The Language Learning Specialists
Here at uTalk, we’ve spoken a little before about the traditions surrounding the Chinese New Year, which involve all kinds of things, chief among them wearing red, eating a reunion dinner with your family, and not washing your hair. But what about the origins of Chinese New Year—and why are there so many animals involved? … Read more
Children everywhere look forward to Halloween with glee. And why wouldn’t they? They get to dress up in fun costumes, galavant about town with their friends and have all sorts of sweet treats to look forward to. In this post, uTalk’s guest blogger Brian explores festivals that are similar to Halloween and are celebrated around … 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
Travel around the UK a bit and you’ll find that tea is not just known as ‘tea’: so ubiquitous is it that there are plenty of regional and affectionate names for our favourite drink. A cuppa, a brew, a cup of char, a Rosy Lee (Cockney rhyming slang), a builder’s will all get you the same … Read more
I’m a Morrisons kind of girl. And when I look longingly into my box of Yorkshire Tea and see nothing but tealeaf dust, I miss it. I miss a store layout I recognise. I miss being able to identify what things are without imaginative guess work and Google Translate. But most of all, I miss … Read more
Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s hoping the Year of the Goat (or possibly Sheep) is a good one. See how much you know about this important Chinese holiday with our quiz. How many did you get right?
China is an amazing country, one that should be on every traveler’s must visit list. Few countries possess the wide variety of experiences you will find in the Middle Kingdom. While you are in this amazing country, be sure to visit the province of Yunnan, one of the lesser known, but most beautiful destinations within … Read more
Today’s guest blogger, Peter Gokey, is learning Chinese in China at Keats School. In this article, he shares his own learning experience in Chinese, with a particular focus on learning to read the language. If you’re a student or speaker of Mandarin and have any suggestions to add, please do so in the comments below. There … Read more
Today we have a guest post from language company, thebigword, on famous translation mistakes, some of which had serious consequences. Mistakes are common, and to be expected, when you’re learning a language – but when it really matters, it’s important to get it right! Over the years there have been many translation ‘slip ups’ and faux pas, and whilst … Read more