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What happens in the brain when you learn a language?

What happens in the brain when you learn a language?
Learning a foreign language can increase the size of your brain. This is what Swedish scientists discovered when they used brain scans to monitor what happens when someone learns a second language. The study is part of a growing body of research using brain imaging technologies to better understand the cognitive benefits of language learning. Tools like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiology, among others, can now tell us not only whether we need knee surgery or have irregularities with our heartbeat, but reveal what is happening in our brains when we hear, understand and produce second languages. The Swedish MRI study showed that learning a foreign language has a visible effect on the brain. In other words, the areas of the brain that grew were linked to how easy the learners found languages, and brain development varied according to performance. Looking at functional MRI brain scans can also tell us what parts of the brain are active during a specific learning task. Related:  asterb

Learn languages to boost your MBA In the increasingly globalised world of work, multinational companies are looking to hire business high-flyers who can communicate in several different languages. Europe’s top business schools are responding to this need; courses at Insead, IESE, HEC, and London Business School incorporate a language requirement as well as the opportunity to learn and practise another language. Insead teaches Mandarin at Fontainbleu and in Singapore. For some schools, a language component is a compulsory part of the MBA. London Business School (LBS) has no language entry requirement, but students cannot graduate unless they have reached ILR level 2 (limited working proficiency) in a second language. Seven core languages – Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Mandarin, Arabic and Russian – are taught by visiting faculty from Kings College London’s languages department. At HEC business school in Paris, the language entry requirement is more relaxed.

How Children Learn to Talk Have you ever wondered how children learn to talk? Many people, when asked that question, respond that they do it by imitating. This is at least partially true. Without imitation, we couldn't account for the fact that children in Texas usually learn Texan English, children in Paris usually learn Parisian French, and not vice versa. But imitation as an answer doesn't take us very far. At this point some would amend their position to say that children don't imitate others sentence by sentence. At any given point in development, a child's speech more closely resembles the speech of other children at the same stage of development than it does the speech of adults in the child's environment—even if there are not other children around. What do children do as they learn to talk? There is much evidence that children's early sentences result from the use of some sort of rules—and not simply from the haphazard imitation of adult sentences. Child: Want other one spoon, Daddy. But there's more.

European Day of Languages > Language Fun > Self-evaluate your language skills! The 'Self-evaluate your language skills' game helps you to profile your skills in the languages you know according to the six reference levels described in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) developed by the Council of Europe (Language Policy Unit, Strasbourg). The CEFR exists in 39 languages and is used throughout the world in many contexts. The game is based on the Self-assessment grid contained in the CEFR and describes language activities. When answering the questions within the application please remember that this merely aims at setting your language profile and at encouraging you to pursue language learning! The self-assessment full procedure is slightly more demanding! Find out more about For webmasters: Do you want to add this flash game to your site?

A few more myths about speakers of multiple languages Does multilingualism cause language delays and identity problems? The British Council's Nayr Ibrahim busts a few more myths about speakers of multiple languages. Myth: Multilingualism causes language delay Raising children bilingually is sometimes believed to cause language delay. Decades of research into bi- and multilingualism has shown that there is no causal relationship between bilingualism and language delay. Myth: Multilinguals should develop literacy in one language first When children are surrounded by multiple languages, they will inevitably have access to multiple literacies. The reality is that children can learn to read and write in multiple languages. Furthermore, once children have gained literacy skills in one language, literacy in the other language comes quite easily. Myth: Multilingualism causes identity problems Bi- or multilingualism was once seen to cause emotional instability, split personalities and even schizophrenia. You can read this article in French.

European Day of Languages > Language Fun > Palindromes Palindromes – words and sentences that read the same backwards – have been popular since ancient times. The Germans have even come up with a palindromic word –Eibohphobie –that means a fear of palindromes. Azerbaijan Ey Babək, kəbab ye! Bosnian Mace jede jecam The kitten is eating barley Udovica baci vodu The widow tossed the water Anja sebe sanja Anja dreams of herself Idu ljudi The people go Bulgarian Бял хляб (Bjal hljab) White bread Croatian Ana voli Milovana Ana loves Milovan Potop Flood Ratar Farmer Czech Jelenovi pivo nelej Do not pour beer to a deer Kuna nese nanuk A marten is carrying an ice cream Danish Selmas lakserøde garagedøre skal samles Selma’s salmon red garage doors must be assembled lepel spoon Grav ned den varg Dig down that wolf Dutch Koortsmeetsysteemstrook Thermometer (for measuring fevers) English Able was I ere I saw Elba Never odd or even Was it a cat I saw? Estonian Finnish French German Eibohphobie That means a fear of palindromes Trug Tim eine so helle Hose nie mit Gurt?

Does being bilingual make you smarter? Language teacher and researcher Miguel Angel Muñoz explains the latest research on how being bilingual affects your brain, ahead of a British Council seminar in Cardiff on whether learning a foreign language makes you smarter. You can watch the live-streamed seminar on Tuesday, 3 June. More than half the world's population uses two or more languages every day It is hard to estimate the exact number of bilingual people in the world, as there is a lack of reliable statistics . But in 2012, a Eurobarometer survey established that 'just over half of Europeans (54%)' are bilingual, and other studies hypothesise that more than half of the world’s population is bilingual. So what about you? Being bilingual isn't black-and-white To answer that question, first we need to establish what being bilingual means. I, for example, am -- or used to be -- proficient in German, but I have not used my German regularly for a very long time. What are the costs of being bilingual? Don’t worry. 1. 2. 3.

European Day of Languages > Language Fun > Same word - different meaning KQED Public Media for Northern CA There was a direct correlation between the children who’d heard a lot of parent talk and how prepared they were to learn once they arrived at school. Hart and Risley wrote, “With few exceptions, the more parents talked to their children, the faster the children’s vocabularies [grew] and the higher the children’s IQ test scores at age 3 and later.” For Suskind, a lightbulb went on. “The truth is, much of what you see in children born into poverty is analogous to children born deaf,” Suskind said. Bringing Parents On Board In Suskind’s new book, "Thirty Million Words," she explains the research behind the word gap in detail, along with her research-based initiative of the same name, aimed at boosting children’s brains in the first three years of their lives. Suskind’s vision was not just to give parents a directive -- you need to talk more to your child. Many parents believe that because they didn’t do well in school themselves, they have no business “teaching” their babies anything.

How young children learn English as another language By Opal Dunn, educational consultant and author Introduction Young children are natural language acquirers; they are self-motivated to pick up language without conscious learning, unlike adolescents and adults. They have the ability to imitate pronunciation and work out the rules for themselves. Any idea that learning to talk in English is difficult does not occur to them unless it’s suggested by adults, who themselves probably learned English academically at a later age through grammar-based text books. Read the notes below about young children learning English as another language. The advantages of beginning early Young children are still using their individual, innate language-learning strategies to acquire their home language and soon find they can also use these strategies to pick up English. Stages in picking up English Spoken language comes naturally before reading and writing. Understanding Frustration Mistakes Gender differences Language-learning environments Reading Parental support

Let's Talk What do babies need in order to learn and thrive? One thing they need is conversation — responsive, back-and-forth communication with their parents and caregivers. This interactive engagement is like food for their developing brains, nurturing language acquisition, early literacy, school readiness, and social and emotional well-being. A dispiriting number of children don’t get that kind of brain-fueling communication, research suggests. In early childhood policy (and in the wider media), much attention has been paid to the so-called word gap — findings that show that low-income children hear 30 million fewer words, on average, and have less than half the vocabulary of upper-income peers by age three. In a commentary published today in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, Rowe joins forces with Boston Medical Center pediatrician Barry Zuckerman to offer specific guidance to pediatricians and parents about just what kind of talk is most important, at what ages and stages in a child’s growth.

Concorsi tempo indeterminato - Università degli Studi di Milano Concorso codice 19345 Concorso pubblico, per titoli ed esami, a n. 1 posto di categoria D, posizione economica D1 - Area Tecnica, Tecnico-Scientifica ed Elaborazione Dati, con rapporto di lavoro subordinato a tempo indeterminato, presso il DIPARTIMENTO DI FISIOPATOLOGIA MEDICO-CHIRURGICA E DEI TRAPIANTI. Il posto messo a concorso è da riservare, prioritariamente, alle categorie di volontari delle Forze Armate in ferma breve o in ferma prefissata di cui agli artt. 1014 e 678 del D.Lgs 15.3.2010, n. 66 - Pubblicato sulla G.U. n. 51 del 29/06/2018 - Scadenza 30/07/2018 Bando codice 19345 3008.49kb Concorso codice 19324 Bando codice 19324 3016.45kb Concorso codice 19323 Bando codice 19323 3056.53kb Concorso codice 19302 Bando codice 19302 3020.13kb Concorso codice 19284 Bando codice 19284 3011.81kb Concorso codice 19282 Bando codice 19282 3005.72kb Concorso codice 19281 Bando codice 19281 2956.26kb Concorso codice 19261 Bando codice 19261 3029.11kb Concorso codice 19260 Bando codice 19260 2978.16kb

How young children learn English through play As we release Learning Time with Timmy – our first app for early-years learners of English – Danitza Villarroel, a teacher on our Learning Time with Shaun and Timmy course in Chile, explains the importance of learning through play, and offers a few tips for teachers new to this age group. Teaching English to pre-school children can be daunting for teachers new to this age group. Young children have shorter attention spans than older children and adults, and they're still learning their mother tongue. But teaching these learners can be enormously rewarding once you've taken a few basic principles on board. The importance of active learning Active learning means fully involving children in the learning process. Promoting learning through play Play is a very significant part of what life means to children at this stage of their development. Encouraging children's creativity and imagination It's important that we help young learners develop beyond mere language abilities.

Why Movement is Essential in Early Childhood With so few years under their belts, my 3- and 6-year-old daughters are still learning to inhabit their bodies. They are learning how to maneuver themselves physically, how to orient themselves in space. As Vanessa Durand, a pediatrician at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, says, freedom of movement is necessary for children to meet their developmental milestones: “Children learn by experiencing their world using all of their senses. The restriction of movement, especially at a young age, impedes the experiential learning process.” Movement allows children to connect concepts to action and to learn through trial and error. Research has shown time and again that children need opportunities to move in class.

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