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Is English the easiest language?

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All languages have a complex grammar  David Crystal

How We Learn Language?

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Are we born with the capacity to speak a language? Or do we learn exclusively through imitation? This is a quick guide to three key theories Behaviourism Sees language as the product of our interaction with our environment. We learn it  like any other skill through imitation and practice. Important aspects of the theory are: reinforcement (positive and negative), repetition, small sequenced tasks and consistency.  Many educational policies are based on social interactionism  - a more nuanced variant of behaviourist theory. Social interactionism focuses on the relationship between the learner, his/her environment and the context under which learning occurs. Key Theorist : BF Skinner Key term: operant conditioning : Put crudely, rewiring the brain to offer reward for successful language acquisition. Skinner saw this as a kind of mechanical process with four elements: motivating operations, discriminative stimuli, response, and reinforcing stimuli. Strengths :  some language elements -

Where does the word robot come from?

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Photo by  Franck V.  on  Unsplash  The word  Robot means to 'work slavishly'. It is a rare example of a Czech word ('robota') being incorporated into English.  From Start the Week 24/01/11 Robot  first came to public attention through Czech writer Karel ÄŒapek in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), published in 1920. This  opens in a factory that makes machines that replicate human form. These machines are closer to what today would be termed androids .  As in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,  the ethical issues explored by ÄŒapek relate to individual autonomy. A shared preoccupation is the danger inherent in 'playing God'.  Dictionary dispute ÄŒapek credited his brother Josef with coming up with the word robot. He also wrote to the Oxford English Dictionary to correct their etymology.  Karel had originally used another neologism labori based on the Latin word for work,  labor, but was dissatisfied. His brother then pointed to the Cze

Five ways Dickens expanded the English language

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A mong the 9,218 quotations from {Dickens’} works in the OED, 265 words and compounds are cited as having been first used by him in print and another 1,586 as having been used in a new sense. Source

Why do Y & Z end the alphabet?

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The Romans adapted Greek to form their own (Latin) alphabet.

How are French words pronounced in English?

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Patisserie is a typical example of a French 'loanword' There are several thousand French words French  in the English language. Their pronunciation can be tricky because in many cases there are no formal rules about the correct way to do this  By convention, pronunciation of French words  generally defers to the source. Ballet, for example, has a silent ‘t’, rather than a sounded one as in the Spanish equivalentl. Charles de Gaulle keeps his silent’s’ while Prince Charles becomes 'Charle' in spoken French. Anomalies There are many anomalies . Logic might suggest that a chaise lounge would be pronounced the same way as the lounge it is in.  Some common nouns have been completely anglicized like the hard ‘s’ in Paris . Unfortunately, for English language learners there is no absolute rule as to when this occurs.  The key is comprehension. The English pronunciation of the words Croissant and pan au chocolat approximate to the original French but neither requires an extra

What is a portmanteau word?

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Which countries do not have an official language?

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According to Henry Hitchings  Language Wars  (2011) these nations do not currently have an  official  primary language: UK see here USA though 20 states now have an official language —  see here Australia Over 80% speak English but there is no official national language. Pakistan Urdu became official language in 2015 but   only spoken by 8% of population . Ethiopia Amharic is official language but most spoken is Oromo Somalia Eritrea  Costa Rica Why these countries?   Read extended transcript on Medium  About the English Language - Teaching Pack  

Why did English become the 'global language'?

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English is the world's leading lingua franca or second language (see L2 speakers in the table below). According to David Crystal, this has nothing to do with its inherent qualities. Other linguists disagree: Read More  Download English Language FAQ Teaching Pack only £1.99

Most popular word in English?

It has only two letters but is arguably 'America's greatest word'.  

What is an emoji? An emoticon?

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Emoticons  The emoticon :)—a colon followed by a parenthesis—is a visual representation of a smiley face turned sideways.

25 most looked-up words in the dictionary?

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According to Merriam-Webster, the standard dictionary for American English, this is the All-Time Top Twenty:

Most Looked Up Word in dictionary?

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The word Pragmatic has been researched more than any other in the near 200 year history of Merriam-Webster. dictionary. It is currently the 11th most searched for word.  Definitions:  prag•mat•ic   (prægˈmæt ɪk) adj. 1. concerned with practical considerations or consequences; having a practical point of view. 2. of or pertaining to philosophical pragmatism. 3. of or pertaining to pragmatics. 4. treating historical phenomena with special reference to their causes, antecedent conditions, and results. 5. of or pertaining to the affairs of a state or community. 6. Archaic. a. busy; active. b. officious; meddlesome. c. dogmatic; opinionated. n.7. pragmatic sanction + prag•mat′i•cal for for defs.1, 2, 5) Commonly understood to mean  - Doing what works best in the circumstances, acting according to practical considerations rather than abstract principle, to deal with the real world. Origin -  Classical Latin  pragmaticus , skilled in business or law ; from Cla

Is English grammar easier than other language?

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Robert McCrum, the writer of the influential  How the English Language Became the World's Language   has suggested that 'English .. has a grammar of great simplicity"  The argument for this is broadly as follows: English grammar is based on simplified form of German Verb conjugation is simple for regular verbs: four  endings for regular English verbs ( paint/paints/painted/painting ).  French, German & other key languages have  50+. There are fewer irregular verbs - and most are irregular in the same way. Written & spoken forms are comparatively similar English.  Noun and adjectival forms do not divide by gender Adjectives do not change form for plural nouns ( blue car/blue cars ) A version of this post is included in  50 FAQ about English    ($1.75)

Is English the most spoken language?

Before You Read  Which language has the most a) native or first language speakers? b) second language speakers? The English Language from ESL Reading Listening: English - the easy language?

Is the importance of English overstated?

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A recent article challenges the idea that English is the unstoppable homogenizing world language  ...  it would also be a big mistake to overestimate the reach of English. Though it is widely assumed that the planet is becoming more linguistically homogeneous, hard evidence suggests otherwise. Most of the approximately six thousand languages in use today are indeed spoken by relatively small communities, nearly half by populations of less than ten thousand. Although a great many of these idioms are in danger of dying, many new languages and dialects are coming into existence as well. More broadly, there are a number of major world languages other than English, used by large portions of the planet’s inhabitants, in the context of dynamic social, cultural, and economic activities. Fifteen idioms are spoken by at least one hundred million people—including Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese, and French. At around one billion, there are more than twice as many speakers

How many letters does the Hawaiian language use?

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Only 12 letters when using the English alphabet. On 20 August, 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA. To mark the occasion here are some fun facts about the world's biggest producer of pineapples. listen to ‘Fun Facts about Hawaii’ on Audioboo

Why are bilinguals 'smarter'?

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Because they exercise their brains more - at least according to a recent New York Times article: It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles. Full article Incidentally, in British English 'smarter' usually refers to personal appearance rather than intelligence. .