The Language Learning Specialists
Brian 
A Chinese dialect brought by sailors and traders who braved pirates, rough seas, and tropical disease still thrives on the island of Penang. Penang Hokkien is often described as sounding very musical and is as far removed from Mandarin as English is from German. Yet, like all Chinese languages spoken around the world, Penang Hokkien … Read more
The greatest festival in China, the Lunar New Year, will begin this Saturday 10th February. On this day, the year of the Wood Dragon begins. You’re probably asking yourself, why do the Chinese name years after animals? And why is this year the year of the Wood Dragon? What’s going on? The 12 animals of … Read more
The Yucatec Mayan language, once spoken in the ancient sprawling cities of Chichen Itza and Mayapan will now be available on uTalk! That’s right – history lovers, culture vultures and fans of Mesoamerica can now learn the Yucatec Mayan language (and yes – the language of Namor and the fictional underwater kingdom of Talokan from … Read more
Here’s a hint: it’s one you’ll find in Mexico and can learn on the uTalk app! The MCU (that’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe) is fast becoming one of the unlikeliest places to discover rare languages. Take Black Panther as an example, where some of the inhabitants of fictional Wakanda could be heard speaking Xhosa, a … Read more
With temperatures relentlessly rising in some parts of the world, and massive floods wreaking havoc in others, it’s high time we learnt how to complain about the weather in the language with the highest number of native speakers: Mandarin Chinese. After all, odds are, if you grumble dramatically in Mandarin, someone somewhere will understand you. … Read more
There’s a chill in the air as the days grow shorter and darkness steadily creeps upon us. Yes, it’s that time of year again! (Well, in the northern hemisphere, anyway.) Here at uTalk, we love Halloween just as much as we love languages, and to celebrate the horror and gore we’ve made a list of … Read more
It’s Pride Month and one of the most colourful words in the English language – with more makeovers than Madonna and more dramatic life stories than Liza Minnelli – is the word ‘gay’! Like every hero, ‘gay’ has an origin story, but even today, scholars are in disagreement over the precise journey it took to … Read more
Language lovers, it’s that time of year again! That’s right, the Polyglot Gathering Online begins this week – taking place from 20th to 23rd May. You can check out their official website for more information, or keep reading our post to find out more about all things polyglot. What exactly is a polyglot? The word … Read more
The Indonesian word for ‘dictionary’ (kamus) is almost the same as the Swahili word (kamusi) and is in fact an old borrowing from Arabic that somehow came from the Greek word for ‘ocean’. Confused? Here’s how multilingualism and trade spread three rather unusual words around the world. An ocean of words The Indonesian word for … Read more
Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many wonderful ways around the world. uTalk’s Language guru, Brian, presents five countries and their colourful customs all done in the name of love! Argentina Argentineans are so passionate about love that in addition to Valentine’s Day, they celebrate an entire week in July called La Semana de la Dulzura … Read more