Greeks Learn German Language Due To Recession

A five year recession, an extremely high rate of unemployment and a shrinking economy have all taken their toll on the country of Greece. The Greek people want jobs and want to work to show that they can be productive but the recession and the lack of jobs in Greece are making things very difficult. Recently however, hundreds of Greeks have been turning to the German language in an effort to improve their situation.

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What Is Pancake Day?

Today is Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day in the UK. It marks the day before Lent begins in the Christian calendar. Lent is the beginning of a period of abstinence before Easter and traditionally, any eggs, sugar or milk left in people’s cupboards would need to be used up before Lent began. Today has been popularised as Pancake Day as pancakes can be made from any leftover eggs, milk and flour. Pancake Day is commonly celebrated in English-speaking countries but it is also celebrated in the Philippines and Germany.

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A Change In the Provision Of Court Interpreters Causes Trouble In UK Courts

Interpreting in court is a highly specialised and challenging job. However, the cost of court interpreting can be expensive which is why the UK government is hoping to save money by changing the way court interpreters are provided for court hearings. Courts in England and Wales used to use interpreters who were registered on the National Register, a register of professional and qualified interpreters. The new system, uses interpreters via an agency called Applied Language Solutions (ALS) who claim to be able to cut the cost of court interpreting, by a third.

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Volunteer Language Course Reviewers Wanted

Are you learning or would you like to learn French, German, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, Dutch, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese or Russian?  We are looking for volunteers to review beginner, intermediate & advanced self-study language courses for us. Read more

Think Language Audio Magazines – UPDATE

Update – 30 September 2011

Great news!  The Think Language websites for Think French, Think Italian & Think Spanish are now back up & running after moving to a new hosting server.  Business as usual again & we can all continue to enjoy getting the French, Italian & Spanish language advantage with Think Languages! Read more

Language barriers led to red & yellow cards in football

I’ve just been watching the Denmark v England international football match and the coverage on TV mentioned that red and yellow cards were introduced in football to overcome language barriers.

Apparently the idea was invented by British referee Ken Aston during the 1966 FIFA World Cup, after a game between Argentina and England at Wembley Stadium when cautions were not understood.   Read more

Turning Japanese with Justin Lee Collins – Episode 1

The first episode of ‘Turning Japanese’ on the UK’s Channel 5 screened on 27 January 2011 features Justin Lee Collins taking a ‘hilarious’ and somewhat alternative look at Japanese life and culture. 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

Champs-Elysées Audiomagazines Cease Trading

A couple of avid Champs-Elysées audiomagazine subscribers emailed us recently saying that they hadn’t received their latest magazine.

We were obviously concerned about this, but hadn’t known anything about it.  We searched the web to find that most of their websites had been taken down and no-one was answering their phones.   Read more

Election Manifestos go Multilingual

While trying to decide which way to vote in the UK General Election on 6 May 2010, I decided to browse through all the election manifestos of the major political parties.  I was pleased to discover on the Green Party website that they have their Mini Manifesto in Arabic and Bengali.   Read more

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