Like English (and many other languages), French is littered with idioms, many of them referring to animals, religion, and parts of the body. A lot of French expressions have English equivalents and a few can even be translated word for word, but others are a bit further away from the English and some appear to(…)

If you are a fan of Halloween, you’ll be glad to know you can still enjoy it around the world! If you are planning to visit Korea on January 15, you’ll see people on the streets dressed up in ghost costumes. This is because, according to the lunar calendar, this is 정월대보름 (the Big Moon of(…)

Maybe you’re planning a trip to Italy or you’ve met an attractive Italian-speaking someone and you want to sweep them off their feet. Perhaps you have an amazing restaurant in Little Italy you want to visit or your Nona is visiting from the old country and you can’t speak a word to her. Regardless of(…)

Turkey has a thriving tourism scene and is one of the most visited destinations in the world. If you were one of Turkey’s 30 million annual tourists, you probably visited the country’s largest city, Istanbul. As the country’s economic, historical, and cultural center, it should come as no surprise that the linguistic variety spoken in(…)

Last week we discovered that there is an astonishing wealth of languages spoken across India, ranging from widely spoken ones such as Hindi and English to the ones at threat of extinction, such as those of the Great Andamanese family. This week, we would like to give you a more realistic look at the most(…)

In the past few weeks, Americans have turned out by the thousands to protest racial inequality and support the Black Lives Matter movement. The scope of the movement is incredible, and it goes without saying that language, and the way we use it, is particularly vital to its success.    Let’s take a look at(…)

Looking for some new ways to practice Portuguese? Why not try radio and TV? Whether you watch and listen purely for immersion, or fit programs in as a way of studying, radio and TV can be a fun and effective way to help you learn. Here are some suggestions for the best TV and radio(…)

Spanish is the native language of more than 20 countries, meaning that there are countless accents and varieties. And unfortunately for learners, there is no “neutral” Spanish: there is the Mexican standard, the Latin American standard, the Peninsular standard, the Rioplatense standard… the possibilities are many. But we are here to help! If you would(…)

Approximately 1.5 billion people speak English worldwide (as many as every 1 in 4 people, according to some estimates) and, in many places, it has become the lingua franca: the common language for communication between people who otherwise speak different mother tongues. This is one of the reasons why the United Nations has chosen it(…)

Over 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese in the world, with the vast majority speaking Mandarin Chinese, making it the most-spoken native language today. Impressive, right? This ancient language has a reputation for being one of the most complex to learn, not only because of its characters and pronunciation, but also because there(…)