Onomatopoeias are the delightful “sound words” that different languages use to describe what we hear in an informal way. Though they are informal (and often sound a bit silly), they are no less important and in fact may be some of our very first words. As infants, we may refer to a dog as a “woof-woof” (English) or a [...]
Are you familiar with the US’s oldest accent? If you’ve ever read a Stephen King novel or seen a movie adaptation like Carrie or It, you can proudly answer “Ayuh.” If your answer is no and you’re worried about being a chowderhead, read on to learn more about the New England accent and all its Yankee sophistication. New England [...]
Some words in English just go together. Ebb and flow, pros and cons, peanut butter and jelly. For English language learners, it’s kind of like a 2-for-1 sale. You learn one, you’re probably going to get the other. And though we are going to focus on English in this article, all languages have patterns, phrases, and structures that are [...]
Residents of America’s Pacific Northwest are often quick to claim they don’t have an accent. Not so fast! First of all, everyone has an accent. And second, there are indeed subtle differences in the way people from Washington and Oregon speak as compared to even “standard” American English. Before we look at how the PNW accent is different, however, [...]
As its name will tell you, the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method is all about enabling students to communicate in their new language. Unlike other more antiquated foreign language approaches, the goal is not to be able to recite obscure grammar conjugations or to memorize fourteen synonyms for the word “talkative,” but rather to know how to use the [...]
A kindly-looking granny in her Sunday best sees you walking down the street and comments, “Well bless your heart, sugar. That is quite the shirt.” You thank her and saunter away a little prouder. Congratulations, you’ve just been insulted. The Southern belle accent may sound sweet as honey, but like the seemingly innocuous “bless your heart,” there may be [...]
“I don’t teach. I let them learn.” This quote from legendary educator and mathematician Caleb Gattegno encapsulates his educational philosophy of promoting learner independence. Gattegno believed that real teaching could never be accomplished by force-feeding learners material they didn’t understand, and even worse, didn't want to understand. The Silent Way of teaching a foreign language aims to largely mute [...]
Ask someone to do an impression of a California accent and you’re likely to get a laidback “Fersure, dude,” with perhaps a shaka hand sign thrown in for good measure. But does anyone in California actually even speak like this? Fersure, dude. Not everyone though, and the standard baseline “California accent” is quite moderate and more akin to “General [...]
A common complaint from those who suffered through baffling and boring foreign language classes in high school or college is that they later can’t remember any of it. Despite all the struggles and sometimes years of work, the end result was like they’d really never been in the class at all. At some point in time, they could likely [...]
How's your Yiddish? Probably slightly better than you'd thought, as many words from this Ashkenazi Jewish language have schlepped their way into modern American English. And if you're a fan of classics like Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm, or later hits like Unorthodox or Shtisel, then you've probably picked up enough to be a real mensch. Is Yiddish the [...]
