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Do I have time to learn a foreign language every day? Of course, not! But, I think you may change your mind after reading this article, so let me explain. Impossible possible? First of all, I’m not talking about spending hours practising every day (although, that would be just perfect!),...

I am lucky enough to speak five languages and be learning a sixth.  Part of the reason why I have learnt them is because I have lived in several different countries, but you could say the other part is because I am motivated to learn them.  I enjoy the challenge...

“The big ‘secret’ to improving second language skills is practice.” Eve Lindemuth Bodeux (p. 9) I became in love with this book from the very first page. The author, Eve Lindemuth Bodeux is an experienced second language user and the content is predominantly based on her own experience. This, I...

Spanish is spoken as a first language by more than 427 million people throughout the world and around 21 million people are learning it.  It is the second most common native language in the world.   It is the third most studied language in Europe, with 19% of school pupils learning...

1. What is Babel Magazine, who writes it and who is your audience? Babel magazine was set up by Lesley Jeffries and Dan McIntyre, two linguists at the University of Huddersfield. Lesley and Dan found it strange that the newsagent’s shelves had magazines for subjects such as history and geography,...

Estimates say that there are up to 7,000 languages spoken in the world today (in around 200 states!).  Some languages have millions of speakers and some have just a few thousand speakers.  But with so many languages to choose from, how do you decide which one to learn?  This blog...

We hope you found our post on writing skills useful.  This is the last post in the skills development series – and it talks about the most active skill of all, speaking.  Speaking is what most people want to do when they learn a language – it is how you...

We hope you enjoyed our post on how to improve your reading skills in another language. Now we are back with tips on how to work on another skill – writing.  Each language has its own writing conventions for different genres. Practice these and you can write letters to your...

Every month we publish a book review on our blog, but this month I have decided to write about some magazines on languages, translation and travelling that I enjoy reading (and yes, I am an old-fashioned lady, as I only have paper versions of them!). They are all available for...

Do you want to get a real taste of Italian life, travel around this beautiful country with ease, appreciate its art and architecture and be able to compliment the chef when you try the local delicacies? This guide to learning the language of the Bel Paese should give you a...