What are phrasal verbs (in English)?
Phrasal verbs: The 2nd in the series of hints about an aspect of English, and how this knowledge can be useful when learning Latin languages
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Andrew Wenger
- Jan 13
- 3 min
Parts of speech (in any language)
Basics of grammar. A 1-pager to guide you through the different types of words that make up a language: English and the one you are studying
Andrew Wenger
- Dec 22, 2021
- 3 min
21 Don't fret the accent
Studying a language? There are several plates to spin:
1. learn vocab
2. learn grammar points
3. improve comprehension
4. get a good accent
Andrew Wenger
- Dec 18, 2021
- 3 min
18 Is English a particularly “rich” language?
To put the title question another way: Are there more synonyms in English than in other languages? The simple answer is yes. The Oxford...
Andrew Wenger
- Dec 16, 2021
- 1 min
16 The peak is not the goal
Pausing for breath you look up from the steep mountain path and see nothing but blue sky beyond the ridge, visible only now that the mist...
Andrew Wenger
- Dec 15, 2021
- 3 min
15 What’s in your Portsmouth?
Some eponymous inventions from around the world One of the best things about teaching/learning languages is that there is always an...
Andrew Wenger
- Dec 8, 2021
- 1 min
7 December: The stress of language-speaking
Discussion point: “English is the most tonal of all European languages.” The Swede could make a similar claim, but they do it in a...
Andrew Wenger
- Aug 11, 2021
- 4 min
The language of football
Whichever foreign language you are studying, you may or may not be familiar with the nomenclature of English Sunday-league football. Voilà
Andrew Wenger
- Jul 21, 2021
- 5 min
“In case of fire, please alarm the hotel porter” and other amusing mistranslations
Humour: one of the best tools of the linguist, whether to understand the target language/culture or to laugh at ourselves - and with others
Andrew Wenger
- Jul 7, 2021
- 3 min
Skimming stones
Reflections, skimming stones on a Swedish lake, the silence is total.
Andrew Wenger
- Jun 16, 2021
- 1 min
Word nerd and bird nerd
Learning birds' names in foreign languages is considered 'next level' vocabulary. Here's a start...
Andrew Wenger
- May 6, 2021
- 3 min
How to type special characters/accents on foreign words
how to type accents on foreign words, special characters, “diacritics”. Here is a range of options for how to do it
Andrew Wenger
- Feb 20, 2021
- 2 min
Dodging the machine gun Spanish bullets
Are you learning Spanish? Of the four main skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking, which do you find the most difficult to make...
Nick Bradbury
- Feb 12, 2021
- 2 min
Charming translations
An effective translation between languages is rarely word for word. A great translation is never word for word, especially when...
Andrew Wenger
- Dec 8, 2020
- 3 min
Sound like a native speaker
There was recently an online discussion in which non-native speakers shared their thoughts on the hardest aspect of learning English. The...
Andrew Wenger
- Nov 8, 2020
- 1 min
The etymology of "posh" and the power of stories
Do you know the origin of the word "posh"? Well-read people (which is of course not the same thing as posh people) will tell you the...
Andrew Wenger
- Sep 22, 2020
- 2 min
Worthless, priceless or an absolute rip-off?
How many of the following English money expressions do you know and use? Do you know these two Beatles’ songs? Money (That’s what I want)...
Andrew Wenger
- Jun 8, 2020
- 3 min
Scientists discover distant ‘mirror image’ of Earth and Sun
Image source: Samuel Raphael: Distant Galaxy (oil on canvas) Astronomers(1) have discovered a new planet, which is nothing remarkable,...
Andrew Wenger
- Jun 8, 2020
- 3 min
No early return for UK tourists, says Spain
Photo source: Toa Heftiba/Unsplash Spain's tourism minister has poured cold water on(1) any thoughts of an early return by UK visitors to...
Andrew Wenger
- May 17, 2020
- 4 min
It’s official: May 2020 was UK’s sunniest month on record
Photo source: Zwaddi/Unsplash According to the Met(1) Office May 2020 was the sunniest calendar month on record in the UK. There was a...
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