Welcome to the first of our Chatterbug Features, our new Chatterblog series featuring stories from actual language learners. In these posts, we hand over the mic to our students and let them tell us their trials and tribulations of learning a new language. Today, we’re…

It’s a common belief that adults are bad at learning second languages. We’ve all heard someone say so, usually as an explanation for why they haven’t succeeded in learning a second language themselves. Sometimes, they’ll provide some anecdotal evidence to support this idea: they’ll point…

For many of us, the memories of language classes at school are enough to make us stick with our native one for good. But learning a second language doesn’t mean you must obsessively memorise directions to the town hall (did that ever come in useful?),…

Some people appear to have a knack for languages, an innate ability that makes them seem like linguistic superheroes that are able to effortlessly switch back and forth from one to another without batting an eye. But what does it mean to be fluent in…

Learning a second language as an adult is a daunting task, and the goals we set ourselves often feel unreachable. We picture ourselves being able to converse freely in French with that Parisian waiter, but we often end up slacking off on the hard work…

What does bilingual mean? Well, there are several definitions. Some agree that you are bilingual if you speak two languages at a (near) native level; others say it is just a matter of using the two languages actively in your day-to-day life. The fluency of…