Blog

Cate Hamilton is a linguist, teacher, mum, entrepreneur and co-founder of the popular Babel Babies. Hello Cate, thank you for being our interview guest today. You’re a great advocate for learning languages. What’s your educational background? When was your passion for languages born? I learned French and German at school, and went to...

As you remember, we introduced a new series of blog posts (see Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic & Polish) where we teach you some useful phrases in different languages. Sounds amazing? And it’s DUTCH today! Do you travel frequently to Brussels or Amsterdam? Are you planning to learn more about the Flemish painters? Do you...

Where do you start with language learning when you’ve had a break? Yes, returning to language study is exciting, but can be confusing as we don’t know how much we remember, if we have the right resources or enough motivation. I’ve prepared some ideas to inspire you to get back...

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...