How the Turkey Got its Name

Spoiler alert: it was a mistake! Our Brit forebears got in a flap when it came to naming the festive feathered fowl because it didn’t come from Turkey. The story goes that they named it after the sea merchants from Turkey who imported the bird, incorrectly assuming that the bird originated from their country. But … Read more

New name, new horizons for the language challenge

Organisers of the competition – now called The uTalk Challenge – want to spread the word about languages to even more children. Language learning company uTalk is looking to stage the competition in other countries including India, where it’s already being trialled, as well as Greece and Nigeria. And it wants to make the competition better … Read more

Here’s why we enjoy running the uTalk Challenge, see what some our finalists said this year.

Niharika Nudurumati’s mum says her daughter put in extra hours of practice – when she was asleep! “Sometimes when she is asleep, she sleep talks in the new language she just learnt and I would be searching upon google translate to know what she is saying,” says mum Vindhya Kothuri from Linton, Cambridge. Niharika, we’re … Read more

Languages are our heart and soul

Languages say something about our culture and our soul, according to uTalk’s language guru (pictured). Which is why Brian Loo Soon Hua, who knows upwards of eight languages, is worried about the number of endangered languages on the verge of becoming extinct. ‘Languages are going extinct and regional differences are slowly dying out,’ he says. … Read more

Keep Your Herr On: A Beginner’s Guide to German

Here’s the five Gut and Wurst things you need to know about the language: Lots of similar words: Around 40% of German words are similar to English ones because they once shared the same ancestral language.  Shared words include Hammer (hammer), Freund (friend) and gut (good) as well as phrases like was ist das? (what is that?) and … Read more

Working Against the Clock

It’s not a wind-up if someone in Rwanda, Africa looks at a clock face reading seven o’clock and tells you it’s one o’clock. It’s because speakers of the local language, Kinyarwanda, measure daytime from sunrise, which they call 12 o’clock in the morning, through to sunset, which they call 12 o’clock in the evening.   … Read more

Sent With Love: Our Tips for the UK Royals

Newly-wed Megan Markle touched our hearts when she called Prince Harry “my love” at a recent gala performance. But how much more fun would it have been if she’d used one of these quirky terms of affection from another tongue? Here’s our top ten suggestions: French: ma puce meaning my flea. Portuguese: chuchuzinho meaning little squash (the vegetable). Persian:  … Read more