Blog

What’s the first thing you say to someone in any language? It’s usually “hello” – but do you know the deeper meanings behind the ways to say “hello” in your chosen language?  And how do you say “goodbye”?  It’s not always that straightforward and sometimes it is quite poetic!  Here...

This blog post is about Modern Greek, its background, grammar and alphabet.  The Greek language has an important place in Western literature, science and religion, with Western canonical texts like the Iliad and the Odyssey, many foundational texts in science and Western philosophy and the New Testament of the Bible...

So you have been learning a new language for a while now and you are making a lot of progress, but you feel like something is missing.  You can practise reading and writing and listening… but where can you practise speaking?  This post looks at where you can practise speaking...

Although we have had some uncharacteristically warm weather recently, the season on its way in March is actually spring, and the observant among you will have noticed the spring flowers starting to poke their heads above the ground.  To celebrate this new beginning, this blog post looks at the word...

Welcome to my first blog post of 2019!  Before I start, I would like to wish you all Buon Anno / Bonne Année / Prospero Año Nuevo / ةديعس ةديدج ةنس / Fröhes Neues Jahr / Gelukkig Nieuwjaar / Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku / Feliz Ano Novo / Поздравляю с Новым...

Christmas is coming, and many of us are excitedly preparing for it.  But beyond the presents, food, family gatherings and decorations, have you ever stopped to wonder where the word “Christmas” comes from, what it really means, and what its meaning is in other languages?  This post looks at the...

The end of the year is fast approaching and we have all got a lot on our plates, juggling work and preparations for family celebrations or New Year festivities.  There will be a break at the end of this BLS term and we will all need to keep up our...

You are learning a language so you will have heard of interpreting: the art of converting one spoken or signed language into another spoken or signed language. The role of an interpreter is to help two or more people who don’t speak the same language to communicate with each other....

In this blog post, we look at a useful way to help us remember vocabulary – putting words into groups.  We find out how to harness our brain’s natural tendency to understand the world through association (this object is green and has leaves – it must be a plant!) to...

When I moved to France, I thought I could speak French quite well – but, I soon realised that although I could hold a high-brow conversation about politics or recycling, I couldn’t have an informal conversation that would help me make friends!  One of the problems was that I hadn’t...