I love it when language is playful. There are a lot of people out there who have this strange idea that we only use language to request and provide information, as if we were robots…
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LOS Virtual
Hiya! I’m Martin Norling. I’m the founder of, and CEO at, LOS Language Online Services, and my aspiration is to make LOS a truly virtual company. We’re going to start using XR technology in our courses…
Exonyms & Endonyms
What on earth is an exonym? Good question! Let’s answer it by thinking of Germany: If you translate the word “Germany” (or “German” come to that) into your own language, you’ll probably find that it…
Idioms, Proverbs & Maxims
Wait. What’s the difference? And what on Earth is a “maxim”? OK. Good question. When I think about the differences between these, I imagine a sort of Venn diagram. Yeah, the one right at the…
Working From Home … My Castle And Soul (CZ/EN)
Tímto textem bych rád povzbudil všechny své kolegy, studenty, kamarády, příbuzné a známé. Zkusme právě probíhající krizi brát jako přípravu na budoucnost. No pain, no gain. Ne každý se může v současné době přesunout…
A Diaper CEO on Adding Value to Language Training
Long gone are the days when I taught English to people who shared the same cultural background and spoke the same language. Born and raised in the Czech Republic, I knew all about effectively communicating…
Anagrams, Synograms & Antigrams
Let’s start with the question “What’s an anagram?” I think the best way to answer this would be with the Bristol-based street artist, Banksy. Here he is: Just joking. That’s not Banksy; it’s Günter Grass,…
13 Eponyms
OK, OK. It’s another article with a completely weird “-nym” word in the title. You may well be asking yourself, “Eponyms? What’s an eponym? And how’s that going to help me put bread on my…
12 Meronyms
I hear you! You’re saying, “Meronyms? What on Earth are meronyms?” Well, to be honest with you, I had no idea what they were until very recently when I came across the term in a…
Metaphorical Pattering
Have you ever thought about how often we talk about love? It’s fair enough, I guess. I mean love makes the world go round! All you need is love! Love is everything! Right? At least…
Pun and Games
What are puns and why am I reading about them? Well, let me start off by telling you that I’m a massive fan of puns. Puns are often known as “dad jokes.” That’s because you…
