To write a formal letter to the Queen, the convention is to open with ‘Madam’ and close the letter with ‘I have the honour to be, Madam, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant’. Formal writing ...

Language learning is often a daunting prospect. Many of us wish we had learned a language to a higher level at school. But ...

The idea that we have brains hardwired with a mental template for learning grammar—famously espoused by Noam Chomsky of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—has dominated linguistics for almost ...

A child reads the new version of the Xinhua Zidian - Xinhua Dictionary (12th Edition) in the Beijing Book Building on Tuesday. The new edition was launched on Monday, adding new words such as "chu xin ...

Colloquial language does not entirely match up with formal language. This means that some colloquial phrases can mean something entirely different from their formal meaning. Take the following couple ...