Feature Photo: powerbooktrance Photo: giuvax

If you’re like me, you find yourself putting off everything you should be doing by reading translations of obscure Russian idioms or working out the subtle differences between various usages of cabrón.

You probably get giddy over new words. You lose yourself in fantasies of learning Portuguese…then Thai…then Swahili…You’re a sucker for languages, love the puzzles and the logic and cultural revelation behind them. Love extrapolating philosophies and perspectives from ‘em.

Since I am a massive language dork and a sucker for procrastination via language blog, I will enable your geeky habits and pass these language sites along to you. This is my culling from Bab.la’s list of the Top 100 Language Blogs of 2009, plus a few of my personal faves.

Photo: buenosaurus

1. The Linguist

I listen to this guy talk about language acquisition while I make chili. Seriously. If you ever wanted to be a linguist, or just longed to listen to one wax poetic on the internet, this is the site for you. There are videos and posts about everything from basic French grammar to how language learning is like drinking overflowing cups of sake.

2. The English Blog

Jeffrey Hill’s blog for English learners and teachers uses current news, videos, photos, and strange found gems from the internet to analyze and discuss English. Don’t let the learning-English aspect turn you off. You can find videos about cranberry growers in New England, violins in China and the making of Twitter Lit, plus links to language articles around the web.

3. Tofugu

Great for Japanese language and culture. Whether you’re paranoid about chopstick faux pas or you get a kick out of transitive and intransitive verbs, you’ll feel at home here. Offers snark and the basics of Katakana.

Photo: Pink Sherbet Photography

4. Omniglot Blog

Love the “mystery language” recordings (makes language seem strangely beautiful and detached from meaning) and the hodgepodge of interesting info, from Welsh words for “gruel” to cross-cultural terms for the moon.

5. Separated By A Common Language

Ever received that look of confused disgust when you call an aubergine an eggplant or a lift an elevator or a jumper a sweater, or vice versa? Oh, how I like nothing better than a dorkier than dorky conversation with a Brit about the difference between cookies and biscuits. This blog, run by an American linguist in the UK, explores all the finer differences between British and U.S versions of English.

6. Fluent In Three Months

Benny the Irish Polyglot’s site is helpful for unconventional language learning tips, like how to get rid of your English accent. (“Bone-jurrrr!” anyone?) While I’m skeptical that a foreigner can ever “become Brazilian,” as Benny attempted, I like some of his hints. He is very much of the get-out-there-and-talk-to-native-speakers and learn-by-travel philosophy and promotes this on the site. Good for people who find themselves spending most of the day gaping in confusion, starting from scratch with the language learning process in a foreign country.

7. The virtual linguist

Recent entries include a post on the origin and history of the word “merry” and an overview of new additions to the Oxford English Dictionary 2009. My favorite: “remembery: a written commemoration (now obsolete); a person’s memory, or the thing remembered.” Great for writers.

8.Mr. Verb

“Language Changes. Deal With It. Revel In It.” So reads Mr. Verb’s banner. Here you will find a linguistic slant on everything from Sarah Palin to Scandinavian dialects, plus an abundance of interesting links.

9. Lenguajero

A genius Spanish-English exchange site. The site offers users a chance to meet native English or Spanish speakers and practice speaking with them. It also allows users to write on a new topic everyday and have their writing reviewed by native speakers, and to create their own “smart flash cards” and review them.

10 .Wordia

I love Wordia. I mean seriously, I sink back into my chair, give up on finishing that tedious email, and click on definition after definition. This is what words should be, right? Individual to each person, tied to distinct personalities. Addictive.