English language learners are fortunate these days to have a wealth of resources to turn to, including online blogs and videos, apps, exposure to US movies and music, and an ever-growing number of speakers to practice with worldwide. English has in fact become so prevalent that some projections for the total number of English speakers worldwide indicate a 300% [...]
Unless you were presented by Hollywood as the sultry Latina temptress or the debonair Italian suitor, having a thick foreign accent while speaking English has traditionally been depicted as somewhat of a negative. Common stereotypes and tropes for non-native English speakers were the Mexican laborer who talked like Speedy Gonzalez, the always-angry Asian clerk who screamed at customers, and [...]
As its name suggests, Community Language Learning (CLL) is all about fostering a sense of community within the classroom and providing a low-stress environment in which language students can learn and grow. The learners have a great deal of autonomy and in fact decide what they want to learn in each class, with the teacher serving more as a [...]
Nearly every product that reaches our hands these days has already been on an impressive journey around the world. 97% of our clothes are produced abroad, typically in garment factories like those of H&M in Asia or Nike in Brazil. The automobiles made by American companies like Tesla or GM all have parts that originated in countries like China, [...]
The linguistic history of enslaved Africans in the United States is a testament to the oppressed people's rich cultural heritage and the resilience of African traditions in the face of the cruelest and most barbaric of conditions. Despite all odds, slaves were able to not only maintain the culture of a wide variety of countries and locales from Eastern, [...]
Sometimes there is just the perfect word or phrase for a situation. The wittiest of us seem to effortlessly come up with these in real life. Authors and screenwriters are in constant pursuit of them. But when just the right thing is said at the right time, audiences simply know it, and ultimately remember and cherish those words. Such [...]
An old teaching adage says that no matter what the activity, a student can only pay attention for as many minutes as they are years old. For example, seven-year-olds can pay attention to a single classroom task or exercise for approximately seven minutes. When those seven minutes are up, boredom sets in, their attention drifts, and they start planning [...]
The Remarkable Reality of Awake Brain Surgery Imagine answering questions in one of the five languages you are fluent in or playing your guitar while undergoing brain surgery. As you provide the Armenian word for “puppy” or strum out the tune to a well known pop song, a team of surgeons is meticulously mapping out your brain functions. No, [...]
The debate over what is a language and what is a dialect may seem like a linguistic issue best suited for the halls of academia, but the distinction actually has far-reaching real-world implications that can affect the welfare of millions of people worldwide. Anything as fluid and nebulous as language is difficult to classify, and linguists, researchers, and politicians [...]
When someone mentions Paris, you likely envision fashionable art museums, sidewalk cafes by the Eiffel Tower, maybe romance. Similarly, the name "New York City" probably conjures images of crowded subways, the bright lights of Times Square, and bustling city streets. But would we feel the same way about these places if they still went by their old names? Would [...]
