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learning English
Artificial Grammar Reveals Inborn Language Sense, JHU Study Shows « News from The Johns Hopkins University
May 12, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa De Nike 443-287-9960 Lde@jhu.edu Parents know the unparalleled joy and wonder of hearing a beloved child’s first words turn quickly into whole sentences and then babbling paragraphs. But how human children acquire language-which is so complex and has so many variations-remains largely a mystery. Fifty years ago, linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky proposed an answer: Humans are able to learn language so quickly because some knowledge of grammar is hardwired into our brains. In other words, we know some of the most fundamental things about human language unconsciously at birth, without ever being taught. Now, in a groundbreaking study, cognitive scientists at The Johns Hopkins University have confirmed a striking prediction of the controversial hypothesis that human beings are born with knowledge of certain syntactical rules that make learning human languages easier.
japanese1 Elicitation Paragraph: Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob.
speech accent archive: browse
Alan Kennedy's Color/Language Project - The Idiom List
Alan S. Kennedy's Color/Language Project If you see a gap or an inaccuracy that you can help us fix, tell us via the contribution form ! ENGLISH LANGUAGE color idioms are at the very end.
language pet peeves « brainsnorts inc >.<
there are a few phrases that people are constantly saying that are just plain wrong, and apparently the people themselves just refuse to listen when i try to explain the errors. 1. “it was all downhill (or uphill ) from there.” the reason people get this phrase wrong is because they are mixing up what it is referring to. people are under the false impression that this has to do with a growth chart or line graph, in which a line going “up” is a good thing, line going “down” is a bad thing. however, what it really refers to is riding a bicycle either “uphill” or “downhill.” on a growth chart, down is bad. but on a bicycle, down is good. so when we believe that things are progressing smoothly and easily, we are supposed to be saying that “it was all DOWNhill.” and when things are difficult, we should be saying that the conditions were “UPhill.” please get it right.
(Those usages people keep telling you are wrong but which are actually standard in English.)
Non-Errors
Why moving to a country may not lead to learning the language & what learners & expats CAN do
<img class="size-full wp-image-4637 alignnone" title="Venice tourist" src="http://www.fluentin3months.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/504x378x1563408207_b35070daa3_o.jpg.pagespeed.ic.OvJxI5YM2V.jpg" alt="Venice tourist" width="504" height="378"/> A lot of people are a bit fuzzy about this so I want to make it absolutely clear: If you move to a country for a few months (or even years) it’s very possible you will NOT learn the language . Out of all the advice I give on this blog, based on my lifestyle you would think that “move the country that speaks it” is on my top to-do list for aspiring language learners? Absolutely not!
Learn the phonetic alphabet
How often have you been on one end of a telephone conversation that went like this? A: "Okay, give me the MAC address." B: "Zero zero, zero two, six bee--" A: "Six what?"