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This week we’re going to cover the basic expressions used to tell time in French. As with Spanish, saying what time it is in French is a relatively straightforward process. However, also like Spanish, French expressions of time include some conventions of telling time that are not commonly used in modern American English.   Expressing…

This week we’re going to cover the basic expressions used to tell time in Spanish. While telling time in Spanish is not a terribly difficult concept, the expressions used are more similar to older English time expressions than the ones that most American English speakers use today.   Expressing the Hour When referring to “one…

Test your Japanese vocabulary with this new matching exercising containing an additional twenty-six words. Match each Japanese word on the left with its English equivalent on the right. We’ve included Romaji for each of the Japanese words in case you need them. However, we recommend looking at the Romaji only if you’re stumped by the…

This week we’ll conclude our journey through idiomatic expressions by examining ten frequently-used French idioms. These basic idiomatic expressions will help you to increase your French comprehension and acceptance by native speakers.   If you need more help with idioms, or any other aspect of the French language, contact the Language Island in Atlanta. Our…

Continuing our journey through idiomatic expressions, this week we’ll look at twelve common Italian idioms. As in English, idiomatic expressions are phrases whose literal meanings bear little, if any, relation to their figurative meanings. These basic idioms will help increase your Italian comprehension and acceptance by native speakers. Like our other idioms lessons, we’ve included…

In this lesson, we’re going to examine the meanings behind fifteen Spanish idioms. Knowing basic idiomatic expressions can increase your understanding of any language, not to mention your degree of acceptance by native speakers. With that in mind, we’ve included the literal meaning, the figurative meaning, and an equivalent English expression for each Spanish idiom.…

Building on last week’s lesson, this week we’re going to provide some addition Japanese phrases that are useful for beginning learners of the language. These are common expressions that you will use frequently and in a wide variety of situations. Each phrase is presented in its original Japanese characters, followed by a romaji transliteration in…

This week we’re going to provide some useful phrases for entry-level Japanese language learners. Each phrase is presented in its original Japanese characters, followed by a romaji transliteration in parenthesis. Phrases are grouped by the situations in which they are used.   If you’re struggling with basic phrases or any other facet of the Japanese…

Chengyu (成语) are Chinese idiomatic expressions, usually consisting of four characters. They are equivalent to simple English idioms, such as “when it rains, it pours” and “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Knowing basic idiomatic expressions can increase your understanding of any language, not to mention your degree of acceptance by native speakers. With…

In this week’s lesson, we’re going to look at another half-dozen Japanese-English false friends. As we talked about last week, Japanese-English false friends are largely the result of how the Japanese language assimilates foreign words. A word with no native Japanese equivalent is adapted into a form that Japanese speakers can write and pronounce via…