If you’re reading this on or after the 12th February 2021, Happy Lunar New Year! Chinese New Year (often called the Spring Festival) falls in mid-February this year. It marks the turning of the Year of the Rat into the Year of the Ox. 2020, the Year of the Rat,...
For non-deaf or hard of hearing people, it is often a surprise to learn that there is more than a single sign language. Today, there are anywhere up to 300 different types of sign language used around the world. Some are only used locally. Others are used by millions...
On 25th January 2020, the twelve-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac begins anew. The first year in the cycle is always the Year of the Rat. Now, the rat might not sound like the most glamorous of zodiac personalities. But it actually has many good qualities: Quick...
Farsi is what many Persian-speakers call Persian. It’s the official language of Iran and of that nation’s ancient rulers, spoken today by more than 110 million people around the world. A great many of those speakers are in Iran – where around half the...
The twelve-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac ends with the Year of the Pig. The Pig might finish last, but it’s said to bring good fortune for all – not only those lucky enough to be born in one of its years. Were you born in a Year of the Pig? Great! But which...
Around 75 million people around the world are native speakers of Vietnamese, the language of Vietnam. It’s also widely used in neighbouring Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, the sixth most-spoken language in Australia, as well as being officially recognized as a...
Homophone and homographs might be confusing to anyone learning English for the first time. After all, why does that word sound the same or look the same yet have widely varied meanings? But homophones and homographs in English have got nothing on the complexities of...
May 4th, unofficially known as Star Wars Day, is celebrated by fans of stories from a galaxy far, far away in numerous places around the world. For the uninitiated, May 4th was chosen as the fan-created day of celebration of the films and universe first created by...
Chinese Language Day is the 20th April. It’s a time chosen to fit in with the Chinese celebration of Guyu, which honours Cangjie – the four-eyed mythical figure who is traditionally understood to have created Chinese characters in the time of the Yellow...
The border between North and South Korea is one of the most heavily fortified in the world. A combined force of more than two million troops keeps the border – which divides the Korean peninsula roughly in half – inviolable. But despite the huge variance...
