Language Learners

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Spanish word of the week: orden

orden NOUN order There are a few weasel words in Spanish which have two genders, each with a distinct meaning. With the feminine article, la orden, una orden and so forth, orden means order in the sense of ‘command’. Dio la orden de disparar. He gave… Read More
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Talking about your plans when travelling, in English

This series of articles about travelling will help you to find out how to get to places and do things such as buy tickets. They will also help you to talk about travelling in clear, natural English. This first article will help you talk about your plans. Talking about… Read More
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Spanish word of the week: salsa

salsa NOUN sauce; salsa Salsa is the basic word for sauce or gravy: una salsa de tomate a tomato sauceEche la salsa sobre la carne. Pour the sauce over the meat. You’re just as likely to come across it referring to salsa, the dance. Read More
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Making arrangements in English

Our last article discussed how you could make suggestions or express your opinions. We’re now going to look at how you can talk about your plans and make arrangements. Talking about your plans To tell your friends and people at work about your plans, use I’m going to ….     I’m… Read More
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Spanish word of the week: raro

raro ADJECTIVE strange; rare, unusual Raro is another of those Spanish words which may be a bit misleading. Though it can also mean rare, it is very commonly used to mean strange: Es un tipo algo raro. He’s a rather strange guy. Tiene unas costumbres muy… Read More
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Making suggestions, expressing opinions in English

Last time we looked at how we could ask people for information. This article will look at how you can make suggestions and express some opinions. One easy way of making suggestions to your friends and people at work is to use We could ….     We could ask Paul to… Read More
DANKE written on small blackboard

Learning German: Common courtesies

If you’re visiting a German-speaking country, you’ll want to be able to chat to people and get to know them better. The nuts and bolts of conversations revolve around common courtesies, such as asking people how they are, and saying please and thank you. As in English, in German there… Read More
Grazie! written on a brown label

Learning Italian: Common courtesies

Whether you’re visiting Italy or even planning to live there, you’ll want to be able to chat to people and get to know them better. The nuts and bolts of conversations revolve around common courtesies. As in English, in Italian there are several ways you can ask someone how they… Read More
post-it with Merci Beaucoup! written on it

Learning French: Common courtesies

Good manners are always important for good communication, whatever language it is you’re speaking, and whoever it is you’re addressing. With that in mind, our next French conversation blog looks at those common courtesies that feature in so many of our everyday interactions. Please In most cases, you would use… Read More

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