Scottish Teenager Named “Most Multilingual” in the UK
A 14 year old from Callander has been named the most multi-lingual child in the UK. After he learned Russian, Bruce Ballie-Hamilton decided to acquire Mandarin next, because, he told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme, he “wanted a challenge”. Arabic was next on the list. After a language with, effectively, no alphabet he wanted [...]
Click here to continue reading21 Language Facts
Some old, some new, some obvious, some quite cool! Did you know that… 01. There are between 6000 and 7000 languages in the world – spoken by six billion people divided into 189 independent states. 02. There are about 225 indigenous languages in Europe – roughly 3% of the world’s total. 03. Most of the [...]
Click here to continue readingSo, Which Foreign Language Is Most Difficult To Learn?
Many of those who study foreign languages wonder which language is the most difficult one in the world. Linguists say that there is no precise answer to this question because everything depends on which language you speak. Neurophysiologists believe, though, that the Chinese or the Arabic could be described as the world’s most difficult languages. [...]
Click here to continue readingTranslators Earn Millions from UK Government
Millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money is being spent providing translation services for benefit claimants. If you need to claim welfare benefits but the only language you speak is Nigerian Pidgin, you are in luck. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can deal with claimants in 165 languages, providing translators at taxpayers’ expense. Among [...]
Click here to continue reading50 Words of Arabic Origin
IN SCIENCE AND MATHS: ALCHEMY and CHEMISTRY (الكيميـــــــــاء.) ALCOHOL (الكُحُـــــــــول.) ALGEBRA (الجبــر: More on the eponymous founder of Algebra as an independent mathematical discipline here.) ALGORITHM (خوارزم: More on the eponymous founder of algorthimics here.) ALKALINE (القلوي: Meaning “non-acid, basic.”) ALMANAC (المنــــــاخ: Literally meaning “climate”) AVERAGE (From Old French avarie, itself from the Arabic term عوارية, meaning “damaged goods”, from عور meaning “to lose an eye.”) AZIMUTH (السمــــــــت: This concept is used in [...]
Click here to continue readingJoin the Cult of the Hyperpolyglot
Many people want to speak a second language, but for some people two can never be enough. Welcome to the world of the hyperpolyglot. Ray Gillon speaks 18 languages. To be precise, he only speaks eight fluently. His grasp on the other 10 is merely conversational. Throw anything at him in Portuguese, Thai, Turkish, Russian, [...]
Click here to continue reading35 Cool Language Facts
1. French was the official language of England for over 300 years 2. Italian is the fifth most taught language, after English, French, Spanish and German. 3. German is the most widely spoken native language in Europe 4. English speakers will be able to recognise over 3,000 Spanish words 5. Portuguese has 178 million native [...]
Click here to continue readingNew Social Website Connects Language Learners With Native Speakers
Name: Verbling Quick Pitch: Verbling is a web-based platform where individuals can pair up with native speakers to practice speaking new languages on live video. Genius Idea: Verbling makes language learning easy by offering a free way to connect instantly with native speakers with timed prompts and conversation-starting topics. Verbling was launched in 2011 when co-founders Jacob Jolis and Mikael Bernstein met while [...]
Click here to continue readingIs a Lack of Language Skills Damaging British Firms Abroad?
One in three British firms sending a manager overseas do not require them to be fluent in the local language, a survey has revealed The research, from workspace provider Regus, profiled over 2,500 business owners and managers in the UK on their attitudes to doing business abroad. 35 per cent admitted that when appointing an expat [...]
Click here to continue readingAu Revoir le francais? adeus português? до свидания России? وداعا عربية?
Au Revoir le francais, adeus português, до свидания России andوداعا عربية… At this time of year it is a common course of action across the media to try and predict events that are likely to occur within the coming year. This year however the BBC went a step further and has attempted to try and lay down some [...]
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