Second languages around the world
Would you sacrifice one person to save five? Such moral choices could depend on whether you are using a foreign language or your native tongue.
A new study from psychologists at the University of Chicago and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona finds that people using a foreign language take a relatively utilitarian approach to moral dilemmas, making decisions based on assessments of what’s best for the common good. That pattern holds even when the utilitarian choice would produce an emotionally… Read More
Speaking two languages benefits the aging brain
New research reveals that bilingualism has a positive effect on cognition later in life. Findings published in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, show that individuals who speak two or more languages, even those who acquired the second language in adulthood, may slow down cognitive decline from aging. Bilingualism… Read More
How Language Seems To Shape One’s View Of The World
by ALAN YU Lera Boroditsky once did a simple experiment: She asked people to close their eyes and point southeast. A room of distinguished professors in the U.S. pointed in almost every possible direction, whereas 5-year-old Australian aboriginal girls always got it right. She says the difference lies in language. Boroditsky, an associate professor of cognitive science… Read More
BIRD GEI: Pesquisa de Proficiência em Inglês no Brasil – 2015
A BIRD GEI | Consultoria e Gestão de Idiomas está divulgando a 11ª Pesquisa de Produtividade no Aprendizado de Idiomas no Brasil. Acompanhamos anualmente o desempenho, indicadores e resultados de aproximadamente 4.000 funcionários patrocinados pelas mais diversas empresas, mapeando e quantificando o aproveitamento e a produtividade dos alunos. Na pesquisa atual, que abrange o ano de 2015,… Read More
Pirahã People: carpe-diem culture doesn’t allow for abstract thought or complicated connections to the past — limiting the language accordingly
The Pirahã people (pronounced [piɾaˈhã]) are an indigenous hunter-gatherer tribe of Amazon natives, who mainly live on the banks of the Maici River in Brazil’s Amazonas state, in the territory of Humaitá and Manicoré municipality. As of 2004, they number about 360, which is sharply reduced from the numbers recorded in previous decades, and the… Read More
Interaction Is Critical for the Evolution of the Language
ScienceDaily — An international research group, including of the Department of Artificial Intelligence of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid’s Facultad de Informatica, has concluded that collaboration and interaction are essential elements in the evolution of language. They also have shown that the most effective forms of communication can propagate in a community in a similar… Read More
Comics and Jokes: Important Learning Tools
Below is an example of dialogue from a “Wizard of Id” syndicated cartoon strip. Spook [the prisoner]: Have you ever eaten squid fried? Turnkey [the guard]: Yes. Spook: How was it? Turnkey: Better than when I was sober. The study of linguistics is not a laughing matter — unless you happen to have Stan Dubinsky… Read More
BIRD GEI: Pesquisa de Proficiência em Inglês no Brasil – 2014
A BIRD GEI | Consultoria e Gestão de Idiomas está divulgando a 10ª Pesquisa de Produtividade no Aprendizado de Idiomas no Brasil. Acompanhamos anualmente o desempenho, indicadores e resultados de aproximadamente 4.000 funcionários patrocinados pelas mais diversas empresas, mapeando e quantificando o aproveitamento e a produtividade dos alunos. Na pesquisa atual, que abrange o ano de 2014,… Read More
Research reveals panorama of English language acquisition in Brazil in 2014
BIRD GEI | Consultoria e Gestão de Idiomas is releasing its 10th Productivity Research in Language Acquisition in the Brazilian market. We follow the annual performance indicators and test results of approximately 4.000 employees sponsored by several companies, mapping and quantifying the progress and productivity of students. In the current research, which covers results from 2014,… Read More
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