Belgian Prime Minister resigns over voting rights of French speakers

Belgium’s five-month-old coalition has collapsed over a long-running dispute on the special voting rights of French speakers living in Dutch-speaking areas near the capital Brussels (or should we say Bruxelles?).  Differences between the richer Dutch-speaking Flemish majority and poorer French-speaking Walloon minority often threaten Belgian governments, but has this time lead to the resignation Read more

How far can you get with 100 words of English?

NHS (the UK health service) guidelines suggest that by two years old, toddlers can say around 100 words and start putting them into short sentences. And England’s Italian football manager Fabio Capello claims he can manage his players with just 100 words.

But according to Peter Howarth, deputy director of Leeds University’s language centre, “a hundred words wouldn’t get you beyond some very familiar situations in a phrase book – a weekend in London, how to get a hotel room or order a meal”. Read more

Cuts to BBC World Service Language Programmes

The BBC World Service, which started broadcasting in 1932, is to close five of its language services.  The Albanian, Macedonian, Serbian, English for the Caribbean and Portuguese for Africa services will all be axed.

An end to radio programmes in another seven languages has also been announced Read more

Happy Vietnamese New Year!

Vietnamese people all over the world welcome in the Year of the Cat with the Tet Festival.  In 2011, the festival begins on 3 February and officially lasts three days, but festivities often begin a week beforehand and continue for up to two weeks afterwards, with plenty of eating, drinking and social activities.   Read more

Celebrate Welsh Valentine’s Day

St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, which makes her the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine.  St Dwynwen’s Day is celebrated in Wales on 25 January.

The story of Dwynwen dates back to the 5^th century when she fell in love with a Prince called Maelon Dafodrill, but her father was determined that she would marry another man. Read more

Did you know … Penguins are Welsh

Compilers of the new online version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) have highlighted the influence of Wales on the English language.  The dictionary claims to be the only English dictionary that tries to get to the roots of the first known use of every word in the English language.   Read more

Will We Listen to French Musique Pop?

A French language radio station which will largely play Gallic pop music has launched in the UK.  For the past 50 years, French music and Europop has not been seen as cool by the British, but it has started to reinvent itself and 80 per cent of the new radio station French Radio London’s music will be by French artists or in French. Read more

Foreign language proficiency pays – official!

Did you know that the US Airforce is offering its foreign language proficiency bonus to all its airmen, not just those in jobs that require them to speak a foreign language?

The monthly amount they receive depends on the language and proficiency level. The most popular languages Read more

Did you know … that elephants have a secret language?

Researchers at San Diego Zoo have been monitoring communications between African elephants and have found what has been described as a “secret language”.

Elephant’s are well-known for their trumpeting calls, but did you know that they also growl?   Read more

Laurel and Hardy … filmed in French & Spanish

Did you know that Laurel and Hardy, the 1930′s comedy movie stars, reshot a number of their films in French, Spanish, Italian and German?

Laurel and Hardy couldn’t speak any foreign languages, so had voice coaching, and often used native language speaking supporting cast members. These language versions helped to boost their popularity internationally. Pardon Us was reshot in all four foreign languages. Chickens Come Home, Blotto and Below Zero were re-filmed in French and Spanish.

Browse our foreign language film section and learn a language with a movie>>

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