European Day of Languages

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European Day of LanguagesThe celebrations will start soon to mark the European Day of Languages! This annual event is all about celebrating other cultures through language learning.

Since the Council of Europe in Strasbourg initiated the special day in 2001, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year on 26th September and throughout the week with a range of events organised across Europe.

From international conferences and TV programmes to language clubs, games, talks and home celebrations, everyone can get involved – teachers, students, universities, schools and individuals.

Decorate your house with flags, cook up some tasty food, open your phrase books and check out the special events taking place near you as we get ready for this multi-cultural and multi-lingual day! Continue reading →

The FA Cup Final Inspires a Football-Themed EFL Lesson

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The FA Cup Final will see Manchester City play Watford on Saturday! Who do you think will lift the coveted trophy? With all the excitement over the big match, this week is a great time to teach football vocabulary and use the theme of football to practice the English language.

There are so many football phrases that students can learn to help them enjoy watching the game on English TV. Teachers can use the matches to create fun FA Cup EFL lesson plans for speaking, listening, reading and writing exercises.

There are many collocations distinct to football, so the FA Cup Final is a great opportunity to get students enjoying an exciting footy-themed EFL lesson. Continue reading →

English Idioms: A Great Way to Sound Like a Native Speaker

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Idioms are some of the most interesting features of any language – and some of the hardest to understand as a foreigner. English has many idioms in common usage and learning a few of these is a fun way to sound like a native speaker.

Idioms have a figurative meaning, rather than a literal meaning and because these words mean something completely different when used in an idiomatic phrase, non-native speakers can find them very confusing! Read on to explore how you can use idioms to sound like a native speaker. Continue reading →

Learning a Second Language to be Compulsory in Junior School

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Learning a second language will be compulsory in junior schools from September 2014. The education secretary, Michael Gove has announced that changes to the curriculum means that all children will begin learning a second language from the age of seven. Languages on offer will include French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Latin and Greek. But should second language learning start even earlier?  Continue reading →

Immigrants to Face New English Test Before Claiming Benefits

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Immigrants to the UK face a new, ‘more robust’ English language test in an attempt to stop any potential benefits cheats. Immigrants will need to answer questions on their working plans and take an extended ‘habitual residence text’  along with a sitting an English language skills test before being allowed to claim income-related benefits.  Continue reading →

Find a New Way to Learn a Language

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Learning a language is not a simple task. Many students can spend years studying a language and still have trouble conversing with a native speaker.

There are many different ways to learn a language. Although it is important to study the grammar of a language, often this theoretical knowledge does not always transfer to real life as easily as we would like. This is why one of the best ways to learn a language is sometimes to step away from the exercise books and do something completely different.

Find a new way to learn a language and not only does this keep the brain actively thinking in fresh ways it also keeps study interesting. This maintains student motivation – one of the most important aspects of language learning.  Continue reading →

Do You Mentally Translate When Learning A New Language?

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When we learn a new language we often try to translate the new words into our mother tongue as we read or listen. The better we become at a new language, the less we tend to perform this type of mental translation and the more we understand the words directly.

There are some obvious problems with mental translation. Firstly, it takes time to keep translating everything into a second language and secondly, languages cannot be directly translated word for word, only idea for idea. So, how long does it take to be able to understand a new language directly without having to mentally translate the words first? Continue reading →

English Tongue Twisters for Pronunciation Practice

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English Tongue Twisters - She Sells Sea ShellsEnglish tongue twisters are great for pronunciation practice as they really help you to enunciate your words properly. They are also good for showing you just where you need help with your letter formation.

For English language learners, tongue twisters can seem like hard work, but its worth mastering a couple in your target language because they are fun ways to learn more about the relationships between words and sounds. She sells sea shells, anyone? Continue reading →

Study Reveals Growth Towards Informality in English Grammar

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The Cambridge English Corpus recently collated 1 billion words of written English and 75 million words of spoken English. The language is more fruitful now than ever before, yet native English speakers have an increasingly poor use of grammar.

These are the findings of a recent linguistics study at the University of Nottingham. But does incorrect grammar indicate a lack of education or is it simply a move towards more informal usage and a natural development of the language? Continue reading →