This article is pretty self-explanatory based on the article - it talks about how monkeys' vocal cords and bodies are physiologically able to talk and make distinct sounds. However, monkeys lack the brain circuits used by humans to learn sounds, and the special nerve sets humans use to control the shape of our vocal tracts.

This article is about what we talked about earlier in the semester - that in order to fully learn an L2, children must first be proficient in their L1. It reinforced the idea that being bilingual isn't something to be looked down upon and something that hinders education, but something that enhance learning.

This was a really interesting article about how language use impacted the amount of donations received by a hospital. It shows that by complimenting people and using positive adjectives, people will be more inclined to donate money. When trying to do fundraisers, complimenting potential donors and/or speaking to them with positive adjectives will, on average, increase the amount of money raised. In addition, even though many forms of communication are now online, people will be more inclined to donate if you send them a hard copy in the mail.

After Great Britain left the European Union this year, its said that it would try to trade more with China. However, Mandarin Chinese education in Britain is not very extensive, and both the government private industries are taking a new approach - immersion and bilingual schools - to try to teach young children Mandarin. The UK hopes for 5000 fluent students by 2020.

New research suggests that dolphins may have a spoken language of their own; in a recent study by Russian researchers two dolphins communicated using a series of whistles and clicks (called pulses), and didn't ever interrupt each other. They also noted that the pulses sounded like sentences. With new recording technologies, the researchers were able to separate potential words from filler clicks, and the researchers hope to one day build a machine that will allow humans and dolphins to communicate.