Interesting facts about languages of the world

1. How many languages are there? It’s estimated that up to 7,000 different languages are spoken around the world. 90% of these languages are used by less than 100,000 people. Over a million people converse in 150-200 languages and 46 languages have just a single speaker! Languages are grouped into families that share a common… Read More

More Innocent English Mistakes From New English Language Students

O objetivo deste post NÃO é ironizar alunos que estão aprendendo inglês. Erros são naturais no aprendizado de um segundo idioma, especialmente expressões idiomáticas e colocações. Os erros abaixo, embora engraçados, podem ajudar a descobrir  novas expressões, ampliar o vocabulário e evitar erros que são comuns, mas não óbvios. The objective of this post is NOT… 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

Neither men nor women: they are more creative TOGETHER

Abstract An experiment is reported in which the effect of sex composition on the creativity of brainstorming groups is investigated. It was hypothesized that mixed sex groups would be more creative than either homogeneous male or homogeneous female groups. Fifteen groups, consisting of four members each two males and two females; four females; four males,… Read More

Help, sarcasm not understood!

Having spent the past twenty minutes waiting for someone at Leith police station to pick up a telephone I have decided to abandon the idea and try e-mailing you instead. Perhaps you would be so kind as to pass this message on to your colleagues in Leith by means of smoke signal, carrier pigeon or… Read More