Happy St George’s Day! 6 reasons to love England

Ioana has been living in London for 2 and a half years. She believes moving to London was the best decision she ever took, and here she shares some of the reason why England is amazing. Happy St George’s Day! I vividly remember one of the first times I went by myself to the supermarket … Read more

How did you get your surname?

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

The language of beer

‘Two beers, please’ is perhaps one of the most useful phrases you can learn at the start of your language-learning journey (and, incidentally, one of the first items you learn with uTalk Essentials). You’ve made it to the country, you’ve struggled with buses from the airport and fought with taxi drivers over the fare. Now … Read more

A Hungry Conundrum

Learning a language is one thing… but what happens when that language changes depending where in the country you happen to be standing? That’s the subject of today’s blog post from Kelly – if you’ve encountered any of these regional confusions, we’d love to hear about them! When is a roll a cake? Before you break out … Read more

Che dice la nostra cultura quotidiana di noi?

Today we’re excited to share our first ever bilingual post, written by Lucy, who’s just returned from four months in Rome as part of her university studies. In this post, she talks about a few typical Italian habits she noticed during her time in the city and some of the (slightly surprising) questions she had to … 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

The beginner’s guide to London

As London welcomes visitors from all over the world this week, we’ve put together our own guide to the city, with a selection of hints and tips to help you feel like a local… While you’re here – Why not take the River Bus from Putney to Blackfriars, then on to Greenwich? It’s a fast and comfortable … Read more