Language
« Previous EntriesJay Walker on the World's English Mania
Friday, February 19th, 2010Jay Walker explains why two billion people around the world are trying to learn English. He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese students rehearsing English — “the world’s second language” — by the thousands.
How the Brain Learns to Read Can Depend on the Language
Friday, August 7th, 2009For generations, scholars have debated whether language constrains the ways we think. Now, neuroscientists studying reading disorders have begun to wonder whether the actual character of the text itself may shape the brain.
Studies of schoolchildren who read in varying alphabets and characters suggest that those who are dyslexic in one language, say Chinese or English, [...]
The Man Who Puts Words in Americans' Mouths
Monday, August 3rd, 2009The announcement came in 1800 in the back of a Connecticut newspaper just above a farmer’s reward for a stray cow. A man named Noah Webster (left) was proposing the first comprehensive “dictionary of the American language.”
View the original here.
Gorilla Study Gives Clues to Human Language Development
Monday, June 22nd, 2009Psychologist Dr Gillian Sebestyen Forrester developed a new method of analysing the behaviour of gorillas in captivity and found there was a right-handed bias for actions that also involved head and mouth movements. The right side of the body is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain, which is also the location for language [...]
The Language of Interaction
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009Download this PDF file
This presentation discusses objects and the insight they provide, how people are surrounded by technological products they have to learn to use, and how we need to seek inpiration from what surrounds, amuses, and intimidates us.
Languages always evolve. Symbols start with one meaning, evolve and extend that meaning, and migrate across domains. [...]
Body Language Essentials for Business
Thursday, May 28th, 2009An essential skill for all business people is the ability to spot when someone is lying, and more! In this video, Barry from Management Consultancy International, outlines how to ensure that you get the most from your face-to-face interactions by reading the vast amount of information in body language. Some of these revealing clues are [...]
The Best Automated Translation Sources on the Web
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Do you need a quick translation while working online? It can be an e-mail from a colleague, the lyrics of a song, an e-mail, or even a web page. All you need to do is try one of the free language translation services I personally selected and reviewed in this mini-guide.
1. SYSTRANet 2. Wordreference – [...]
Language Driven By Culture, Not Biology, Study Shows
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Language in humans has evolved culturally rather than genetically, according to a study by UCL (University College London) and US researchers. By modelling the ways in which genes for language might have evolved alongside language itself, the study showed that genetic adaptation to language would be highly unlikely, as cultural conventions change much more rapidly [...]
Evolution of Communication and Language
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Click to play:
In this episode, Luc Steels is interviewed about language evolution, the cognitive and genetic basis for language, and the importance of embodiment and robot experiments for understanding communication.
Languages Evolve In Rapid Bursts, Rather Than Following A Steady Pattern
Monday, November 17th, 2008Scientists at the University of Reading have discovered that languages change and evolve in rapid bursts rather than in a steady pattern. The research investigates thousands of years of language evolution, and looks at the way in which languages split and evolve.
It has long been accepted that the desire for a distinct social identity [...]
