The Language Learning Specialists
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
Today is “Baba Marta Day”. In Bulgaria the 1st of March marks a holiday that welcomes the upcoming spring. “Baba Marta” translates to “Grandma March”, the mythical character who brings the end of the bitter cold winter! On this day people exchange “Martenitsi”. These are red and white coloured bands or figurines that symbolise health and … Read more
Happy Leap Day! The 29th of February comes around every four years, but how much do you know about this extra day? What is Leap Day? Originally the Sumerians divided the year into 12 months and allocated 30 days for each month. This was adapted by the Egyptians, who realised that this didn’t fit in with the … Read more
Jenny’s daughter Grace was a finalist in the 2015 Junior Language Challenge – and one of the stars of our video from the day! In today’s blog post, Jenny tells us about her experience of the competition as a mum, and what taking part in the JLC has meant to Grace. The JLC has become a very big part of … Read more
Yes, believe it or not, it’s National Toast Day today. Which got us all thinking, how important can toast possibly be? Turns out, if you look at the English language, it’s pretty important, as are all baked goods to the British mind. We pepper our conversation with references to bread, toast, cake and biscuits on … Read more
So you think you can’t speak French? You may not realise it but if you’re an English speaker, you probably know more French than you think. Just take a look… Biscuit A common snack or treat in the UK and the US, there are so many options to choose from. But did you know that … Read more
The world has become slightly obsessed with cat videos and cat Instagram accounts (have you seen the video where cats see a cucumber? Trust me, it’s worth a watch). They are seriously cute! I am a massive cat lover and my phone is filled with photos of my cat, Marcella. And when it comes to … Read more
Valentine’s Day is a moment we should all pause our busy lives to celebrate love and the important people in our lives with whom we share special moments – not only lovers but also friends or family. Obviously a popular holiday on the American continent, followed by Western Europe and in the last years Eastern Europe, … 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
Do you know how you got your surname? It is regarded as a tradition for women to take their husband’s surnames when they get married in Britain. It’s also the tradition for men to always be Mr but women will be Miss until they’re married and become Mrs. So if Miss Young married Mr Smith, … Read more