Rihanna has been driving her crew mad by learning Cockney rhyming slang.

The Barbados-born singer has spent a great deal of time in the UK this year due to her Loud world tour.

She's become interested in London particularly, including one of the dialects spoken there. Most prevalent in the east of the city, the type of slang sees words being substituted for phrases which rhyme so stairs' becomes apples and pears'.

"Rihanna was given the book when she was last over and can't get enough of it," a source laughed to British newspaper The Sun.

"She's been reading phrases aloud in her best Cockney accent and finding it hilarious. Spending so much time in the UK has gone to her head, in a good way. She wouldn't have bothered trying to understand dialects before."

It's not known how much Rihanna has learnt yet, or whether she's dropped it into conversation during her time in the UK.

The star has been busy lately, continuing her series of shows and also promoting her new album Talk That Talk.

The second single from the record is called You Da One and the promo sees Rihanna playing a sexy vampire.

She apparently came up with the storyline after shooting her debut movie Battleship, which also stars Alexander Skarsgrd. He's best known for playing a vampire in TV show True Blood.