FINALLY here's some news we all wanted to hear! Alcohol really can make you better at learning a foreign language. I mean, it really does make sense. Have you ever experienced being in a Parisian restaurant, attempting to practice your French, only to be stared down by a snooty waiter? All of the sudden, your tongue turns to mush and café and caca...
Hint: Not North America! There are more speakers of English in Asia than anywhere else in the world. In most Asian countries it is the first foreign language taught to children, and it is the bridge language (what linguists call a "pidgin" language) used by people from different backgrounds to communicate. We could split hairs on this issue (there are probably more...
Guess what the most popular 5 slang words are in American English? According to Alina Dizik (link to her WSJ article below), they are: Dude. (But I think my college friends would give "dude" a run for its money with "bro"!) Chilling. (But as most of us insiders know, we usually write/say "chillin.") Psyched. (I am a big user of psyched--probably have been for...
In an article just published by Robert Lee Hotz in the Wall Street Journal (link below), diverse findings are shared that prove more benefits for speaking an additional language. I will highlight the five main points: 1. Speaking more than one language might change the physical structure of the brain in a favorable way. 2. Bilingual speakers can hear sounds that monolingual...
Learning a second language can be an incredibly psychological endeavor. For every person, this experience will be different but we have all certainly experienced some of the doubt, panic and fear that come with the task of really speaking in a second language. In Second Language Acquisition (the scientific field that studies such things), an important term regarding psychology is "individual...
In a recent story in the New York Times (link below), the benefits of bilingualism were spelled out in a very comprehensive way. The benefits are now scientifically traceable from infancy to old age. The article is not written in an overly scientific register but here are some Plain English translations of what you will find there (a link to the...