Get ready to trumpet! World Elephant Day falls on August 12th every year and to coincide with this special event, we’ve been examining the fascinating language of elephants. Read on for an exploration of elephant language, how to read the signs of elephant body language and vocalisations and how far these intelligent animals can understand human language. Continue reading
The word ‘spelunking’ has been in the news a lot recently due to the extraordinary rescue of the Thai boys and their football coach who were trapped in a flooded cave. While the boys and their coach are now safely back home, the interesting word ‘spelunking’ has stayed in the minds of many language learners, so we have decided to bring this strange word under the language microscope for our latest blog post. Grab your headlamp and read on to explore the meanings and differences between the words spelunking, potholing, caving and speleology. Continue reading
It’s World Emoji Day on 17th July! Although smiley faces are common features of text messages and Twitter exchanges, over a third of adults believe that emojis are ruining the English language. New research suggests that emojis could be responsible for the deterioration of English and presumably of other languages, as people turn to pictures instead of words. But is the English language really in decline – and are emojis to blame? Continue reading
Finding ways to engage your child in learning the alphabet can be challenging at times. Their attention can easily turn to something more fun and interesting, especially if they are finding the task a little bit too much like hard work. If your child is feeling bored, the chances are you will be too. Studies have proved time and time again that a human’s ability to learn something is greatly improved if they are having fun. So we have put together five ways for you and your child to have fun while they learn the alphabet. Continue reading
The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia on Thursday 14th June. This is the first World Cup held in Europe since 2006 and the first ever to be held in Eastern Europe. It’s time for football vocabulary to enter the EFL classroom again and as the World Cup also coincides with Wimbledon, it’s going to be a sporty month! Continue reading
Vocabulary is the most important aspect of language when starting out on your learning journey. Having sufficient vocabulary helps you communicate your meaning, even if your grammar skills are lacking or entirely absent. But how much vocabulary is enough when learning a foreign language?
The answer depends on your current language ability level and your proficiency goals. The vocabulary required for shopping and day to day life is a lot less than would be required for discussing serious issues and more intellectually demanding subjects.
The ability to communicate on a basic level is the first aim in any language learner’s journey. So how much vocabulary is necessary when learning a new language, when do you have ‘enough’ vocabulary and when should you start to focus on depth of vocabulary, grammar and other areas? Continue reading
The Duchess of Sussex has given birth to a baby girl! Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born on Friday 4th June in Santa Barbara, California. Lili is little sister to Archie. The Duke and Duchess named their newborn after the Royal Family’s nickname for the Queen, Lili’s great-grandmother. Her middle name is in honour of Diana Princess of Wales, her late grandmother.
Pregnancy and baby vocabulary is always useful to learn for dealing with situations related to families, doctors and women’s health. Join us to explore vocabulary and phrases related to pregnancy and babies as we welcome the new addition to the Duke and Duchess’s family. Continue reading
1. London Marathon runners – image source
It’s the London Marathon this weekend! The big race is held annually in the spring and this year we’ll see over 40,000 people take to the streets of London for the 26.2 mile course. Whatever the weather, thousands will be lacing up their trainers with over 75% running to raise money for charity. Read on to learn more about this long-distance race and explore vocabulary and conversation topics in our fun London Marathon EFL lesson. Continue reading
Amazon Alexa – Image source
Amazon is exploring the possibility of adding real-time translation to Alexa’s range of capabilities. If the real-time translation technology is enabled, this will help Alexa to tackle cultural misunderstandings, subtle nuances of speech and complex language barriers. Although the popular voice-enabled assistant can already translate simple words and phrases between a small number of languages, real-time translation from Alexa will enable universal communication on a much more sophisticated level. Continue reading
It’s Mothering Sunday this weekend! This day is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent each year, falling three weeks before Easter. The day was originally a religious day when people would visit their ‘mother’ church, but later it also became a day to celebrate motherhood. Mothering Sunday is now intertwined with the secular celebration Mother’s Day and the two names are often used interchangeably. Join us to explore the origins of the day and enjoy our ‘correct word’ exercise and gap fill games. Continue reading
