Does Language Affect the Way Our Brain Works?
Have you ever thought about how your native language shapes the way you think, how your brain processes data and how it expresses concepts when talking to someone else? Scientists and linguists have been interested in this topic for a long time, and many studies have claimed that the language we were born in makes […]
Rosetta Stones: Reconstructing 3 different languages
In my previous article, I looked at ways of making films and television productions set in the past seem more ‘authentic’ by using particular types of language – such as eighteenth-century slang. There have, however, been many examples of reconstructing whole languages, and this has happened for a variety of reasons. In keeping with my […]
Glagolitic – God’s song-like language and a linguist’s personal devil
When you Google “Glagolitic alphabet” and click on “Images” you’ll be stunned by the sheer beauty of the glyphs that will come up before you. Round script, elements of triangles and crosses throughout every letter – truly an alphabet made for the word of God, its originally intended use, especially when skillfully copied by a […]
Balancing Acts
One of my favourite hobbies is reading the Chinese translations of signs around my city. Mandarin, mostly. They’re not particularly common (sadly), and I don’t actually know how to read Chinese characters, but I have a thing for non-Latin scripts. Very mysterious. What secrets do they hold? A menu? A train timetable? I stare in […]
The link between goal setting and motivation within language learning
Learning a language has always been a common interest and hobby for many people, even more so within the last few months with the up-haul of normal life and lockdowns in many countries and a need to fill up time. However, in many cases language learning is started with the best intentions and desire to […]
Fatal Faux-pas and How to Avoid Them
Of all the potential faux-pas in the German language, vergiften (to poison) is by far the best known. While vergiften has occasionally been known to trip up non-native speakers over the festive period, to label it the ultimate German-language Judas would be an act of considerable quackery. Some of the other candidates in the pantheon […]
