Category: Blog

Berlin is an international city where you’ll hear snippets of conversations in dozens of different languages on a daily. This is one reason why it’s the perfect city for Babbel’s headquarters — we are 600 language enthusiasts piling into one five-story building in the heart of Berlin. Babbel has employees from over 60 countries, speaking more languages than you can imagine, all working on one popular product in this space.

Working here, I’m often asked how Babbel is so good at teaching people new languages. To answer this question, I decided to sit down with our own multilingual Belen Caeiro. She leads our Product Marketing team here at Babbel and knows the app inside and out. Here’s what she said about why learning a language with Babbel is so effective.

Belen explained that she was lucky because her parents helped her get an international education. She lived in Spain, Singapore, the Philippines, the United States, and the Netherlands before coming to Berlin. Her life experience confirmed that Babbel is the right place for her:

“I know that all the good things that have happened to me in life were possible thanks to a new language.”

For Belen, there’s absolutely no doubt that today, probably more than ever, we must learn new languages in order to understand each other and integrate new perspectives into our way of thinking. Making this possible is the first pillar that Babbel’s learning is based on.

“We learn a new language in order to speak it with other people. To make that possible, our product has a few special features,” explains Belen. She opened the Babbel app on her laptop and pointed to the overview of the available courses. “We categorize language learning content in Babbel into relevant topics.” Depending on the language, you’ll find cultural traits and the most common conversation topics right at the beginning. Using public transportation, ordering food, and expressing what you want —are all at the top of the list. 

Belen points out that the learning content builds on itself, so it’s easy to stay oriented. But if you just want to refresh a few topics, you can also jump right in! Belen clicks “next” on a lesson and then on the microphone symbol: “We use our users’ feedback to continually optimize our product. Thanks to our customer service team, but also the feedback we collect in meetups, we know that our users want to practice their pronunciation. Our speech recognition feature in the product supports them in that.”

When Antony Blinken landed at Ben Gurion airport on Monday he said he had arrived at a “pivotal moment”.

By the end of his two-day visit, it is clear he had more than one moment in mind. 

Israel and the occupied West Bank are currently gripped by a level of violence unmatched in years, which shows signs of slipping much further out of control.

But there are several “pivotal moments” converging and the Americans are worried. Their top diplomat might have been referring to any or all of them as he spoke on the tarmac with aviation fumes still blurring the air behind him.

It is a long list. First is the accelerating rate of bloodshed. Next comes the most radically nationalist governing coalition in Israel’s history, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who is on trial on corruption charges, which he denies). 

The coalition is asserting “exclusive” Jewish rights to all the land (ie ending any idea of a future independent Palestinian state). It also proposes to change fundamentally the nature of Israel’s legal system (a full attack on Israeli democracy say those pouring on to the streets in protest). 

Then there is a near complete collapse in control by the Palestinian Authority (PA) in parts of the occupied West Bank (seeing waves of Israeli military raids and helping create a new generation of armed militants), an aging and unpopular PA leader (whom this year marks Year 18 of his four-year elected term in office), and his announcement last week to ditch so-called security coordination with the Israelis (a move that could lead to a complete security collapse in the West Bank). 

Much of this has been years in the making. And after the US made a series of unprecedented announcements for the region under former President Donald Trump, the Biden administration has been winding many of them back. It is left able to prioritize only what it thinks is possible in the immediate term. 

Forget any sudden talk of pursuing a two-state solution – the long-held international formula for peace. This is crisis management. Mr. Blinken kept using two phrases, “calling for calm” and “upholding our shared values”. 

On the first point, the death toll is among the worst in years. In the last 10 months, there have been waves of lethal Israeli military search and arrest raids in the occupied West Bank, a deadly round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, and a spate of deadly attacks by Palestinians against Israelis. More than 200 Palestinians and 30 Israelis were killed in 2022. In January alone this year, more than 30 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed.

When you think about working out with dumbbells, you probably picture using a set of two, one in each hand. There are many exercises you can do with two dumbbells, but as a strength and conditioning coach, I can tell you there are just as many — if not more — you can do using just one. In fact, you can effectively train your entire body using a single dumbbell in about 10 minutes.

Below, I’ve outlined five exercises you can do sequentially to strengthen your legs, hips, arms, shoulders and core. Read the detailed descriptions for each exercise to familiarize yourself with the cues and any needed modifications, then follow along with me in the video above as I take you through each exercise.

The gauge was being transported by a subcontracted company, which picked it up from the mine site on 12 January to move it to a storage facility in the northeast suburbs of Perth.

When it was unpacked for inspection on 25 January the gauge was found broken apart and the radioactive capsule was gone. One of four mounting bolts and screws was also missing.

Authorities said vibrations during transit may have caused the bolts to become loose, allowing the capsule to fall through gaps in the casing and truck.

This incident came as Rio Tinto tries to repair its reputation in Australia.

In 2020, Rio Tinto blasted the 46,000-year-old rock shelters at Juukan Gorgein Western Australia to expand an iron ore mine, sparking a major outcry that led to several of the company’s top bosses standing down.

And last year, a parliamentary inquiry found sexual harassment was rife at Australia’s mining firms after an internal review at Rio Tinto found more than 20 women had reported actual or attempted rape or sexual assault over five years.

Some supporters will be permitted to stand during the EFL Cup final between Manchester United and Newcastle United.

The match, on 26 February, will be the first major domestic English men’s final in almost 35 years in which standing will be allowed.

Both clubs will be allocated 867 seats within new safe-standing areas located behind each goal at Wembley Stadium.

Premier League and EFL clubs have been allowed to introduce standing areas since the start of the 2022-23 season.

It came after five clubs – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Cardiff City – took part in a government-commissioned ‘early adopters’ pilot study during the second half of the 2021-22 campaign.

In safe standing areas, fans stand behind a barrier or a rail which helps prevent them from falling forward.

Designated standing areas had not been seen at Premier League grounds since the adoption of all-seater stadiums in the early 1990s – a recommendation of the Taylor Report following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 when 97 Liverpool fans died following a crush at an FA Cup semi-final.

Spectators at many grounds have continued to stand in seated areas, most commonly behind the goals, despite regular warnings from local authorities and police that it is dangerous.

Standing areas in stadiums are commonplace in Germany’s Bundesliga and there are similar examples across the rest of Europe, the United States, and Australia.

The EFL Cup final will be Manchester United’s first domestic final appearance since 2018 and puts them a win away from ending their six-year wait for a trophy.

For Newcastle, it will mark their first cup final since 1999 and a chance to win their first trophy since Ujpest Dozsa was beaten in the 1969 Inter Cities’ Fairs Cup Final.