My Blog
Why English Is Sometimes Mistakenly Called a Romance Language
People typically learn that English is part of the Germanic language family, but the truth is that the case is not so clear. After all, if you look at a given sentence, you will likely see as many words of Romance origin as of Germanic origin, if not more. In fact,...
What Is the Benefit of Learning a Constructed Language?
Choosing a language to study in school is already a hard decision, made even more complicated by the addition of constructed languages to the options. The term “constructed language" refers to one that was created for use within a fictional universe, such as Klingon...
Tonal Languages and Their Place in the Modern Linguistic Landscape
Learning another language can expose people to novel concepts and help them expand their view of the world. A concept that is present in all languages is tone. People naturally alter tone as they speak to convey meaning, whether turning a statement into a question or...
Spotlight on Icelandic – A Language Still Close to Its Amazing Historic Roots
While most languages around the world evolve significantly over time, Icelandic has remained extremely close to its Old Norse roots. This lack of distortion has been a result of Iceland’s isolation from other nations, which prevented the influence of nearby languages...
Here’s How Learning Another Language Can Improve Your Neuroplasticity
In the time since evidence emerged that language acquisition can positively impact neuroplasticity, there has been growing interest in the effects of language acquisition on the brain. The term neuroplasticity refers to the structural changes that occur in the brain...
A Look at the Scholarship on the Indigenous Languages of Alaska
Indigenous languages almost always struggle against the influence of colonizer languages. The Indigenous language of Hawaii, for example, nearly went extinct as a result of efforts to suppress it. However, this is not the case everywhere, as evidenced by Alaska, which...
The Rise, Stall, and Surprising Continued Success of Esperanto
One of the most successful attempts at creating a common international language was Esperanto. However, adoption of the language failed to become widespread, which may not be surprising to people familiar with sign languages. The sheer number of sign languages is a...
Can Learning a New Language Help to Improve Your Mental Health?
Learning a second language comes with a number of benefits, from driving creativity to increasing your earnings potential. One of the benefits of studying another language that often gets overlooked is its impact on mental health. The improvement in mental health...
The Huge Variety of Sign Languages Used around the World
Sign language is designed as a complete communication form for people with hearing or speaking impairments that prevent verbal exchanges. There are more than 60 different forms of sign language officially recognized and used around the world. However, there could be...
When Is the Best Time for Children to Learn Other Languages?
Up until the 1990s, many parents in the United States avoided exposing their children to other languages. They claimed this would confuse kids and stunt their linguistic development. Previously, researchers endorsed what was known as “double semi-lingualism," the...