The word diva, an Italian borrowing meaning “female deity”, entered the English language just before the 20th century. Originally, divas were celebrated opera singers of unmatched excellence and renown. However, the meaning of the term has since broadened to include any woman of outstanding talent in the world of theatre, cinema and popular music. For(…)

2020 has been the weirdest year in a long time. On the one hand, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has led to the suspension of most television production from mid-March 2020 onward. But on the other hand, this disruption took place at a time when the only thing most people could do was stay at home(…)

Whether travelling for pleasure or business, we always feel a bit anxious about the communicative challenges that we are bound to encounter in a foreign country. This is especially true for the adventurous traveller, who may find himself in exotic lands where even the writing system is different. Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, we are now(…)

If your friend sent you this meme, how would you answer? The most likely options are “haha” or “LOL” (which means “Laughing Out Loud”, if you didn’t know). But if you found this meme hilarious, you may want to laugh hard and use “HAHA”, “hahahahaha”, or “ROFL” (Rolling On the Floor Laughing). The problem is(…)

You may have heard that learning a language is a long-term investment and that the best way of becoming fluent is to communicate with native speakers. While this is true, it poses a little problem. If you live in Australia, for example, and want to practise Spanish, you’ll need to go abroad to find native(…)

The internet is arguably one of the most outstanding inventions of our time. Since its creation, it has helped people connect with others from all over the world, get more professional opportunities, gain insight into different cultures, and make innumerable other activities possible. Ever since October 29, 2005, the world has celebrated International Internet Day(…)

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is learning a new language. It’s January 1st, and this seems totally doable: you still have the whole year ahead. Yet, the days start to pass and you soon forget about your objective. Suddenly, you are already in the last quarter of the year and start to(…)

What’s the most tedious part of learning a second language? For most people, it’s grammar and vocabulary. It usually takes many hours of senseless repetition and there’s no fun in that. Or at least, that is if you’re doing it wrong. While memorising lists of words and grammar rules is one of the most common ways(…)

Small talk isn’t for everyone. Especially introverts, who find the practice tedious, wanting to get straight to the deep stuff without the empty conversations that typically start with enquiries about your weekend. So get over the idea that introverts just despise other people, and instead make yourself a better raconteur and conversationalist! Here are some(…)

Since us native English speakers have decided that English is the most important language in the world, you would think we would be a little kinder to those choosing to learn our language. When instead, we titter, mock, and joyfully repeat every single mistake learners make for the amusement of ourselves and other natives—or take(…)