The spectrum of vegetarianism

I've realised that I've only mentioned being a vegetarian once in eleven years of blogging. Don't go saying we drill about it all the time. Anyway, vegeterianism is a very wide concept and the TERMCAT (centre for terminology of Catalonia) have just created an infographic to make things clear. As reducing meat and fish consumption …

Sabbatical: This is how you say it

There are some items of language that people tend to struggle with. And sometimes they don't struggle, but still are unkowingly wrong. Let's shed some light on everyday mistakes in English. What's the proper way to say 1.5 h? (2013). Stupid as it sounds, the answer is not obvious. Is it one hour and a …

Interesting facts about the Catalan language – 2015

Just like last year, the same week of the Diada, the Catalan national day, I want to talk about my language. Here's a visual selection of the 50 facts about the Catalan situation nowadays published in the InformeCat 2015 by Plataforma per la Llengua.

What’s your English dialect? Got words?

Today, I’m sharing with you three simple, short and even fun tests to test your dialect and your vocabulary in English. Which English? (5 min) English grammar is different around the world and influences of your own language—if it’s a different one—may show on your performance. This test consists of three parts. First you’re presented …

English at international events — be patient

Last year I reported the basics of a kick-off meeting for a European research project. At some point I hinted at a post on the English spoken there. Here it goes. Should you need to face an audience in English at an important international event, you’d prepare thoroughly what to say. However, the way you …

The ‘boringer’ case: a better rule for comparatives

No matter how hard teachers try, at some point a student is going to use boringer as a comparative and you’ll tell them it’s an exception. But what if you were wrong? The rule that teachers have taught for centuries is: 1 or 2-syllable adjective: adj.+er for comparatives, adj.+est for superlatives 3-syllable adjective or longer: …