Making sure you’ve understood

If you do not understand what someone has said, use I don’t understand. Sorry, I don’t understand. I didn’t understand what you said. Please could you repeat that? I didn’t understand. You can also express any uncertainty about what someone has said by using I’m not sure … Sorry, I’m… Read More

French word of the week: bref

This series of weekly blogs takes a closer look at words from our French dictionaries. The word we're focusing on this week is the French word 'bref'. Read More

Saying goodbye

In most circumstances, you can use Goodbye when you leave a person or a place, such as a shop or bank, etc. If it’s nighttime, you can use Good night. Goodbye, Helen! Thanks for coming. Thanks for all your help. Goodbye. Good night. See you in the morning. Goodbye is… Read More

Spanish word of the week: cometa

In another in our series of blog posts on Spanish nouns whose gender varies according to meaning we look at cometa. You can listen to the pronunciation of cometa in the audio clip below: You’re most likely to see un cometa (masculine) at night, since it… Read More

Learning German: Saying what you like, dislike and prefer 

Whether you’re visiting galleries and museums, sampling German cuisine or simply chatting to your German-speaking friends, you’ll probably want to talk about what you like and dislike. There are several different ways to do this in German. To say what you like, use ich mag (I like) and ich mag…… Read More

‘100 Words for Rain’ by Alex Johnson

Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day! British weather, eh! Who would have it? March this year, though rainy and dismal, was not in fact the rainiest March on record. That happened in 1947. But now that spring is springing upon us fast, it’s been a delight to delve,… Read More
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