Dydd Gŵyl Dewi: wonderful Welsh words

The 1st of March is St David’s Day, named for the patron saint of Wales. David (or Dewi in Welsh) was a 6th-century bishop from South-West Wales who was renowned as a preacher and founder of monasteries in ancient Britain and Brittany. Today, St David’s Day is a celebration of… Read More

Learning French: Common courtesies

We're continuing our new series of French conversation blogs with a look at some of the common courtesies essential for polite communication. Read More

Spanish word of the week: parar

This week’s Spanish word of the week is 'parar'. 'Parar' is a verb that means 'to stop'. Read More

French word of the week: bout

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 noun 'bout'. Read More

Expressing surprise

A simple way to show that you are surprised by what someone has said is to use Really? ‘Zareb is leaving?’ ‘Really? Why?’ ‘I don’t think it’s a very good school.’ ‘Really? I was very impressed by it.’ ‘I’m terrible at maths.’ ‘Really? I can’t believe that!’ A stronger way… Read More

Spanish word of the week: ocurrirse

This week’s Spanish word of the week is 'ocurrirse'. 'Ocurrirse' is a verb that means 'to think of'. Read More

French word of the week: besoin

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 noun 'besoin'. Read More

Expressing sympathy

The most common way to show that you are sad for someone when something bad has happened is to use I’m (so) sorry. or I’m sorry to hear … Diana told me about your brother’s accident. I’m so sorry. I heard that Charlie had lost his job, Sara. I’m sorry. Read More

Spanish word of the week: ocurrir

This week’s Spanish word of the week is 'ocurrir'. 'Ocurrir' is a verb that means 'to happen'. Read More