{"id":4722,"date":"2015-12-09T15:25:09","date_gmt":"2015-12-09T15:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/?p=4722"},"modified":"2026-08-20T20:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T19:29:14","slug":"the-utalk-challenge-2016-new-year-new-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/en\/news\/the-utalk-challenge-2016-new-year-new-language","title":{"rendered":"The uTalk Challenge 2016: New Year, New Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quit smoking. Learn Welsh. Finally finish writing that\u00a0book – and actually\u00a0let someone read it. Learn Thai. Spend more time sailing.\u00a0Learn Mandarin. Walk the street map of London. Learn Turkish. Achieve a freestanding handstand and a scorpion\/needle stretch (whatever that is). Learn Argentinian Spanish.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are just a few of the New Year’s resolutions we’ve been setting ourselves in the EuroTalk office, having just realised 2016 has crept up on us and is suddenly, terrifyingly close. And you may have noticed a bit of a language theme…<\/span><\/p>\n

Introducing the uTalk challenge 2016 – learn a language for free this New Year<\/h3>\n

That’s because this January, we’ll be taking on the uTalk challenge 2016, using our uTalk<\/a> app to learn as much as we can of our chosen language before 31st January.\u00a0Last year Nat stormed to victory<\/a> in our first uTalk challenge, completing the app in Icelandic before most of us had even mastered ‘hello’… but we’re hoping for a closer contest this time around. And failing that,\u00a0our back-up plan is to steal\u00a0her iPad.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"uTalk<\/a><\/p>\n

How to join the uTalk challenge<\/h3>\n

But we don’t want to do it alone! So if you’re an iOS user*,\u00a0and you’d like to finally start learning that language you’ve been talking about for ages, now’s your chance. And even better, the uTalk challenge is completely FREE.\u00a0All you need to do is\u00a0sign up at eurotalk.com\/utalkchallenge<\/a>, and on January 1st we’ll send you over a code to unlock the Essentials upgrade (worth \u00a37.99) for your chosen language. Then it’s over to you…<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ll check in with you each week by email to see how you’re doing and update the online leaderboard, so you can see how your score compares to everyone else’s. AND if you complete the Essentials by the end of January, we’ll give you another language to learn in February, and so on. So if you’re really determined, you could learn 12 new languages in 2016. Now\u00a0that’s<\/em> a pretty cool New Year’s resolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

*Unfortunately the uTalk app is only available on iOS, we’re really sorry! But we don’t want anyone to miss out, so if you’re not an iOS-er and you’d like to take part, drop us an email to challenge@eurotalk.com<\/a> and we’ll see if\u00a0we can work out an alternative for you.<\/p>\n

Spread the word<\/h3>\n

Challenges are a lot more fun if you’ve got company, so please help us spread the word to friends and family using the link eurotalk.com\/utalkchallenge<\/a> and on social media, using\u00a0#uTalkChallenge. And for regular video updates\u00a0from the EuroTalk team, in which we’ll attempt to demonstrate how much we’ve learnt, come and\u00a0follow us on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of last year’s\u00a0uTalk Challengers (who we hope will join us again this year!)…<\/h3>\n

Ingrid, learning Serbian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve really enjoyed doing the challenge. Serbian is a language I\u2019ve wanted to get to grips with for a long time for quite a bizarre reason (it involves a love of the Eurovision Song Contest!) but I haven\u2019t really known where to start.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Patricia, learning Icelandic<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The uTalk app is a whole lot of fun, filled with useful words and phrases. I particularly enjoyed repeating the words and phrases after the native speakers and then hearing my own voice. What a great tool to gain confidence and improve pronunciation!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Jacqui, learning Croatian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

After a month, I\u2019ve made great progress. I haven\u2019t earned maximum points (I\u2019m on just over 4000), but I have managed to learn a lot more than I thought I would, even waking up some mornings with various phrases springing to mind!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

And\u00a0here’s how the EuroTalkers\u00a0got on…<\/span><\/p>\n