Siobhan Wood, Author at The Pimsleur Language Blog https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/author/siobhan-wood/ Learning another language doesn't have to be hard. Fri, 21 Nov 2025 17:09:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8 The World’s Most Unusual Languages https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/worlds-most-unusual-languages/ Tue, 29 Sep 2020 14:59:44 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=19464 How Many Languages are Spoken in the World Today? The answer is probably more than you think: there are around 7,000 languages in use today. The exact number is difficult to count because so many are spoken in isolated, difficult-to-reach areas, or only spoken by a diminishing number of elders in minority groups. Amongst these Read More >>

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]]> Order From Tragedy: Roget and The Origin Of The First Thesaurus https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/history-rogets-thesaurus/ Thu, 27 Aug 2020 14:56:35 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=18754 Beautiful Tools Borne Out of Less Beautiful Circumstances – Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869) Peter Mark Roget was a remarkable man. A lexicographer whose invention has helped almost everyone who speaks English at some point or another. Don’t believe us? You’ll almost definitely have used an item he created. There may even be one on your Read More >>

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]]> What’s The Deal With Numbers? Counting Systems in Different Languages https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/counting-systems-in-different-languages/ Mon, 17 Aug 2020 13:47:50 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=18440 Four-Twenty and Nineteen Problems… But French Numbers Ain’t One! Counting systems in different languages Question for all the French speakers out there. What’s the deal with numbers? Even if you only studied a little French in high school, you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. Numbers in French are, for English Speakers, a Bit of Read More >>

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]]> Use and Abuse of the Word Literally – A Crisis of Language? https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/use-of-word-literally/ Tue, 04 Aug 2020 18:51:35 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=18181 How the Term ‘Literally’ has Changed Over Time “That chili was so hot it literally blew my head off” “She literally flew off the handle” “That person literally makes my blood boil” Literally. It’s the infamous term that infuriates editors, academics, linguists, publishers, and journalists alike, with people using it when they actually mean ‘figuratively’ Read More >>

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]]> What Are World Englishes? https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/what-are-world-englishes/ Fri, 17 Jul 2020 01:04:54 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=17499 Lingua Franca – Why English is the Global Language Picture an English speaker. What image pops into your mind? An American shop owner, perhaps? An Australian teenager, Canadian mother, or British businessman? Of course, these are all valid examples of native English speakers. Replicating these accents is the ultimate aim of many English learners. There Read More >>

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]]> Where Do Accents Come From? https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/where-do-accents-come-from/ https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/where-do-accents-come-from/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2020 13:34:00 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=16656 The Birth of a New Accent – Antarctic English Accents are truly fascinating. A recent study in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America has found the beginnings of a new English accent among the residents of the British Antarctic Survey, a group of researchers who spend months alone in isolation. Over the course Read More >>

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]]> https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/where-do-accents-come-from/feed/ 1 Fun Zoom Backgrounds to Inspire Your Language Learning https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/fun-travel-zoom-backgrounds/ https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/fun-travel-zoom-backgrounds/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2020 15:19:50 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=15556 Travel on Hold? Try a Virtual ZoomCation While You Dream of Adventures to Come Though pandemic restrictions are beginning to lift in some places, life isn’t exactly as it was before. Most countries still have travel restrictions, meaning summer vacations (and possibly your opportunity for on the ground language practice) are canceled! The lockdown has Read More >>

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]]> https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/fun-travel-zoom-backgrounds/feed/ 2 Dream Jobs for People with Language Skills https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/careers-in-languages/ https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/careers-in-languages/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2020 14:43:04 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=16037 Best Careers for Language Learners We all have our reasons for studying a language. Maybe you want to travel the world or to understand arts and literature. Perhaps you have family reasons for picking up the study books. Having a reason to learn is fantastic and will help you stay disciplined in your study. But Read More >>

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]]> https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/careers-in-languages/feed/ 2 New Study Links Hi-Tech Success to Foreign Language Learning https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/relationship-language-learning-computer-programming/ Wed, 20 May 2020 18:51:46 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=15785 How Computer Programming Aptitude and Language Study are Related – Benefits of Learning A Foreign Language What are the best-suited careers for people with language skills? Teaching, translation, interpreting, journalism, international business… yeah, yeah, you know the list of old favorites. Bet there’s one you haven’t thought of, though. Computer programming. That’s right! University of Read More >>

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]]> How to Use Gender-Neutral Spanish Language https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/gender-neutral-spanish/ https://www.pimsleur.com/blog/gender-neutral-spanish/#comments Wed, 13 May 2020 22:05:56 +0000 https://blog.pimsleur.com/?p=15616 What is Gender-Neutral Spanish? Noun and adjective genders in your second language can be a real pain, can’t they? Having to select the correct endings, always watching out for agreements, and kicking yourself when you get the wrong endings. This is the reality for most learners. After twenty years of speaking Spanish, I still have Read More >>

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