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How different is English from French?

How different is English from French?

As a native speaker of English whose first foreign language was French, I find the history and interaction between these 2 major global languages fascinating. English is today by far the world’s most studied foreign language. According to the British Council a little under 1 billion have English as a foreign language. French was once used […]

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How different is Spanish in Colombia from that spoken in Spain?

How different is Spanish in Colombia from that spoken in Spain?

Colombia – the homeland of Sofia Vergara and Shakira, with a coastline on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea is a country in both South and Central America. Named after Cristopher Columbus, Colombia has around 45 million inhabitants and Bogota as its capital. In 1821 the Republic of Colombia became independent from Spain with borders

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3 Ways Quebec French is different to Standard French (f)

3 Ways Quebec French is different to Standard French

Quebec French or Québécois has always been something of a mystery to me. I first came across it when I met a Québécoise exchange student at university and its different sounds (from standard French pronunciation) intrigued me. In 2016, I finally made it to Montreal (a city I had long wanted to visit) but for one

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How different or similar are Spanish and Portuguese?

I love traveling to both Portugal and Spain (and Latin America, of course). Moreover, Brazil is actually my favorite country … in the world! I learnt Spanish while living adjacent to a Spanish-speaking barrio in Washington, DC in the US. My time in Washington, DC also included my first trip to Brazil and the beginning

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How different are Italian dialects and languages for the learner?

I first started learning the Italian language over 10 years ago and got to a very basic level in standard Italian before going to study in Bologna for one year. When I arrived I was taken aback by the number and variety of dialects spoken on a daily basis by Italians of which I struggled

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How Similar or Different are German and Dutch?

Dutch and German: Similar or Different?

German and Dutch are 2 languages from the Germanic family and I’ve had the pleasure of learning them both of them in recent years. I’ve also lived in both Germany (Munich) and the Netherlands (Utrecht) for a little over a year each so I’ve had more or less the same in situ exposure to both.

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How different is French in Switzerland to France

How different is French in Switzerland to France?

Switzerland is a landlocked country in the middle of Europe with some of the most beauty scenery that the continent has to offer. In terms of languages, the country has 4 official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. In Switzerland, around 1.8 million people or 22.5% of the population speak French as their first language, mainly

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Italian vs Spanish

How different or similar are Italian and Spanish?

I love traveling to both Italy and Spain (and Latin America, of course) and actually lived in Bologna, Italy where I learnt Italian. The year after learning Italian, I learnt Spanish while living adjacent to a Spanish-speaking barrio in Washington, DC in the US. Having learnt both languages in quick succession, I am really aware

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