Archive for the ‘language learning’ Category

October 8th, 2009 - 12:28 pm § in language and thought, language learning

Koko the Gorilla

This was the topic of discussion at last night’s anthropology class… There have been several attempts to teach animals language in the past. What we’ve learned is that some animals may actually have the capacity for language… but none have the speech capabilities that humans [...]

September 29th, 2009 - 7:40 pm § in language and thought, language evolution, language learning

Does language make us human?

I’m currently taking 2 anthropology courses at a local community college (Mission College), and one aspect of cultural anthropology is language. In the wild, animals can communicate with different sounds and movement. Honeybees even have a way to convey where the best flowers and pollen are. D[...]

September 16th, 2009 - 12:22 pm § in language learning

Why is English so popular?

Why do so many people learn English as a second language? Is it easy? No. English is one of the most complex languages to learn. It’s not a very logical language. Our spelling system is crazy and so is our (very irregular) grammar. It’s not considered the most beautiful language, either.[...]