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Showing posts with the label language learning

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 -

Hardest languages for English speakers to learn?

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According to research done by foreign language department of US State Dept Cantonese - the form of Chinese spoken in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province (150 million+ speakers) - presents a particular challenge for English speakers.  There are 6 different tones in Cantonese. You must rise, maintain or lower the relative pitch of your voice to "sing" each word. For example, in English we naturally use a falling tone at the end of a statement ( You came. ) and a rising tone at the end of a question ( You came? ). To be understood in Cantonese, it is essential that you master the six tones. If you use the wrong tone, you are probably saying a completely different word.     In the written form all Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese etc) share one system. But the spoken forms are as distinct as Spanish and Portuguese. A version of this post is included in  50 FAQ about English    ($1.75)

Which languages are easiest for English speakers to learn?

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According to research done by foreign language department of US State Dept Interesting that German is not in this group as English is essentially a Germanic language. Though it shares substantial vocabulary with the five Romance languages, they are completely distinct in terms of grammar & structure - see here . Norwegian, Swedish & Dutch speakers of English routinely astonish natives with their facility for local idioms. Does the reverse apply when English speakers learn Nordic languages? I suspect not but would like to be corrected ... A version of this post is included in  50 FAQ about English    ($1.75)