If asked to give an example of a Native American word, the average American today would likely struggle to provide much more than โtee-peeโ or maybe โmoccasin,โ but the United States holds a secret about Native American language, namely that over half of our states were originally named by Native Americans. From Alabama to Wyoming, the names of 26 [...]
Hawaii is known for good vibes, good waves, and a good deal of confusion over its language. It is one of the USโs few officially bilingual states, with English and Hawaiian of course being the official languages, but neither of those is the common language that actual Hawaiians and Hawaiian residents speak. The daily language is locally known as [...]
The Midwest is a BIG part of the country, and depending on who you ask, the region generally includes from North Dakota down to the bottom of Missouri, then east as far as Ohio. That means a lot of land mass and a lot of people, which is part of the reason the traditional Midwestern accent is generally considered [...]
Onomatopoeias are the delightful โsound wordsโ that different languages use to describe what we hear in an informal way. Though they are informal (and often sound a bit silly), they are no less important and in fact may be some of our very first words. As infants, we may refer to a dog as a โwoof-woofโ (English) or a [...]
Are you familiar with the USโs oldest accent? If youโve ever read a Stephen King novel or seen a movie adaptation like Carrie or It, you can proudly answer โAyuh.โ If your answer is no and youโre worried about being a chowderhead, read on to learn more about the New England accent and all its Yankee sophistication. New England [...]
Some words in English just go together. Ebb and flow, pros and cons, peanut butter and jelly. For English language learners, itโs kind of like a 2-for-1 sale. You learn one, youโre 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 โ 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 Americaโs Pacific Northwest are often quick to claim they donโt 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 โstandardโ 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 โtalkative,โ but rather to know how to use the [...]
In the world of espionage and covert communication, sometimes the tiniest details can hold the greatest secrets. Welcome to our deep dive into the fascinating world of microdots, a pivotal tool in the history of secret communication that has shaped the history of intelligence operations. From wartime espionage to modern-day applications, we'll explore how these minuscule dots have played [...]
