I Want You To Speak English

What goes on in the brain of a bilingual person, and what are the effects of being raised in two languages? In this video and article, we discuss different perceptions of what it means to be bilingual.       I – What is bilingualism? As the above video shows, everybody’s got a different opinion. For some, being bilingual means being able to communicate effortlessly in two languages, even if one was learned later in life and communication takes an occasional detour. Others take error-free grammar and perfect pronunciation as the benchmarks. And it’s not just we mere mortals who are divided, scholars are equally split because the criteria and measurements are simply too vague and varied to settle on any one definition. From this, we can at least draw one conclusion: Bilingualism is a relative label, a question of degree rather than dichotomy. It’s also a fundamentally subjective phenomenon, one that is first and foremost felt . Do you feel it? ...

Ten things whose purpose we could never have guessed There’s a multitude of things that we see all around us on a daily basis, yet we don’t know what these things are really for. We are curious people by nature, so we decided to uncover the secrets of some of them — and we’re happy to share what we discovered with you! The hanging loop on the back of your shirt There are three plausible explanations for this. The first one is the most obvious — it’s for hanging up your shirt. The second explanation comes down to us from the era of removable shirt collars and handkerchiefs: it may have been intended to somehow help fasten a tie. The third idea is the most romantic. A student at an American university is said to have removed the loop from his shirt when he started dating a girl, to show that he was tak...

Going to an airport and flying on a plane can be scary and stressful when you are learning English. Even if you know a lot of English, it may be hard to understand all the new words you will hear in airports.  In this lesson, you will learn English vocabulary words commonly heard at the airport and on the airplane . Going to an airport can be both fun and frightening when you are learning  spoken English . That is why we put together this list of  English airport vocabulary words! These vocabulary words will help you at the airport and on the airplane. At the airport airfare  ( noun ) the cost of the plane ticket airline  ( noun ) the company that owns the plane arrival / arrivals  ( noun ) the time planes arrive at the airport baggage / luggage  ( noun ) bags or suitcases baggage claim  ( noun ) the place where passengers pick up their bags after the plane lands board  ( verb ) when the passengers get on the plane boarding pass  ( noun ...

How does the minimum wage compare around the globe? Just to satisfy our curiosity, we decided to compare minimum wages in different countries around the world! It should be noted that such a comparison can’t be made based on bare numbers alone. A lot depends on each particular country’s standard of living, taxation system, and currency exchange rates.   Iakov Kalinin / shutterstock.com Sergey Kelin / shutterstock.com Anton Ivanov / shutterstock.com Dmitry Chulov / shutterstock.com Ronnie Chua / shutterstock.com Lukasz Janyst / shutterstock.com S.Borisov / shutterstock.com Rrrainbow / shutterstock.com Repina Valeriya / shutterstock.com Oleg Znamenskiy / shutterstock.com TTstudio / shutterstock.com Reidl / shutterstock.com Maxim Tupikov / shu...

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received was from an old sales manager of mine who said, “It’s not just about what you say, but HOW you say it.” You can be the most educated person in a room but if you come off like a robot, people won’t listen to you. Effective communication is all about influence, whether you are speaking to a crowd, someone you just met, or someone you speak to every single day. There are some key elements to managing your body language that can really open people up to you and what you are saying. It’s like the difference between someone hearing you and captivating someone. HERE ARE 8 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR INFLUENCE OVER YOUR AUDIENCE WITH EFFECTIVE BODY LANGUAGE: STRAIGHT NOT RIGID Posture is one of the first things people notice about you. The key here is to stand tall, without appearing rigid. You’re exuding confidence and strength, not standing at attention for a military-grade inspection. If you appear weak with your shoulders hunched and stooped ov...