On-lang

🇺🇸🇬🇧 Keep something at bay
🇩🇰 Holde noget på afstand
🇵🇱 Trzymać coś na dystans

Sometimes we need to protect ourselves from stress, problems, or negative emotions. That’s exactly what this idiom is about.

“Keep something at bay” means to prevent something unpleasant from getting too close or affecting you. It can refer to worries, difficulties, or even physical threats — anything you want to control or keep under distance.

In Danish, “holde noget på afstand” expresses the same idea of keeping something away or under control.

In Polish, “trzymać coś na dystans” means maintaining distance from something, whether emotionally or physically.

Learning idioms like this helps you understand how native speakers express abstract ideas and emotions in everyday conversations.

If you want to improve your English, Danish, or Polish, join personalised online lessons with On-lang language school. With a professional teacher on the other side of the computer, you get a course tailored to your needs, level, and goals. This helps you stay organised, build confidence, and achieve faster progress.

You can also support your learning by following our “learn new words daily with On-lang” series — a simple way to expand your vocabulary and stay consistent every day.

Keep your doubts at bay and keep moving forward with your language goals.

🇺🇸🇬🇧 Break even
🇩🇰 Gå i nul
🇵🇱 Wyjść na zero

Have you ever worked hard on something and ended up with no profit, but no loss either? That’s what this idiom is all about.

“Break even” means that your income and expenses are equal — you don’t gain money, but you don’t lose any either. It’s often used in business, budgeting, or everyday situations.

In Danish, “gå i nul” expresses exactly the same idea — everything balances out.

In Polish, “wyjść na zero” also means ending up with neither profit nor loss.
Learning idioms like this helps you understand real-life conversations and speak more naturally, especially in topics like work, money, and everyday situations.

If you want to improve your English, Danish, or Polish, consider joining personalised online lessons with On-lang language school. With a professional teacher on the other side of the computer, you get a course tailored to your needs, level, and goals. This helps you stay organised, build confidence, and achieve faster progress.

You can also support your daily learning by following our “learn new words daily with On-lang” series — a simple and effective way to expand your vocabulary step by step.

Start learning smarter and reach your goals without breaking the bank — or at least break even 😉

🇬🇧 Shadow native speakers.
🇩🇰 Efterlign modersmålstalere.
🇵🇱 Naśladuj native speakerów.

One of the most effective ways to improve your pronunciation and fluency is to “shadow” native speakers. This means listening to a sentence and repeating it immediately, trying to copy the rhythm, intonation and pronunciation as closely as possible.

It may feel challenging at first, but it’s a powerful way to sound more natural and confident.

How can you use this technique?
• Choose short audio clips – from podcasts, videos or series.
• Listen to one sentence and repeat it right away.
• Focus on melody and rhythm, not just individual words.
• Repeat the same clip several times until it feels natural.
• Practice regularly, even 5–10 minutes a day makes a difference.

To make your learning more structured, follow our “learn new words daily with On-lang” series. It gives you consistent vocabulary input that you can immediately practice with shadowing.

And if you want faster progress, join our personalised language classes. With a professional teacher on the other side of the computer, you get guidance, feedback and a course tailored to your goals. This helps you organise your daily practice and improve your speaking skills much more efficiently.

Small daily habits + the right support = real results.