challenging languages as it depends on a variety of factors. This hasn’t stopped people from doing this anyway. See also: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=1036

In this episode I discuss which languages are easiest to learn for native speakers of English, and what factors make languages easy or difficult to learn, including grammar, spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, the availablity of resources, and so on.

In this episode I take you on an adventure in etymology, the study of where words come from, and how they have changed over time. I start with the word etymology, and see where I end up. You can also hear this, and other episodes of my podcast, at: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=1018

In this episode I talk about Dutch (Nederlands), a West Germanic language spoken mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium. I talk about the language itself and its history, about my attempts to learn it, and related stuff. You can find notes and links for this episode at: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=1004

This is a little jig I came up with in June 2020 while noodling on the cavaquinho. The name comes from seeing a kindle of kittens cavorting on my garden shed one time. I didn't take any photos on that occasion, but did take one of other cats on the shed. This version of the tune was recorded by me on the cavaquinho, mandolin, guitar and bodhrán in Bangor in June 2020. On the recording I play aroun...

In this episode I talk about reasons why we stop learning learning langauges. Why we give up on them and quit. This is based on a poll I posted on the Omniglot Fan Club on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/permalink/10158232206959666/ Top reasons for giving up on a language include losing interest, not having enough time, getting distracted, another language seemed more interestin...

This is a song I wrote in June 2020 inspired by the goats that came down from the Great Orme and took over the streets of Llandudno during the lockdown. This recording features me singing and playing the ukulele. The chords are C, F, Am, G and G7 Here are the words: There are goats in the gardens and dancing down the drives racing round the roundabouts and chewing all the chives Chorus Oh where di...

This is a little jig I came up with while noodling around on the cavaquinho in May 2020. This recording features the cavaquinho, guitar and bodhrán. You can find the dots for it at: https://musescore.com/user/16918231/scores/6174668

In this episode I talk to fellow podcaster and language nerd, Kris Broholm. He makes The Acutal Fluency Podcast on which he talks to language learners about their language learning experiences and journeys. We talk about language learning, about Danish (Kris is from Denmark), and other language-related things. You can hear Kris' podcast: https://actualfluency.com/actual-fluency-language-learning-p...

I started thinking about and writing this song back in October 2019, and in April 2020 I finished writing the words, came up with a tune, and made this recording. It's a song about nothing, as the title suggests. Here are the words: There's nothing to see and nothing to say and nothing to do today But I'm not going let that get in my way And I'll do something anyway If you open your eyes, and your...

I wrote this song in March 2020, inspired by my frequent unwillingness to get up in the morning. I made this recording in April 2020 using tenor. sopranino, and baritone ukuleles. The chords are C, F and G. Here are the words: Get up, get up It's time to greet the day And wash your cares away And set out on your way But I know your bed Is nice and warm and cozy And you'd really rather Stay there J...

In this episode I talk about talent, particularly talent for languages. Do some people have an innate talent for learning languages? Do others lack such a talent? If you don’t have a talent for languages, can you learn one anyway? See also: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=975

This is a very serious song I wrote towards the end of 2019. I was inspired by Christmas carols that often talk about things happing in the morning. This got me thinking about ning - what is it, and why is more of it in the morning? This song eventually emerged. This song provides your recommended daily dose of ning. It might even make you sing and give you zing. This recording was made in March 2...

In this episode I talk about, and in, Gibberish - what it is, where it comes from, how I learnt it, and possible reasons why some people find it difficult to learn. You can find more information at: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=955

This is a tune that came to me while noddling on the cavaquinho in Februrary 2020. This recording features me playing it on the cavaquinho, guitar and bodhrán. Any resemblance to the tradtional Welsh tune Tom Jones / Twm Edwards (https://thesession.org/tunes/2245) is entirely coincidental. The photo comes from Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/rrPGoD

If you’re good at languages, does it follow that you’re good at music, and vice versa? In this episode I talk about links between languages and music. I explore similarities and differences between learning and using languages, and learning and playing music, based mainly on my own experiences. You can find notes on this episode, and links to further information on this topic at: https://www.omnig...

In this episode I talk about how languages are used in, and invented for works of fiction, such as books, films and TV programmes. I also look at the ways writers indicate that characters are speakers in foreign languages without actually writing in those languages, and how accents are used for a similar effect in films and tv shows. See also: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=932

In this episode I talk about how learning silly, obscure and weird words and phrases, and playing with words can actually help you to learn languages. I give examples of ridiculous phrases from Duolingo, mainly in Czech. You can find notes on this episode at: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=897

This is a song I wrote in October / November 2019 from the point of view of rivers that are trapped underground, particularly the River Adda, which mostly flows in a culvert under Bangor. It was put underground between the 1930s and 1960s. Before the 19th century it was called Afon Tarannon or Thunder River, which is where the name of this song comes from. So this is a song for rivers, or anything...

In this episode I tell the story of the Man Who Made Birch Bark Talk, or James Evans, who invented the Ojibwe script, and later adapted it to write Cree, Inuktitut, and a number of other languages. You can also hear it at: https://www.omniglot.com/radio/?p=875

This is a song I wrote in September 2019. It's about trying things even if you think / believe / have been told that you're no good at them. You may just find that you can do them, and may even enjoy them. That's what happened for me with dancing, especially cèilidh dancing, which I have come to enjoy greatly. Here are the words for the song: He always thought he had two left feet Two left feet, t...