Why learning Persian made me feel Fanta-stic

Nancy Reynolds is a freelance writer from the USA, who’s currently working on a novel.  In her spare time she studies Persian and has vocabulary contests with her teenaged daughter who has studied Latin, German, Mandarin and Ancient Greek. Here’s her language story… For some people, learning a foreign language is good for business, a school … Read more

Who needs football? I’d rather learn a language…

What’s your inspiration for learning a language? Today we’re hearing from Jack, a student and blogger at LangLearningBlog, on how he got addicted… What inspired you to start learning French? I never really was fond of languages, and I only studied French at school for a GCSE in a language – but bear with me! Soon I became almost addicted … Read more

How do you say ‘I have lost my rabbit’ in German?

Blogger Erika Holt is a big fan of languages and learning. In today’s blog post, she tells us why, and explains how knowing a little Greek helped her out in a sticky situation… What made you start learning languages? I have always found myself interested in languages.  I have a huge passion for reading and writing, … Read more

Can You Whistle a Phrase?

A few days ago, Gloria stopped by my desk with a burning question: had I ever heard of the whistling languages? Proudly, I was able to answer that I had, but quickly became deflated when we realised that neither of us had the slightest idea of how they work. Was there a whistling alphabet with … Read more

How learning a language earned me a free jar of seaweed

Hello, goodbye, yes, no, please, thank you – and ‘can I have a glass of wine, please?’ You may well wonder what connects the words and phrase above. It’s quite simple: for me, these are the bare essentials of foreign language knowledge when visiting another country. You may of course prefer beer or water, but … Read more

10 Years with the JLC – a Teacher’s story!

Here at EuroTalk we love hearing feedback from participants of the Junior Language Challenge! So when runner-up Aalaya Sanjeeva’s teacher Jackie Gliniecka from The Hawthorns School sent us this wonderful message about how she’s found being involved in the competition over the years, we had to share it with you 🙂 10 years ago, in 2005, we … Read more

What languages mean to me

Interview with Alexandra Turner – translator, writer, editor Alex left her London life a few months ago to go and travel around the world. She is passionate about culture and languages and has traveled to 26 countries up to now. At the moment she lives in Stockholm, Sweden (and we deeply envy her for that). EuroTalk: What … Read more

How idioms help you make a language your own

When learning a new language we are happy to pass every little milestone: the first time you address a native speaker, the first conversation… All these achievements mean the world to us, they are the reward of our continuous learning. When becoming fluent in a language you can express almost everything you want to say, … Read more

A beginner’s guide to Esperanto

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Esperanto week! If we’ve convinced you to give the language a try, you might find this handy beginner’s guide a good place to start… Please feel free to share it with anyone you think might be interested. And for more information about Esperanto, visit edukado.net, a site run by linguist … Read more

Why Learn Esperanto?

Saluton! Mia nomo estas Nat, kaj mi lernas Esperanton. Whilst others jet-set away to sunny beaches and tropical climes this summer, my plans are slightly more academic. I will be learning Esperanto. OK, I’ll take a break too, but I’m really excited about my summer goal, and I’m hoping to achieve it within two months. … Read more