8 common language mistakes to avoid [infographic]

When you’re learning a new language, it’s easy to make mistakes. And that’s ok; it’s the best way to learn. But sometimes you might think you know what you’re saying, and actually you’ve said something very different. Here are a few examples to look out for… Please let us know your own examples and as … Read more

Does Speaking Another Language Make You Sexy?

The other day I discovered this article online. I already knew that Bradley Cooper spoke French, but was pretty happy when I realised that I could also listen to Johnny Depp, Ben Affleck and Colin Firth speaking various other languages too (French, Spanish and Italian, respectively). Being Grazia, the article is aimed at a female … Read more

Languages for the future: the top ten

A recent report by the British Council has laid out the ten most important languages for the UK’s future, in political, economic, educational and cultural terms. According to the report, the ten most important languages, in order, are: Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Japanese. I read this list with a … 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

The Trouble with the Title

Today’s post is by our Italian intern, Ambra Calvi, a film fan who’s noticed some interesting translations of movie titles… One of the main pleasures of learning a new language is getting to that point when you are able to watch a film in that language, and you start to understand bits and pieces. Nowadays, … Read more