What is the Phrase? January Version

Is it too late to say Pleased New 12 months?! We are able to’t imagine we’re heading into February already, however what a begin to 2023 it’s been up to now. Avatar 2 grew to become one of many highest-grossing movies of all time (Na’vi language course, anybody? 👀). Bookshops braced themselves for the discharge of that Prince Harry memoir Spare, which will likely be obtainable in 17 languages with some somewhat brutally-translated titles (see: Brazilian Portuguese). The Australian Open kicked off the yr’s sporting calendar and Andy Murray had us reminiscing about his Wimbledon wins, taking part in the longest match of his profession. Even simply occupied with taking part in tennis for 5hrs45 is sufficient to warrant a lie down. In music, Miley Cyrus broke nearly each report in existence along with her empowering new single ‘Flowers’ – the right Galentine’s Day anthem, in our opinion.

Anyway, with out additional ado, let’s get caught into this month’s knockout language and culture-related tales which have caught our eye!

Shakira breaks the web 🎧

It’s been an ideal month for The Queen of Latin Pop, Shakira, who launched a fiery new monitor dissing her ex, Spanish footballer Gerard Piqué, this month. Full of perspective, emotion, and Spanish slang, Out of Your League smashed YouTube data with over 63 million views in its first 24 hours, making it the most-watched Latin tune in that point interval. You’ll already understand how a lot we advocate studying a language via music, so clearly we needed to soar on this monitor and launch a Shakira ft. Memrise language lesson! We took the music video, extracted the entire vocabulary and packaged it up right into a Memrise lesson that might make La Loba (The She-wolf) proud! And it seems the lesson is the right alternative to learn to stand your floor in Spanish, in any context, with phrases like ¡hazme caso! (take heed to me!) and no vuelvo contigo (I gained’t get again with you). Strive the lesson right here!

P.s., do you know that we’ve created a great deal of different classes primarily based on the lyrics of your favourite international superstars? Examine a few of them out right here.

The language(s) of affection 💘

Whether or not you’re celebrating Valentine’s, Galentine’s or Palentine’s Day this yr, it’s laborious to keep away from seeing pink hearts and teddy bears all over the place in February. On the subject of affection, The New York Occasions is working a cool research this yr to search out out about folks’s languages of affection. And no, this isn’t concerning the widespread idea of ‘love languages’ (ours is Phrases of Affirmation, clearly), however they’re inviting {couples} in multilingual relationships to share tales of how they convey affection.

Not celebrating Valentine’s Day this yr? No sweat. Spangler Sweet, residence of the enduring ‘Sweethearts’ candies added a brand new set of messages beneath the theme of ‘phrases of encouragement’ in February final yr. This included pleasant phrases like ‘approach to go’ and ‘excessive 5’ alongside the classics like ‘be mine’. So whether or not your connection is romantic or platonic, you’ll be able to nonetheless present your appreciation and love for somebody particular in your life! And if all of this speak of Valentine’s Day makes you’re feeling a bit queasy, there’s even one thing for the cynics amongst us: a number of totally different zoos internationally are permitting folks to call a cockroach after their ex this February…

TikTok tendencies 📱

Ever questioned how your native language sounds to audio system of different languages? Perhaps not, however this viral video on Tiktok would possibly give us the reply! Platform consumer @languagesimp  posted a video which has regained reputation this month, by which he speaks ‘English’ in the way in which that he imagines it sounds to non-speakers. It has to be seen to be understood, however as with each Tiktok, probably the most entertaining half is the feedback part, and this video was no exception. A lot of folks stated that it seemed like Simlish – the gobbledygook that Sims communicate within the recreation franchise – whereas others stated it seemed like what they hear when somebody tries to elucidate a card recreation and so they simply zone out. We’ve all been there.

One other Tiktok second we’ve been having fun with this month is the #karaokechallenge development of mates difficult one another to sing alongside to widespread songs on digital camera, with out trying on the lyrics. The outcomes are hilarious, and we really feel comforted by the truth that no person actually is aware of the lyrics to sure songs. Like, what are the Scissor Sisters really saying within the refrain of I Don’t Really feel Like Dancing for instance? Does anybody actually know? Give this problem a attempt with a easy tune within the language you’re studying!

What we’re watching 📺

We’ve already binge-watched our manner via Season 3 of Emily in Paris and practiced our greatest ‘Salut, mon amour‘ for Vday with our brand-new lesson primarily based on the collection. As ever, there are an entire host of foreign-language TV exhibits popping out in 2023 which is able to assist increase your language expertise. Studying a language via TV exhibits is a type of language immersion as a result of it surrounds you together with your goal language. Reveals assist you choose up vocab naturally, typically together with colloquial language which helps you communicate just like the locals, and so they additionally familiarize you with cultural variations, etiquette and registers of language.

In a giant win for minority languages this yr, there’s even a Welsh-language drama referred to as Dal y Mellt (Catch the Lightning) coming to Netflix in April – tright here’s actually one thing for each learner!

And that’s all for this version of What’s the Phrase? Each month we spherical up a few of the coolest issues which are taking place world wide and share them with you within the hope they’ll quench your language and normal knowledge-seeking thirst just a bit bit. Catch you subsequent time!