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Last week we welcomed a wonderful group of Italian students from Babylon Lingue (Rovigo - Italy) to Newcastle for an unforgettable exchange. For a few days, our classrooms became places of discovery, not only of grammar and vocabulary, but of people, stories, and laughter. The Italian students came to improve their English, while our own learners (British and international) practised their Italian. What happened was far more than a lesson: it was a genuine language experience

Italian sometimes shortens infinitives like voler, poter, dover, andar. These “truncated infinitives” drop the final vowel for euphony, especially before another infinitive (voler incontrare) or with clitic pronouns (farlo, dirlo). Common in written and idiomatic expressions, they’re optional and often avoided in everyday spoken Italian.

We say them every day, often without thinking: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… Yet the names of the days of the week are tiny archaeological sites. Each one contains fragments of ancient religions, lost gods, and surprising connections between languages that today feel very far apart. From the Romans to the North: Two Traditions Meet The seven‑day week comes from the Romans, who named each day after a celestial body and its associated deity: dies Lunae — day of the Moon dies Mart

If you’ve spent time in UK bookshops or charity shops, you’ve probably seen the label pre‑loved. Pre-loved, a small word with a big cultural shift behind it. It’s one of those English expressions that stops you for a moment. But where does “pre‑loved” come from? The term began appearing in the late 20th century, especially in charity retail and sustainability circles. Instead of describing an object as used (which focuses on wear) or second‑hand (which focuses on sequence), p

What happens when an inventor’s surname becomes the name of an instrument — in English, Italian, Spanish, German and beyond.

A deeper look at how the Italian language builds meaning through tiny structural elements. This post explores how a single prefix or morphological change can transform a neutral word into one loaded with attitude, revealing how Italian encodes social and cultural nuance directly into its vocabulary.

A single word — bigot — sparked a multilingual journey through five languages, revealing how different cultures express moral judgement, religiosity, and intolerance. What began as a simple classroom moment became a reflection on how words evolve and mirror our values.

What do the Thames and the Tiber reveal about the languages that name them? A simple comparison opened up a fascinating look at how place names survive, adapt, and carry history across cultures.

In many languages we talk about death without naming it. Italian, like English, French, German and Spanish, uses euphemisms that soften the impact and reveal how each culture navigates a universal taboo.