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Words typically occur with other words to make up phrases. Most of these phrases have a meaning that is closely related to the meanings of the words that they contain, for example, next week, six o’clock, strong tea, in a minute. For some phrases, the relationship between the meaning of the phrase and the words it contains is not quite so clear, but there is still a strong connection. For example, kill two birds with one stone, see the light at the end of the tunnel, you know, for instance, think about. For a small…

Exposure to two languages carries far-reaching benefits A new study provides evidence that bilingual speakers find it easier to learn a new language than those who only know one language. The study compared the ability of three groups of native English speakers – English-Mandarin bilinguals, English-Spanish bilinguals and monolinguals – to master words in an invented language that bore no relationship to English, Spanish or Mandarin. The bilingual participants mastered nearly twice the number of words as the monolinguals. The finding adds more support to the value of introducing another language to children at a…

Are you thinking to self-publish your book but are not totally sure which publisher to choose? We have listed 5 most popular publishers and provided a brief description of each one: CreateSpace CreateSpace was acquired by Amazon in 2005. CreateSpace enables authors to publish e-books for Kindle, as well as hard copied for Amazon. CreateSpace also offers distribution for additional fees. It is free to create e-book for Kindle on CreateSpace. For a 300-pages book, it would cost around $4.5 to use their printing-on-demand service. If the same book is placed on Amazon.com for $15,…

Ability to Learn Grammar Laid to Gene by Researcher.” This 1992 headline appeared not in a supermarket tabloid but in an Associated Press news story, based on a report at the annual meeting of the principal scientific association in the United States. The report had summarized evidence that Specific Language Impairment runs in families, focusing on the British family which the inheritance pattern is particularly clear. The syndicated columnists James J. Kilpatrick and Erma Bombeck were incredulous. Kilpatrick’s column began: Researchers made a stunning announcement the other day at a meeting of the American Association…

Undoubtedly, one of the biggest debates among Christian authors is whether to go with traditional publishing or self publishing. After weighing pros and cons, Christian Lingua Translation Agency has come to the conclusion that self-publishing would probably work best for new Christian authors. So we have decided to share the insight with you.  1- Receive Higher Royalties We found out in our research that self-publishers usually receive higher royalties. The reason is that the author can regulate the price. Traditional publishers decide on the price themselves and so the authors usually receive less money at…

Learn to simplify Imagine this situation: you have been living in Germany for a few weeks, trying to learn the language. Some people you know mention a party they are going to attend at Jochen’s house, but Jochen isn’t there with you and the others now, and he hadn’t given you a previous invitation to the party. Therefore, you don’t go. The next day, you see Jochen on the street, and he says to you: “Hallo! Wie geht’s? Warum bist du nicht zur Fete gekommen? Du hast uns gefehlt!” (Hi! How are you? Why didn’t…

Too many authors overlook a key strategy when building a successful author platform: beginning a correct, successful online marketing. Who has time for that? Well, if you want to set your book up for marketing success, you need to make time. You have to put in some work in order to see results. It might seem overwhelming at first, but once you get a plan in place, it will work to your advantage. These 5 tips can help you set up a solid online presence: 1. Create a Facebook Fan Page Not your own personal…

I always recommend that when people learn single words, or short, common phrases, they directly connect the image in their mind (the image – but not the English word – of “cat”, “house”, “I go”, or whatever) with the foreign word, instead of first with the English word, and then the foreign one. That is, they form a mental picture of a cat, and think “gato” if they are learning Spanish, “Katze”, “chatte” or “neko” if German, French or Japanese is their target language. If they want to say “I am going shopping”, then as…

For some students this is the most difficult obstacle to overcome. Some languages have no word boundaries in spoken speech, which means that words seem to run together into one big work, making it difficult to sort things out. Your listening comprehension should improve if you are speaking the works yourself as often as possible. Again, don’t listen to tapes for two hours straight but in short blocks of time. You will not be able to list hard for that long of a time period. If you are really struggling, your instructor can probably supply…

Journalists say that when a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news. This is the essence of the language instinct: language conveys news. The streams of words called “sentences” are not just memory prods, reminding you of man and man’s best friend and letting you fill in the rest; they tell you who in fact did what to whom. Thus we get more from most stretches of language than Woody Allen got from War and Peace, which he read in two hours after taking…