French word of the week: sans

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 preposition 'sans'. Read More

What’s the difference between critic and critical?

This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: critic and critical. critic Critic /ˈkrɪtɪk/ is a noun. A critic is a person who writes reviews and gives opinions in newspapers or on television about books, films, music,… Read More

The Barbenheimer effect: 9 portmanteaus you need to know about

It’s been a summer of cinema this year, with Greta Gerwig’s long-awaited Barbie movie finally hitting the screens at the same time as Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller Oppenheimer. Barbie’s marketing team have been painting the town hot pink, from transforming London’s Barbican underground station into Barbie-can,… Read More

What’s the difference between blame and fault?

This week we are looking at two words which may be confused by learners of English: blame and fault. blame If you blame someone for something bad that has happened, you think that they made it happen. Police blamed the bus driver for the accident. Don’t blame me! You can blame something on someone. Maya blames all her… Read More

Learning Italian: Introduce yourself!

In order to get the conversation going, you’ll want to say a bit about yourself – what your name is, what you do and so on. Having a few phrases under your belt will come in very handy if you’re making friends or meeting acquaintances for the first time. There… Read More