According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an idiom is: “A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.” The main difference between a fluent speaker and someone who is learning a language is obvious: the fluent speaker knows how to use idioms. Every language has a...
Category: Interesting facts about languages
Mistakes to avoid when learning a language
Don’t let these mistakes get in the way when you learn a new language, learn to avoid or overcome them and you are guaranteed to succeed! Here are the biggest mistakes to avoid when learning a language. Fear of making a mistake You might enjoy writing and reading in a different language, but when it...
What is the origin of human language?
We may never know for sure the origin of human language, but it’s still worth a try to look at what we know so far about our primary form of communication. We ain’t nothin but mammals All animals communicate with each other, and humans are no exception. We are the only animals to have developed...
Languages of the Cape
There are few places on this Earth as beautiful as Cape Town is. Amazing weather, amazing beaches, and an exquisite mountain hugging the ocean, what more could you want? And there’s more – while most countries have only one or perhaps two languages, Cape Town is home to a number of different languages, and...
Why learn a new language?
On Wednesday evening, I sat with a German textbook open on my lap desperately trying to memorise all the rules of der, die and das. Sometimes it’s difficult to find patterns or meaning in a new language. But to persevere and struggle on when you learn a new language is oh so worth it at...
Learn more about Romance or Latin languages
Would you rather choose to learn French, Spanish or Portuguese? Okay, so the Romance languages belong to the Indo-European language family group. They have their origin in Vulgar Latin and are called Romance languages because they were spoken by Romans. Below is a list of the five Romance Languages: Spanish Portuguese French Italian Romanian Even...
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