The Language Learning Specialists
It’s a commonly stated ‘fact’ that Eskimos have lots of different words for snow. Some accounts say nine; others 48; others still say 100! Language isn’t usually that easy to pin down though – ‘Eskimo’ actually covers lots of different groups of people and if we’re getting philosophical, what do we mean by ‘word’? It’s … Read more
The blog article about ‘Learning a language – our top 10 tips’ is so true! Now I have been in London for more than three months and you have to take all the tips to your heart. For example, ‘Don’t be scared to talk to people’ and ‘Find someone to talk to’ are very important … Read more
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
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
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
Today’s guest post is from Sian, a British ex-pat living in Turkey, who has some advice for anyone considering moving abroad. Merhaba. Last year I made a life changing decision and decided that, at the age of 42, I wanted to leave the UK and move to Turkey. After much research, a lot of visits … Read more
Over the last six months we’ve had our new free app uTalk translated into over 30 languages, and dealt with over 120 native language speakers who’ve either translated or performed the scripts. Along the way we’ve confronted many challenges which really emphasise how one language can be ambiguous whilst another is precise, and vice versa. In … Read more
After reading Konstantia’s post a few months ago about how many of our everyday words come from Greek, I started to think about where some of our other words came from. You might think that we are the ones influencing everyone else (words such as wifi in French, surfear for surfing the net in Spanish, … Read more
Cristina Mateos is our Catalan intern here at EuroTalk, working on translating and recording our maths apps. In her blog post she explores a reason for learning languages that is often forgotten. Utility versus Beauty. Utility: Hammers, zips, kettles, light bulbs, electricity, mobile phones. Beauty: Handwritten postcards, dawns, coffee smell, lovers looking into each others’ … Read more
Learning a new language is a great experience: familiarising yourself with a new culture, discovering a new way to express yourself, and hopefully enabling yourself to order a beer in one more country. However, as a language-learner, you also need to be aware of the pitfalls that await you. The dreaded ‘false friends’ that lurk … Read more