Why I think languages are Lingotastic

Sarah Barrett from Lingotastic runs language classes for children and families, using music, crafts, puppets and bubbles – it sounds so much fun we might have to go and check it out ourselves! Here’s Sarah’s language story… On my first visit to Germany to visit my husband Maik’s parents, I had a few language misunderstandings. One … Read more

How do you know when you’re fluent in another language?

The other day, in a moment of idle curiosity, I took an online Spanish test. And it went rather well; when I finished, I was told that I was 87% fluent. This is very funny, because – to my shame – I haven’t spoken Spanish properly for years. And although the test proved that everything I … Read more

Breaking down barriers with The Broke Backpacker

Meet Will. He’s the writer and adventurer behind travel blog The Broke Backpacker, and he just embarked on an epic two-year journey from home in the UK to Papua New Guinea.     The twist? He’s not taking any flights. Oh, and he’s travelling on a daily budget of $30. Will’s been on the road already for two … Read more

Putting Flemish to good use in Ghent

For me, the big glacé cherry on top of the holiday cake is seizing the opportunity to say something in the local language. There is nothing – nothing! – more dispiriting than shying away from an opportunity to test your language skills, forcing someone else to speak your language instead. When I went to Ghent this month, … Read more

You never know until you try…

More years ago than I care to remember, I did a degree in Hispanic Studies at the University of Nottingham. I loved the course, but there was one part of it that filled me with terror from the very first day. The Year Abroad. This is a pretty standard element of a modern languages degree – … Read more

How does a Greek person say ‘it’s all Greek to me’?

‘It’s all Greek to me’. This is what an English speaker might say when they don’t understand something at all. In this context the Greek language is used as a metaphor for ‘something incomprehensible’. So that got us thinking here at EuroTalk… if an English speaker uses Greek, what does a Greek speaking person use? And … Read more

How do you say ‘I have lost my rabbit’ in German?

Blogger Erika Holt is a big fan of languages and learning. In today’s blog post, she tells us why, and explains how knowing a little Greek helped her out in a sticky situation… What made you start learning languages? I have always found myself interested in languages.  I have a huge passion for reading and writing, … Read more

Can You Whistle a Phrase?

A few days ago, Gloria stopped by my desk with a burning question: had I ever heard of the whistling languages? Proudly, I was able to answer that I had, but quickly became deflated when we realised that neither of us had the slightest idea of how they work. Was there a whistling alphabet with … Read more

English Idioms: Halloween special [video]

Happy Halloween! As is EuroTalk tradition, we celebrated the spookiest day of the year (a day early) with fancy dress, pumpkin carving and other Halloween-themed fun. We also took the opportunity to put together this little video of Halloween-themed English idioms, starring members of the (endlessly talented, we’re sure you’ll agree) EuroTalk team. We’re expecting our Oscar … Read more