Comments on Out of the Woods Now: The future of languages

What a fascinating article! I was brought up in Wa...

2008-11-26T19:02:00.000-05:00

What a fascinating article! I was brought up in Wales which is a bilingual country and so I've always spoken Welsh and English. I do think though that bilingualism only increases brain capacity if the second/third languages are learnt systematically and consciously - that's the only way to increase language learning ability; having been brought up speaking a language means nothing.

I'm all for language preservation but unless it is spoken naturally in communities, then it will never be native but merely a second language with speakers being more comfortable in their native language.

I recently decided to broaden my horizons and deci...

2008-03-12T06:57:00.000-05:00

I recently decided to broaden my horizons and decided to learn a new language; the question is what should I learn? I’ve asked a few friends and they were useless! Everyone was telling me something different, in the end I have decided to attempt to learn Japanese. I work in business and the power Japan and China has keeps growing and growing, so learning a bit of the language could be a massive help in my future career. Does anybody know of any reasonably priced but high-quality language learning software?

Here are some of the results I got when I googled ...

2008-02-19T10:09:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the results I got when I googled "bilingualism on the brain":

The Washington Post, "Bilingualism's Brain Benefits"

The BBC, "Being bilingual 'protects brain'"

News Wales, "Bilingualism boosts the brain"

A neuropsychologist's blog, "Bilingualism and the Brain"

I would love to read more on this.

re. alternate and disparate concepts.Learning a se...

2008-02-19T08:15:00.000-05:00

re. alternate and disparate concepts.

Learning a second language does two things for us. It allows us to communicate with people in that language and it gives us the pleasure of reading expressions in that language which are unique because they are not wholly translatable. Psychologists may have done studies of the effects of bilingualness on the brain. It would be interesting to know. I am inclined to disbelieve that bilingualism has an effect on the plasticity of thought and understanding.

Thanks for this post: fascinating

2008-02-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

Thanks for this post: fascinating

Perhaps. I took it to mean the mind's versatility...

2008-02-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

Perhaps. I took it to mean the mind's versatility in dealing with new, opposite, or disparate concepts (an example would be alternate use of the "left" and "right" brain).

"Intellectual adaptability" is one of those nebulo...

2008-02-18T08:46:00.000-05:00

"Intellectual adaptability" is one of those nebulous terms educators like to throw around. Is it perhaps a synonym for "open mindedness"? If so, then I understand what he is talking about. If not, then I don't.

No argument here! Crystal's comment regarding "in...

2008-02-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

No argument here! Crystal's comment regarding "intellectual adaptability" is something the public does not hear enough about in monolinguistic countries (such as the U.S.).

Thanks for this very informative article. I vote f...

2008-02-15T03:51:00.000-05:00

Thanks for this very informative article. I vote for teaching foreign languages at school from 1st grade, and to give teachers a proper traing to do so. I know from experience: the more languages you speak, the easier it is to learn a new one.