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This articles explains that although there are typically negative connections between swearing and the message the speaker is trying to get across, swearing can also be used in constructive ways.

This article explains the difference of dyslexia in Chinese. Speakers of alphabetic languages have problems with converting letters to sound, while Chinese readers have difficulty translating symbol shapes to sound and meaning.

This article explains how dogs can interpret our speech. Not only are they able to understand the words we say but also how we say them. They can learn words on their own and even better when we use an appropriate tone. This means when we "vent" to our dogs, they might actually understand what we are saying.

Alcohol consumption, in small amounts, can improve a person's ability to speak a second language. It was also focused on how people who drank the alcohol had better pronunciation in the second language. Although a small amount of alcohol can be beneficial to using language, it is actually reversed if too much is consumed.

This article outlines a study done that found that low levels of alcohol intake can improve bilingual speaker's use of their second language. Although it may seem alcohol would impair language ability because of the executive functions needed when speaking, alcohol lowers social anxiety and increases confidence - which is helpful when learning to speak a second language.

Everyone "talks" with their hands at least sometimes. Some people's hand-talking or gesturing matches their message well. Other people have a tendency to make overly large gestures that can be distracting. and still others don't use their hands much at all.

This website talks about the importance of emphasis in the English language and how changing the emphasis on different words can change the entire meaning of a sentence.

The publication provides insight into how people in Iceland are recording their language to help keep it alive. Icelandic is suffering from something known around the world as "digital minoritization", where the overwhelming amount of online language use is in a different language (ex. English worldwide, pushing out smaller minority languages). It stresses the importance of the language to the country's identity and how the recordings will help keep the history of the country alive today.

This article discusses the over-emphasized importance of perfecting a second language, and what we should really be focusing on when working to acquire another language.

This topic is really similar to what we discussed in class about babble and how almost all languages worldwide share a similar way of talking to their babies. This article talks about how different settlements could have communicated with each other without learning each other's language. They did this by studying "vocal charades," which were vocal noises that could be attributed to different actions. For example snoring noises meant "sleep."

NPR Short Wave host and reporter Emily Kwong is a third generation Chinese American, but she hasn't spoken or learned her language. She begins her journey at 30.

As AI advances, so does its language. A chat bot by Google uses language to speak with others in conversation. However, it runs into some problematic issues, especially regarding its ethics. For instance, it will associate doctors as men and nurses as women. Research is being put in place to make it a safer program.

mood and social media

Childrenʻs hospital questionnaire explores the adverse affects of lack of Spanish proficient staff members on the communication and care of Spanish-speaking families with Limited English Proficiency. Debunks perception that suboptimal communication is achieved, even though nonproficient residents rely on their own inadequate language skills, impose on their proficient colleagues, or avoid communication with LEP families.

As the topic surrounding gender identity begins to grow, so does questions about appropriate pronouns. The word "they" has been anointed the word of the year in 2015 by the American Dialect Society. Pronouns for those who don't identify under the gender binary system have been becoming increasingly larger. Colleges have started to use words such as "Ze", "E", and "Ey". The Oxford dictionary has also recently added "Mx" (mix) to serve as an alternative to Mr. or Mrs. Most people have learned that it is best to ask a person which pronouns they would like to be used.

In order to evade government censors blocking free expression, Chinese social media posters utilize homophonic (same sound) and logographic (character) resemblances in order to voice controversial/politically-charged content.

This New York Times article examines the psychology behind our impulse to reconnect with old friends: increased impulsivity when lonely, mortality salience, desire for comfort in times of stress. The article also provides some advice as to why we might want to proceed carefully when reconnecting, and how to proceed.

Monday, April 8, marked the launch of Code Switch, our new blog covering race, ethnicity and culture. To commemorate the blog's launch, all week we solicited stories about code-switching - the practice of shifting the languages you use or the way you express yourself in your conversations.

How Internet language will change language in the future. The more people use the internet and its language to communicate, the more non-internet language will be affected by the internet.

This article focuses on a new book which argues that informal online communication is sometimes more advanced than even the most elegant prose. It also explores the possibility that internet slang makes people better writers due to the fact that it sharpens the user's communication skills to get the point across, even through the use of emojis.

Canadian linguist Gretchen McCulloch rails against linguistic prescriptivism. She feels that people should exhibit flexible and receptive attitudes towards linguistic change: "We create successful communication when all parties help each other win." She also notes that "the only languages that stay unchanging are the dead ones."

A unique sign language, possibly dating back to the 1800s or before, is being used in Hawaii, marking the first time in 80 years a previously unknown language -- spoken or signed -- has been documented in the U.S. The language is not a dialect of American Sign Language, as previously believed, but an unrelated language with unique vocabulary and grammar. It also is on the verge of extinction, with an estimated 40 users of the language.