10 Sports Stars Who Speak Other Languages

It can often feel like life is all about sport, whether we like it or not. But have you ever wondered how good sports stars are at languages? It turns out, pretty good. Like anyone who has to travel a lot for their work, athletes often find knowing only their native language isn’t enough. Here … Read more

Found in translation – untranslatable words, in pictures

If you liked our recent infographic on words that don’t exist in English, you’ll love this. New Zealand-based designer Anjana Iyer has been working on a project called Found in Translation, illustrating 41 ‘untranslatable’ words so far, with more to come. We asked Anjana about the background to her project, and where she gets her … Read more

Easter Celebrations Around the World

Here in the UK, this weekend is Easter weekend. Many people will be marking the occasion by attending church services on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, while a more commercial tradition is to exchange chocolate eggs as gifts. Easter is a religious holiday, marking for many people around the world the death and resurrection of … Read more

8 common language mistakes to avoid [infographic]

When you’re learning a new language, it’s easy to make mistakes. And that’s ok; it’s the best way to learn. But sometimes you might think you know what you’re saying, and actually you’ve said something very different. Here are a few examples to look out for… Please let us know your own examples and as … Read more

10 reasons to visit… Spain

We hope that you enjoyed our first couple of posts from the series ’10 reasons to visit…’ Here’s our latest post, about a magical, warm, sunny place named Spain. We tried to get the opinion of locals or people who’ve lived there so that we can give authentic reasons why Spain is a wonderful country … Read more

Languages for the future: the top ten

A recent report by the British Council has laid out the ten most important languages for the UK’s future, in political, economic, educational and cultural terms. According to the report, the ten most important languages, in order, are: Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Japanese. I read this list with a … Read more

Being bilingual: practice makes perfect

Last week’s post, which contained our top ten tips for learning a language, inspired a few members of the EuroTalk team to share their own thoughts. Here’s what Seb had to say about his experience of learning Spanish, after leaving Colombia and coming to England when he was very young. And come back tomorrow to … Read more

Beware false friends

Learning a new language is a great experience: familiarising yourself with a new culture, discovering a new way to express yourself, and hopefully enabling yourself to order a beer in one more country. However, as a language-learner, you also need to be aware of the pitfalls that await you. The dreaded ‘false friends’ that lurk … Read more

Lost in Translation – literally

A few weeks ago I wrote about my plan to get back into speaking Spanish regularly. First off, a confession – I haven’t actually spoken Spanish to anyone yet, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy! I’ve always been pretty fluent at reading Spanish. One of my proudest achievements is reading Lord of the … Read more