Tag Archives: Academic study

Pop-Up Language Museum Tours UK to Encourage Young Learners

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The first pop-up language museum opens its doors this week in an attempt to spark greater enthusiasm for foreign language study. Pop-Up World of Languages is a project of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, spearheaded by Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett from Cambridge University and other linguists from Nottingham, Edinburgh and Belfast. Professor Ayres-Bennet hopes the language museum will help to ignite the interest of young learners and highlight the importance of learning foreign languages in schools. Continue reading →

How to Prepare for Your First Year at a US College

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Student boy in libraryBeing accepted into an American college is a significant event and it is normal for an international student to feel both excited and apprehensive. Although initially it may seem that you have plenty of time until the start of your first semester, the months will pass quickly. It is best to prepare for the start of term, as this way you will get the most out of the experience and avoid any pitfalls. So what should you do to prepare for studying at a US college? Let’s find out. Continue reading →

Robot Teachers Take Over Language Lessons

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British academics have programmed a child-sized robot to teach languages to children. The design has been piloted in the UK and is now being tried out across Europe. The Nao robot teachers are designed to look friendly and approachable and react to children’s moods and facial expressions.

Originally designed to teach History and Maths, the dwarf robots are currently being used in Germany to teach language skills to refugee children as part of the L2TOR language project.

Experts believe that robot teachers will soon become a regular part of the general school education system. Read more to find out about the robot teachers currently being used in Europe’s language classrooms – and how robots could revolutionise education and language learning. Continue reading →

Is the Scottish Accent Dying Out?

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Linguistics experts at Glasgow University and Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University believe that a natural change is happening in the Scottish accent. It seems that the distinctive Scottish rolled ‘R’ is slowly disappearing as young people soften the letter so much that it has become almost inaudible. The rhotic or tremulant consonants have always been a distinctive part of the Scottish accent but are they going to vanish for good? Continue reading →

Italians Resist an English Language Invasion

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Italy flag - Italians Resist an English Language InvasionThe Times has reported that the English language is currently a worry to Italian linguists. It seems that the Italian language guardians at Accadmia della Crusca are concerned that an influx of English words is corrupting the beauty of the Italian language.

The academy is looking for ways to put a stop to the Anglo-Saxon influence and will hold an emergency meeting about the matter today. We explore the recent news story and examine how the English language has influenced Italian – and in turn, how the Italian language has influenced English. Continue reading →

Study Reveals Growth Towards Informality in English Grammar

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The Cambridge English Corpus recently collated 1 billion words of written English and 75 million words of spoken English. The language is more fruitful now than ever before, yet native English speakers have an increasingly poor use of grammar.

These are the findings of a recent linguistics study at the University of Nottingham. But does incorrect grammar indicate a lack of education or is it simply a move towards more informal usage and a natural development of the language? Continue reading →