The Language Learning Specialists
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
Here’s the five Gut and Wurst things you need to know about the language: Lots of similar words: Around 40% of German words are similar to English ones because they once shared the same ancestral language. Shared words include Hammer (hammer), Freund (friend) and gut (good) as well as phrases like was ist das? (what is that?) and … 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
The everyday potato has anything but an everyday past, notching up thousands of miles – and dozens of names – in a voyage that has taken it around the world. In this post, uTalk’s Language Guru, Brian Loo Soon Hua, charts the potato’s epic journey. Starting out in Southern Peru and Northern Bolivia, where potatoes … Read more
Learn Ancient Greek as it was spoken more than 2,500 years ago with the newest addition to the uTalk language learning app – and discover why there’s no word for socks! London-based language learning company uTalk made the app, in consultation with Classics experts, to recreate how hundreds of authentic Ancient Greek words and phrases … Read more
Both the US and Britain took a leaf out of the same book back in the 17th century when it came to naming seasons. Thanks to British settlers in the New World, the two British names for our third season – Autumn and Fall (short for Fall of the Leaf) – entered the American language. … Read more
Linguist Brian Loo Soon Hua helps answer the question. Walk along the streets of Beijing and listen carefully to the little toddlers calling for their mothers while out on an evening stroll and what do you hear? 妈妈 or māma. On the other side of the world you’ll hear Spanish children crying for mamá while … Read more