8 bizarre superstitions from around the world

This month, we’ve been having a look at interesting superstitions from different countries. There are literally thousands of examples – here are just a few. We suggest they should be taken with a pinch of salt… If you’re in Malta, don’t rely on the church clock to tell you the right time. Churches are sometimes … Read more

Toddler Talk: How to Encourage Your Little One to Learn Language

Today’s post was written by guest blogger, Eve Pearce. For most parents, a child’s first word is a huge milestone – the first step in learning communication, language and the beginning of a whole lot of chattering. After the initial ‘mamas’ and ‘dadas,’ a string of other words usually start to flow but this isn’t always the … Read more

What language is spoken in France?

A quick quiz question for you: what language is spoken in France? Answer: well, French of course! But did you know France is also home to several small regional languages, including Alsatian, Catalan, Breton and Occitan? Like many other European countries, the French once spoke a wide range of regional languages and dialects. However, during … Read more

Where it’s at – how to say @ in different languages

The other day a colleague was telling someone his email address in French. He was halfway through and ran across a problem. He didn’t know the word for “the little ‘a’ in the circle”. In English we just say ‘at’, but that translates as ‘à’ in French and that sounds remarkably like the letter ‘a’. … Read more

Go on… make a mistake!

Everyone’s had that embarrassing moment in a language class when the teacher asks a question and it’s followed by total silence. Nobody wants to answer; nobody wants to risk saying something wrong. You all look at the floor and hope someone else will say something, and pray the teacher won’t single you out. Because improvising … Read more

A brief guide to English Office Jargon

Today’s post was contributed by Mark James, Copywriter at Crunch Accounting. It’s been just over a year since I traded academia for the office, my three years spent studying English coming to an end and my career as a copywriter now starting to take shape. In that past year I’ve had to make an array … Read more

Getting to know you: ‘Hallo’ from Lorena

My name is Lorena and I am from Germany. I just finished school and now I’ve started a placement at EuroTalk for five months. This is my third week in the company and it is very exciting. I am working on a project to help EuroTalk promote their maths apps in Germany. I’m having fun thinking … Read more

A step closer to one billion children

If you’ve been on our Facebook or Twitter page recently, you may have noticed some of our photos from our recent trip to Malawi. Although some members of our office are convinced we went over there to buy beans for our new coffee machine, we were actually there to run an evaluation on the success … Read more

It’s Raining Cats and Dogs (and Wheelbarrows and Old Ladies)

‘It’s raining cats and dogs!’ is a common British phrase meaning that it’s raining particularly hard. There are various theories as to where the expression came from – although there’s no evidence that it’s ever actually happened! It may come from the Greek expression cata doxa. This means ‘contrary to experience or belief’ and might … Read more