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If you’ve ever listened, really listened, to the soundscape of the world around you, you’ll know how important our sense of hearing really is. It helps us work out what’s going on, and listening is one of the four basic skills of language (the others being speaking, reading and writing).

Penfriend is a reassuring word; it speaks of kindness and a way of seeing the world through the eyes of someone else, interpreting the world around you so it starts to make sense. This is exactly what the new PENfriend3™ allows you to do.

Whether you call it Mayday, Beltane or Labour Day, celebrate 1 May - the start of summer for many of us.

While some people refer to it as Beltane, 1 May is most often known as May Day in the northern hemisphere. While, in our modern world, summer doesn’t officially start until 21 June, in times gone by, May the first was often regarded as the time when summer really began.

You know it’s spring when the dawn chorus calls. Find out more about which early bird sings which song.

Many of us may know that cats, dogs and other domestic animals make different noises depending on where they live, and the language that is spoken there: so cats in mainly English-speaking countries generally say “meow”, while in Japan, they say “nyaa nyaa”; and while dogs generally “woof” or “bow wow” in English, in Polish they say “hau hau”.

Mantra Lingua’s great new bilingual title, Food, Food, Fabulous Food explores the foods we eat – come and discover for yourself.

This is one of the many nursery rhymes I learned as a child. I wasn’t very old, however, before I realised that for health, there’s a lot more to it than just making sure  you get a good night’s sleep. Diet is also pretty important. And while you need to make sure you get plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, it’s just as important that you enjoy what you’re eating.

Stories – they’re the way we make sense of our world. And while we all love to sit and listen to a story, adding images can help to really bring it to life.
Kamishibai, literally “paper play”, is a Japanese storytelling technique which dates from at least the 1930s, although its origins may be much older. Written Japanese uses kanji characters, or pictograms, to convey meaning and language; and images have always been especially important to get a message across.

Happy Chinese New Year!
According to the Chinese calendar, 2019 marks the Year of the Pig, the last animal in a twelve year cycle. The beginning of February sees celebrations for the Chinese New Year around the globe. The exact date varies as the Chinese year uses the lunar calendar. In 2019, the first day of the New Year falls on 5 February. The Lantern Festival closes the celebrations and takes place on 19 February this year.