The Language Learning Specialists
No matter whether you call it football or soccer, there’s no denying that association football is one of the most popular sports in the world. In fact, with an estimated 250 million active players in over 200 countries, it might just be the most popular sport around the globe. That means, no matter where 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
With around 86 million people – in the US alone! – listening to podcasts at least occasionally, it’s definitely a fast-growing medium. We’ve covered before how you can use podcasts to learn languages, including some specific suggestions for Quebecois French, but did you know there’s a whole world of language-adjacent podcasts out there, where you … 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
Ever wondered how to say ‘Father Christmas’ in Cebuano? Zulu? Maybe in Māori? Well, wonder no more! We’ve collected together different ways of saying Father Christmas in over 100 languages – take a look and see if you can find the one you’re after. The festive season is upon us once again! And next to … Read more
The holidays are coming and with them, the most stressful part of all (except maybe the cooking!): buying presents. Luckily, you can find almost anything on the internet—and we’ve decided to save you some time by putting together a list of gifts to please that person in your life who just loves languages. If that’s … Read more
One of the greatest mysteries to perplex the curious language lover during a Thanksgiving dinner is the ubiquitous turkey itself. Some people call them “Turkey”, others call them “India”, “Peru” and some even know them as “Roman”! Seriously, it’s enough to get our feathers in a ruffle! What we call the turkey is a tangled … Read more
If you’ve been learning languages for a while, then chances are good you’ve heard of using podcasts – even if you haven’t managed to give them a try. We spoke to Tamara Marie, a language coach and host of the podcast Learn Spanish Con Salsa (as well as the brand-new Dominican Spanish 101)! Find out … Read more
When you think of how to learn a new language, playing games might not be the first method that comes to mind. It’s a shame; as uTalk’s Language Guru, Brian, points out in this post, games are a great way to encourage learning and – spoiler alert – it’s not just because they’re fun! Games … Read more