The Language Learning Specialists
When it comes to learning a new language, where do you start? Pronunciation, maybe, or some listening? Then you’ll start learning words, phrases. Grammar. How to write. All these building blocks come together to help make up a language you can then communicate with. But, of course, communication is more than just words—it’s culture, too. … Read more
Today is National Comic Book Day, so if you can tear yourself away from stories of superheroes or zombies, then why not check out our very own uTalk origin story? Spoiler alert: there are no angry aliens set on wiping out half of the universe’s population, but there are some comics involved! Way back in … Read more
Our tech guys have been hard at work over here on all sorts of fun stuff and we’ve decided it’s time to give you all a little treat. With this new update, we’re going to almost double the amount of free words available on the app—so alongside such classics as ‘yes’ and ‘no’, you’ll also … Read more
You’ll now be able to listen to music in the background while learning which, according to the people who know, can ease stress, create a positive mood and aid learning. And, to show we’ve thought of everything, the music turns off automatically when you’re recording. You’ll also be able to adjust the text size from … Read more
Leading modern slavery charity Hestia teams up with uTalk to launch ‘Project Freepost HESTIA’ requesting public’s old mobiles Hundreds of adults and dependent children to gain access to free language learning on smartphones helping them re-integrate into society More than a thousand victims of modern slavery now living in Britain are being thrown a crucial … Read more
Languages say something about our culture and our soul, according to uTalk’s language guru (pictured). Which is why Brian Loo Soon Hua, who knows upwards of eight languages, is worried about the number of endangered languages on the verge of becoming extinct. ‘Languages are going extinct and regional differences are slowly dying out,’ he says. … Read more
UK youngsters, who have clocked up three new languages in nine months, are now just weeks away from the Final of a national language learning competition. Top prize in the uTalk Junior Language Challenge 2018 Final, on Fri Nov 9 at London’s Olympia, is a family holiday of a lifetime to Africa. But, to … Read more
It’s not a wind-up if someone in Rwanda, Africa looks at a clock face reading seven o’clock and tells you it’s one o’clock. It’s because speakers of the local language, Kinyarwanda, measure daytime from sunrise, which they call 12 o’clock in the morning, through to sunset, which they call 12 o’clock in the evening. … Read more
This colour hasn’t got an exact name in English but it has in Japanese – it’s called mizu which translates as water. (We’d probably bundle it under the umbrella term of light blue.) A study published in The Journal of Vision discovered that the word mizu has been adopted by Japanese speakers over the last 30 … Read more
Newly-wed Megan Markle touched our hearts when she called Prince Harry “my love” at a recent gala performance. But how much more fun would it have been if she’d used one of these quirky terms of affection from another tongue? Here’s our top ten suggestions: French: ma puce meaning my flea. Portuguese: chuchuzinho meaning little squash (the vegetable). Persian: … Read more