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The ability to speak and write more than one language gives people more alternatives in the global market economy. I call these people Global Linguals. A Global Lingual is a person who not only understands the global market economy, but also has trained his/herself to think globally and to speak and write more than one language.

Author Clive Thompson argues, "The fact that so many of us are writing - sharing our ideas, good and bad, for the world to see - has changed the way we think. Just as we now live in public, so do we think in public. And that is accelerating the creation of new ideas and the advancement of global knowledge." Every day, we collectively produce millions of books' worth of writing. Globally we send 154.6 billion emails, more than 400 million tweets, and over 1 million blog posts and around 2 million blog comments on WordPress. On Facebook, we post about 16 billion words. Altogether, we compose some 3.6 trillion words every day on email and social media - the equivalent of 36 million books.* (The entire US Library of Congress, by comparison, holds around 23 million books.) He notes the Internet has spawned a global culture of avid writers, one almost always writing for an audience, and suggests that writing for a real audience helps clarify one's thinking, enhances learning, and arguably, betters writers' organization, ideas, and attention to editing.

"Rather than focusing on network dynamics, they decided to analyze the tributes by language. Jobs wasn't just an American visionary, but truly global."

This article explains how emojis are used globally because they can be understood by anyone regardless of what language they speak. Everyone knows what emojis mean because the things they express are universal. This article also says that emojis can be used to add clarity and nuance to text messages, not just emotion. However, emojis cannot currently be considered a language because they don't have grammar and can't be combined to mean something more complex, although this might happen someday, as novels such as Alice in Wonderland have been translated into emojis.

English has been the dominant global language for a century, but is it the language of the future? Many assume that Mandarin could grow to become the world's dominant global language with the China's economic rise.

Misunderstanding between pilots and air traffic controllers can lead to dangerous situations.

"There is a reason why neither Globish nor Basic caught on in a mainstream way, and that reason is the basis of the English language's growing global power."

I was curious to find out when and if we ever will all talk the same language. This site shared some insight to people who agreed and disagreed to the idea. Both sides have valid arguments to support their stances.

A collaboration between the Gottman Institute and the Huffington Post, Thrive Global offers sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance, and purpose, and create a healthier relationship with technology. Some useful communication articles!

Is English the language of the future? Should we be rushing to teach the children to be fluent in English? Does fluency in English truly mean open doors and opportunity that other languages does not offer? English is a global language and other countries are starting to integrate english fluency in schools. Is this a good idea? Should we be preserving the native language? Is English the bastard language?

An International Year is an important cooperation mechanism dedicated to raising awareness of a particular topic or theme of global interest or concern, and mobilizing different players for coordinated action around the world. In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages, based on a recommendation by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. At the time, the Forum said that 40 per cent of the estimated 6,700 languages spoken around the world were in danger of disappearing. The fact that most of these are indigenous languages puts the cultures and knowledge systems to which they belong at risk. In addition, indigenous peoples are often isolated both politically and socially in the countries they live in, by the geographical location of their communities, their separate histories, cultures, languages and traditions. And yet, they are not only leaders in protecting the environment, but their languages represent complex systems of knowledge and communication and should be recognized as a strategic national resource for development, peace building and reconciliation. They also foster and promote unique local cultures, customs and values which have endured for thousands of years. Indigenous languages add to the rich tapestry of global cultural diversity. Without them, the world would be a poorer place.

This article talks about how one's genetics and one's language could possibly be connected. This study took place in Cape Verde, where people speak Kriolu, a mixture of European and African languages that formed with the trans Atlantic slave trade. Researchers recorded multiple individual's speech and compared the recordings to the individual's DNA. They found that there was a significant correlation between one's ancestry and the words they use - for example, those with more African genetic ancestry used more African derived words. While this doesn't necessarily conclude that linguistic traits are passed on like genetic traits are, it is interesting that in a language that is a mix of other languages, individuals still use more words that are derived from their ethnic backgrounds.

This article explains how learning a language improves functions like attention and alertness. It has also been shown that people who speak other languages have more empathy and global views.

A new study of 37 languages by three MIT researchers has shown that most languages move toward "dependency length minimization" (DLM) in practice. That means language users have a global preference for more locally grouped dependent words, whenever possible. Apparently, it's easier for our brains to process a sentence when related words are closer together.

Here's a quick task: Take a look at the sentences below and decide which is the most effective. (1) "John threw out the old trash sitting in the kitchen." (2) "John threw the old trash sitting in the kitchen out." Either sentence is grammatically acceptable, but you probably found the first one to be more natural. A new study of 37 languages by three MIT researchers has shown that most languages move toward "dependency length minimization" (DLM) in practice. That means language users have a global preference for more locally grouped dependent words, whenever possible.

The U.S Department of Defense is cutting funding for 13/31 language flagship programs at 23 universities including Brigham Young, UH Manoa, and University of Washington. This comes as a surprise for the linguistic community as this will cut nearly half of of Chinese, Korean, Arabic, and Russian groups alike. The overall concern is this will be detrimental to national security, and global diplomacy raising conerns about the future of language education, and the U.S's ability to engage with other cultures.

Santiago Swallow is "a Mexican-born, American motivational speaker, consultant, educator, and author, whose speeches and publications focus on understanding modern culture in the age of social networking, globally interconnected media, user generated content and the Internet," and has "dedicated himself to helping others know more about how media and personality can manipulated in the 21st Century." Though completely fictional, he boasts a Wikipedia biography and a Twitter account with tens of thousands of followers. Making up-or at least "enhancing"-an identity like this is something real people do to increase their reputation, look popular, and sell themselves. There are equally real people who profit from this by selling fake followers created by software at the push of a button. Be afraid.

For even more delicious, globally-inspired phrases, check this link out: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3639409/Drachenfutter-Saudade-Onsay.html.

The UN Atlas of Endangered Languages lists 18 languages with only one remaining speaker. With about one language disappearing every two weeks, some of these have probably already died off. The following 18 languages were last known to have one remaining speaker.

ABSTRACT: The present investigation examined the impact of bicultural identity, bilingualism, and social context on the psychological adjustment of multicultural individuals.......We concluded that, in the process of managing multiple cultural environments and group loyalties, bilingual competence, and perceiving one's two cultural identities as integrated are important antecedents of beneficial psychological outcomes.

"Facebook, YouTube and even texting will be the salvation of many of the world's endangered languages, scientists believe. Of the 7,000 or so languages spoken on Earth today, about half are expected to be extinct by the century's end. ... Tuvan, an indigenous tongue spoken by nomadic peoples in Siberia and Mongolia, even has an iPhone app to teach the pronunciation of words to new students. 'It's what I like to call the flipside of globalisation' [said K David Harrison] ... 'Everything that people know about the planet, about plants, animals, about how to live sustainably, the polar ice caps, the different ecosystems that humans have survived in - all this knowledge is encoded in human cultures and languages, whereas only a tiny fraction of it is encoded in the scientific literature.'"