The Language Learning Specialists
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
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
The third Sisters Only Language Summit is taking place on 30th January 2021 and uTalk are excited to be sponsoring the event for a second time! Last July, we sat down with Desta, one of the organisers and the founder of Languages through Music to ask her about herself, her business, and what she thinks … Read more
Today is Shark Awareness Day, a chance to raise the profile of a type of fish vital to our ecosystem that has, in some form or another, been roaming this planet for over 400 million years. (That’s before dinosaurs even existed, in case you were wondering!) But what do sharks have to do with language … Read more
Last week, we talked about the importance of our culturally-specific topics, which differ from language to language. As our language of the week this week is Flemish, we took a look at the words and phrases you can learn on the app—and decided to give you a new one and its story, right here! No … Read more
We’ve been busy beavers here at uTalk for the past week or so, working hard to make sure everything stays running smoothly as we all transferred to working from home. Of course, we didn’t forget about any of you! We’ve also been working on a little special something to help keep you all busy, learning, … Read more