Some words in English just go together. Ebb and flow, pros and cons, peanut butter and jelly. For English language learners, it’s kind of like a 2-for-1 sale. You learn one, you’re probably going to get the other. And though we are going to focus on English in this article, all languages have patterns, phrases, and structures that are [...]
The Rosetta Stone, now valued as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, was once valued for something else entirely – its sturdiness as an actual stone. Centuries ago, Egyptian builders found this large slab of black basalt, ignored its now-invaluable engravings, and used it to fortify an ancient wall near the Egyptian town of Rashid (Rosetta). [...]
Residents of America’s Pacific Northwest are often quick to claim they don’t have an accent. Not so fast! First of all, everyone has an accent. And second, there are indeed subtle differences in the way people from Washington and Oregon speak as compared to even “standard” American English. Before we look at how the PNW accent is different, however, [...]
As its name will tell you, the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method is all about enabling students to communicate in their new language. Unlike other more antiquated foreign language approaches, the goal is not to be able to recite obscure grammar conjugations or to memorize fourteen synonyms for the word “talkative,” but rather to know how to use the [...]
In 1953, a young newspaper delivery boy received a nickel that seemed suspiciously light. Worried he’d been scammed, he tested it by throwing it onto the ground. The top of the nickel face popped off, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside, the boy discovered a tiny coded message, a long string of numbers that fit on the tip of his [...]
A kindly-looking granny in her Sunday best sees you walking down the street and comments, “Well bless your heart, sugar. That is quite the shirt.” You thank her and saunter away a little prouder. Congratulations, you’ve just been insulted. The Southern belle accent may sound sweet as honey, but like the seemingly innocuous “bless your heart,” there may be [...]
“I don’t teach. I let them learn.” This quote from legendary educator and mathematician Caleb Gattegno encapsulates his educational philosophy of promoting learner independence. Gattegno believed that real teaching could never be accomplished by force-feeding learners material they didn’t understand, and even worse, didn't want to understand. The Silent Way of teaching a foreign language aims to largely mute [...]
Raindrops. A crackling fire. Birdsong. There are certain sounds that everyone, no matter what corner of the globe they’re in, likes to hear. We share an appreciation for these sounds as part of our human experience, regardless of culture, religion, or borders. Similarly, one Harvard study proclaimed that music too is a cultural universal, in that there are certain [...]
Ask someone to do an impression of a California accent and you’re likely to get a laidback “Fersure, dude,” with perhaps a shaka hand sign thrown in for good measure. But does anyone in California actually even speak like this? Fersure, dude. Not everyone though, and the standard baseline “California accent” is quite moderate and more akin to “General [...]
A common complaint from those who suffered through baffling and boring foreign language classes in high school or college is that they later can’t remember any of it. Despite all the struggles and sometimes years of work, the end result was like they’d really never been in the class at all. At some point in time, they could likely [...]
