Cactus Language Blog

Italian Language Guide (1): History, Usage & Difficulty of the Language

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Italian, Learning a language

Italian in the World Today
The great thing about Italian is that people tend to learn it for the sheer love of the language, country and people. Whether it’s the Italian art, food, music or landscape that draws you in, this is one language that is learnt above all for pleasure and through a desire to [...]

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Tags: dante alighieri, italian, italian cooking, italy, naples, romance language, sicily, venice

French Language Guide (3): Ways to Learn French

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

Making the decision to learn a language and actually going about it can be two very different things. It can be a daunting enough experience deciding to learn a new skill, especially later in life, let alone be faced with a myriad of ways in which to do it.
Below is an overview of the different [...]

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Tags: french course abroad, french evening class, french language course, immersion course, language courses new york, language courses uk

Spanish Language Guide (3): Ways to Learn Spanish

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus Tailormade, Language Courses New York, Language Courses UK, Learning a language, Spanish

Making the decision to learn a language and actually going about it can be two very different things. It can be a daunting enough experience deciding to learn a new skill, especially later in life, let alone be faced with a myriad of ways in which to do it.
Below is an overview of the different [...]

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Tags: immersion course, language courses new york, language courses uk, linguaphone, michel thomas, rosetta stone, salsa, spanish evening course, spanish language holiday, spanish podcast, spanish software, tango

Spanish Language Guide (2b): Latin American Culture

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Spanish

Sarah Gooding, Editor at Cactus, picks out the best of Latin American culture
Latin America culture is as vast as the countries that make up this sizzling, Latin land. Whether you go to the pampas of Argentina, the snowy peaks of Peru or the paradisical coastline of Honduras, the cultures you experience will vary enormously.

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Tags: argentina, aztecs, bolivia, brazil, chile, colombia, cuba, ecuador, frida kahlo, gabriel garcia marquez, incas, latin america, mario vargas llosa, maya, peru, salsa, samba, tango

Italian Language Guide (3): Ways to Learn Italian

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Italian, Language Courses New York, Language Courses UK, Learning a language

Making the decision to learn a language and actually going about it can be two very different things. It can be a daunting enough experience deciding to learn a new skill, especially later in life, let alone be faced with a myriad of ways in which to do it. Below is an overview of [...]

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Tags: italian, italian evening course, italian immersion course, italian language course, italian language course abroad, italian language holiday, italian podcast, italian self-study, learn italian, online italian

Mandarin Chinese: A History of the Language

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

Mandarin speaker Simon Ager looks at the making Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese is a member of the Chinese branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. It is closely related to the varieties of Chinese spoken in soutern China, such as Cantonese and Shanghainese, though mutually unitelligible with them.

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Tags: china, chinese, mandarin

The Best Christmas Advent Markets in Germany This December

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, German, Learning a language

There’s no better place to get festive than in Germany’s Advent markets this Christmas

Christmas or Advent markets (Weihnachtsmärkte) are outdoor markets that can be found all over Germany during December in the period leading up to Christmas. They usually consists of stalls selling food, wine, toys, candles, sweets, Christmas decorations and other Christmas related goods. [...]

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Tags: advent, christmas, december, germany, markets

The Influence of French on the English Language

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, English, French, Learning a language

Linguist Simon Ager examines how French has affected English more than we realise
The Norman invasion of England in 1066 had a major impact not only on the country, but also on the English language. William the Conqueror and his merry band of Normans brought with them Norman French, which became the language of the court, [...]

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Tags: english, french, norman

The Place of Welsh in the UK

Posted by Sarah under English, Learning a language

Simon Ager, linguist and Welsh speaker, looks at the importance of Welsh today
Welsh (Cymraeg) is a Celtic language spoken mainly in Wales. It is closely related to Cornish and Breton, and more distantly related to Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic.

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Tags: english, welsh

The Arabic Language: History, Usage & Difficulty of Arabic

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

Linguist Simon Ager looks at Arabic in the world today
Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by between 200 and 400 million native speakers, and a further 250 million non-native speakers, in nearly twenty countries in the Middle East and North Africa. There is a standard form of Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), which is based [...]

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