Sophie Lau

Joined: Nov 20, 2023

Sophie is a freelance writer, educator, and generally vibing polyglot who can be found in the UK, Hong Kong, or almost anywhere else in between! Her journalistic work has appeared in publications such as gal-dem and The Independent, and she has completed poetry and creative non-fiction residencies with Metal New Artist Network, Studio 459, Bothy Project, and Amplify Bookstore. Her current WIP labours of love are a collection of deeply personal travel essays and a fun-filled YA romcom! Whenever her slightly chaotic schedule permits, she designs and delivers creative translation and poetry workshops. In her free time, she enjoys learning languages (she’s about to start her tenth!); hanging out with her dogs, Doughnut and Tiny; and capturing her solo travels on film (and binge-watching Korean variety shows but we don’t talk about that…). Visit her website at https://sophieyanyeelau.com.

10 Spine-Tingling Spirits From Around the World

In Korean, ‘chikin’ means something pretty specific—and it’s not exactly what you think.

14 Konglish Words That Aren’t What They Seem

18 Spanish Insults and Curses You Should Know

10 Charming Chinese Idioms and Proverbs (and Their Origins)

Castilian vs. Latin American Spanish: 12 Words You Don’t Want to Confuse

‘Coger’ and the other terms on this list mean something very different in Spain than they do in other hispanophone countries.

The Korean ideophone 쿨쿨 (pronounced “kul-kul”) indicates the deep breathing of a restful slumber.

15 Effortlessly Evocative Korean Ideophones

English speakers may be familiar with onomatopoeias, but they’re only a very small subset of ideophones, a broader word class can also convey other sensory experiences unrelated to sound. These Korean ideophones are sure to make your language sparkle.

Why go by the jellyfish’s English name when you could go with its more delightful French moniker instead?

15 Delightfully Descriptive French Animal Names

En français, the name for ‘jellyfish’ comes from a famous figure in Greek mythology—can you guess which one?

The dialects of the two countries have been diverging.

13 Words That Differ in the North and South Korean Dialects

The two dialects have transformed to the point that North Korean defectors often struggle with unfamiliar language when arriving in South Korea—so much that the South Korean government publishes a list of commonly confused words to aid new defectors.

10 Ways to Say “Merry Christmas” Around the World

’Tis the season to learn how to say “Merry Christmas” in many languages.

In German, the word for ‘gloves’ translates as “hand shoes.”

20 Super Literal German Compound Words

Germany is the land of Oktoberfest, Christmas markets, and super literal compound words like Glühbirne (“glow pear,” a.k.a. “lightbulb”) and Baumwolle (“tree wool,” otherwise known as cotton).