Short reads on the quirks, culture, and everyday realities of Bulgarian, Kazakh, Serbian, and Mongolian.
From an untranslatable vowel sound to a verb mood that questions reality itself, Bulgarian packs a lot into words English simply doesn't have.
Bulgaria is one of the only places in the world where the traditional gestures for "yes" and "no" are reversed from what most visitors expect.
Kazakhstan is in the middle of a rare, government-driven transition from Cyrillic to a Latin-based alphabet. Here's what learners actually need to know.
A handful of words come up so often in daily Kazakhstani life that recognising them early makes a genuine difference on the ground.
Serbian is one of the few languages in the world with genuine, everyday digraphia β read on to understand why, and what it means for learners.
Ε½iveli! is one of the first words most people learn in Serbian β but the ritual around it says a lot about Serbian hospitality culture.
A night in a traditional Mongolian ger reveals just how much the language is shaped by nomadic pastoral life.
Mongolian draws distinctions between siblings, in-laws, and extended family that English simply doesn't have words for.