The Language Learning Specialists
If you’ve started learning Mandarin Chinese and don’t have any knowledge of any other east Asian languages, you might have noticed that there’s a bit of a learning curve when it comes to good pronunciation. In fact, at first glance, it might not be clear what’s going on at all! Read this post, the first … Read more
Here at uTalk, we’ve spoken a little before about the traditions surrounding the Chinese New Year, which involve all kinds of things, chief among them wearing red, eating a reunion dinner with your family, and not washing your hair. But what about the origins of Chinese New Year—and why are there so many animals involved? … Read more
In today’s blog post, father and son Joseph and Reuben share with us their JLC story and how learning made fun got them counting the days until this year’s competition. If you’re a parent or teacher of children aged 10 and under in the UK, visit juniorlanguagechallenge.com to find out more about our annual competition, … Read more
Happy Chinese New Year! 恭喜发财！ Today is the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The period before Chinese New Year is one of the biggest annual migrations of people, all going home to their families to celebrate together. This is for the New Years Eve dinner, also known as the reunion dinner, normally … Read more
In the spirit of ‘Linguists Anonymous’, I am Felicity Jones, 45, and I am mildly addicted to learning other languages. I speak French, German, Spanish, Italian and some Mandarin. I have used uTalk to learn some Danish, and my January challenge is Greek. Even as a child I would listen under the bed cover to … Read more
Every year on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunar calendar, millions of ethnic Chinese celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節, pinyin: Zhōngqiū Jié) around the world. This year it falls on 27th September, but you’ll find that festivities are held throughout the month. It is thought to originate from ancient times … Read more
Today we’ve got a fantastic guest post from Kelly Wang – English teacher, accidental traveller, cake whisperer, dinosaur believer – on her personal language learning journey. If you’ve got a language story to tell, we’d love to hear it! Now over to you, Kelly… My journey through languages began in sequins and shoulder pads. At the … Read more
Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s hoping the Year of the Goat (or possibly Sheep) is a good one. See how much you know about this important Chinese holiday with our quiz. How many did you get right?
China is an amazing country, one that should be on every traveler’s must visit list. Few countries possess the wide variety of experiences you will find in the Middle Kingdom. While you are in this amazing country, be sure to visit the province of Yunnan, one of the lesser known, but most beautiful destinations within … Read more
Why learn a language this new year? Well, for one thing, you never know where it might take you. Meet Ed. He thought he was just going out for a meal with friends. Little did he know what was about to happen… And if Ed and Mei Li have inspired you to learn a new language, … Read more