The modern world has a rich linguistic tapestry, with around 6,500 to 7,000 languages spoken across the planet. There is no fixed figure, as academics dispute whether some are distinct languages or whether they are variations of the same language. However, those in the translation services sector believe the figure to be just shy of…
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Cultural identity is realised through language and it is more than a cliché. Language is the most intimate, the most unmediated access to culture. After all, why do we want to learn a foreign language if we are not drawn to the culture it will unlock for us?
It’s a language learner’s dream to be able to see a word just once and memorize it forever. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of us, the human brain just doesn’t work like that. Still, as we learn more and more about the cognitive underpinnings of memory and the brain, we have discovered several simple –…
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If you want to see serious success with your language learning project, you’re going to have to do everything in your power to alter your day to day environment to be as conducive to second language learning as humanly possible. If you’re learning a language such as Mandarin, Korean or Russian, you may have begun…
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Hanging on to multiple languages in the United States is hard work. English is ubiquitous. People from many countries around the world want to talk to you in English. And English is everywhere as an international lingua franca of business and diplomacy. Most Americans don’t know what the word “polyglot” means, which kind of suggests…
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Most of us would most love to become polyglots or at least very fluent in a certain language. Naturally, becoming a polyglot is no easy task and involves thousands of hours of exposure to input in the target language and/or more formal study. If we look at some of the best-known polyglots in the world…
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