All posts tagged: languages

Master up to 14 languages at home with this discounted Babbel subscription

Master up to 14 languages at home with this discounted Babbel subscription

Published by skeptic

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Did you miss out on your chance to become bilingual in high school, or even better, a polyglot? There’s no better time to pick up a new language than now. The internet is practically overflowing with resources to help you gain fluency in any language you choose. It’s not about how to learn anymore; it’s all about picking your poison, or in this case, your language learning tool. And if you thrive in variety and want engaging lessons, consider Babbel your new go-to app. Developed by hundreds of expert linguists and trusted by over 10 million users worldwide, Babbel is a top-rated app that can help you speak and understand new languages quickly and with confidence. For a limited time, you can grab a subscription on sale for $139.97 (reg. $599) through April 2 only. Babbel offers an expansive learning platform, allowing users to explore up to 14 different languages through more than 10,000 hours of …

All The World’s Endangered Languages, By Country

All The World’s Endangered Languages, By Country

Published by skeptic

Almost half of the world’s approximately 7,000 signed and spoken languages are currently endangered. Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti introduces this graphic, from Stephen Jones, CEO of Derivation.co, examines the current global landscape of languages that could become extinct. Almost 90 million Speak Languages at Risk of Extinction An extinct language is one that no longer has any first-language or second-language speakers. In modern times, languages have usually become extinct due to cultural assimilation, leading to language shift, and the gradual abandonment of a native language in favor of a foreign language, primarily those of European countries. For instance, numerous Native American languages were supplanted by English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, or Dutch due to European colonization of the Americas. Currently, out of the world’s 7,168 living languages, 3,078 (43%) are classified as Endangered. Over 88 million people speak languages at risk of extinction. Additionally, 100 of them face the genuine threat of extinction within a few decades if no action is taken. While every language matters to the individuals speaking, writing, and signing them across the planet, 80% of endangered …

To learn Klingon or Esperanto: What invented languages can teach us

To learn Klingon or Esperanto: What invented languages can teach us

Published by skeptic

Most languages develop through centuries of use among groups of people. But some have a different origin: They are invented, from scratch, from one individual’s mind. Familiar examples include the international language Esperanto, the Klingon language from “Star Trek” and the Elvish tongues from “The Lord of the Rings.” The activity isn’t new — the earliest recorded invented language was by medieval nun Hildegard von Bingen — but the Internet now allows much wider sharing of such languages among the small communities of people who speak and create them. Christine Schreyer, a linguistic anthropologist at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, Canada, has studied invented languages and the people who speak them, a topic she writes about in the 2021 Annual Review of Anthropology. But Schreyer brings another skill to the table: She’s a language creator herself and has invented several languages for the movie industry: the Kryptonian language for “Man of Steel,” Eltarian for “Power Rangers,” Beama (Cro-Magnon) for “Alpha” and Atlantean for “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” Schreyer spoke with Knowable Magazine about her experience in this …

iOS 17.4: Siri Can Now Read Texts to You in More Languages. Here’s How

iOS 17.4: Siri Can Now Read Texts to You in More Languages. Here’s How

Published by skeptic

Apple released iOS 17.4 on March 5, and the update brought a handful of bug fixes and new features, like new emoji and more Stolen Device Protection options, to your iPhone. One of the latest features can be helpful for many people as it allows Siri to read texts back to you in languages other than your iPhone’s primary language. According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of Neurolinguistics, more than half of the world’s population is considered bilingual. And this study also posits that bilingualism will continue to increase as people migrate to other countries each year. This makes Siri’s ability to read multiple languages extremely useful to a growing number of people.  Here’s what to know about the feature and how to enable it. Which languages Siri can read and how to enable the feature Apple gave Siri the ability to read messages in 22 different languages and dialects, in addition to English. Here are the languages and dialects you can choose from. Arabic Chinese (Cantonese – Hong Kong) Chinese (Mandarin …

Speaking multiple languages could shield elderly from dementia

Speaking multiple languages could shield elderly from dementia

Published by José

In a new study from the Cognitive Neurology Lab at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in Bengaluru, India, researchers have uncovered evidence that speaking more than one language could be a key factor in safeguarding cognitive health in older adults. This research, led by Neurology Professor Suvarna Alladi and published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, points to bilingualism as a potential shield against dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). “Dementia is a growing public health concern that calls for a global action plan. While age is a strong predictor of developing dementia, life-course experiences such as higher education, engaging in physical activities, occupational complexity and more recently, bilingualism can reduce the risk of developing dementia through improving cognitive reserve/resilience,” explained study author Nithin Thanissery, a senior research fellow at the Cognitive Neurology Lab. “India is uniquely suited for the study of bilingualism, cognition and dementia. The country has a socio-linguistically and culturally diverse non-immigrant population which speaks about 122 major languages. Bilingualism is the norm in most of the communities …

Unraveling the auditory aesthetics of constructed languages

Unraveling the auditory aesthetics of constructed languages

Published by José

Researchers recently embarked on a fascinating journey to understand how constructed languages (conlangs) in popular fantasy culture—such as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Black Speech—evoke specific impressions in listeners. The results, published in Language and Speech, uncovered several factors that influence perceptions of conlangs, irrespective of the context in which it is presented. “Personally, I have been a huge fan of Tolkien for a long time. And I always found it amazing how he chose the names for people or locations that were quite fitting. The languages he invented seemed to be designed in order to invoke beauty or evilness,” said study author Christine Mooshammer, a professor of German Language and Linguistics at Humboldt University in Berlin. “So what makes words sound pleasant or unpleasant? Is it in the sounds themselves or the image we have about the speakers? There are some studies on the individual perception of natural languages with the limitation that participants can associate foreign languages with the respective cultures, in other words: the problem of stereotypes. This problem can be solved by testing languages …

Top top 10 most spoken languages in the UK as German doesn’t even make the list | UK | News

Top top 10 most spoken languages in the UK as German doesn’t even make the list | UK | News

Published by skeptic

The UK is a cultural and linguistic melting pot, with people from across the world moving to our island. There are more than 300 languages spoken in London alone and according to the Office of National Statistics, for 4.1 million people in the UK, English is not their first language. These are in addition to the languages native to the UK such as Scots, Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. The most spoken non-native language is Polish with almost 550,000 speakers. The largest concentration of Polish speakers is in west London, Slough, Southampton, Birmingham and Leeds. Punjabi comes in second with more than 270,000 speakers. It is the most common Indian language in the UK, which is home to one of the largest Punjabi communities in the world. And in third is Urdu, with almost 270,000 speakers. It is the second most common Indian language in the UK with most speakers in Scotland, the West Midlands, Manchester and Leeds. Making up the rest of the top five are Bengali and Gujarati. Indian languages are …

Trump warns of ‘languages’ migrants are bringing into the country

Trump warns of ‘languages’ migrants are bringing into the country

Published by skeptic

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Why love languages could be holding you back (and what to look for instead)

Why love languages could be holding you back (and what to look for instead)

Published by Sam

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter I’m acts of service”; “I’m a words of affirmation girlie!”; “Physical touch for me…” Welcome to the world of “love languages”, where listing how you receive devotion is as easily reeled off as your current favourite Netflix series or star sign. If you’re not well versed in this phenomenon, looking at people’s dating profiles can feel a little like you’ve stumbled into some kind of secret society or cult. It’s only fully entered the mainstream lexicon in the last few years, but the shorthand for how we express and receive love is now as ubiquitous as people saying they’re looking for their “partner in crime”, or following the classic dating app prompt “don’t hate me if I…” with the words “put pineapple on a pizza [crying laughing face emoji]”. (IYKYK.) But could the gospel according to love languages actually be holding us back …