Words R Us

The takeaway: one K is bad, two Ks are good and above all else, never, ever use three Ks. 1. "Okay" is obviously the most professional way to type the word, and I will vouch that it is also safe to casually use in text messages. Some disagree that "okay" can sound sarcastic or stern, especially when paired with a period. Which isn't wrong - sentences do invoke a more serious tone when there are periods involved. But the reason why okay is, well, okay, is because it's the longest form of the word. You took the time to type out those additional two letters, and that counts for something. 2. "Kk" is the closest to gotcha. It means message received, roger that. 3. The origins of the dreadful "k" can't exactly be pinpointed, though it's been a thing since iMessage looked like this, so basically the Stone Age. People voiced their disdain for short responses - "k, ok, lol" - on Facebook pages and through memes years ago. And everyone pretty much agreed that yeah, when you type out an extremely long, emotionally charged paragraph to someone and they respond with one letter, it's pretty infuriating. From then on we've been conditioned (or traumatized) to react in a similar manner to the single k. Even when it's just in response to a simple, harmless sentence, it can still feel like a dig.

Article looks at the linguistic shift away from the older generation "you're welcome" to "no problem" or "no worries." The article notes that formal language is unquestionably falling by the wayside, likely due to the increasing use of digital technology. Instant messaging and texting have compelled many young people to forgo punctuation altogether, since receiving a message with a period or question mark at the end of it can induce anxiety for some. This is because punctuation is now considered "formal," which roughly translates to "serious."The same is true for "you're welcome," according to linguists, and it might explain why younger generations are using less formal phrases when someone thanks them. While some people might mistakenly think that doing so suggests that the service was irksome or inconvenient, the linguists cited in the article contribute this phenomenon largely to linguistic mirroring. This basically means if the people you interact with on a day-to-day basis often say "you're welcome" or "no problem," then you'll likely mirror whatever phrase is more frequently being used around you. "I believe that this is just part of the evolution of language," adds Saccardi. "The majority of speakers will not intellectualize the connotative meanings of their utterances. Rather, they are more likely to just use particular phrases instead of others because that's what they have grown into." Interestingly, the phrase "you're welcome" has acquired a new meaning for younger generations, as many use it sarcastically to point out that another person forgot to thank them, as in Maui's song in _Moana_.

This article talks about the several different types of language learning methods and the different types of language learners. They start from basic methods to more complex ones and integrate different methods together. This is all to take into account pronunciation, grammar rules, speaking and writing skills, and vocabulary and best course of options to find it.

This article explains key principles and strategies for how to learn languages. It talks about the important elements: comprehensible input (understanding), comprehensible output (producing), and review/feedback (identifying and correcting errors). It mentions the need for balance and avoiding putting too much effort on one skill. It also talks about the importance of embracing mistakes, being comfortable with not knowing certain things, and creating low-stakes practices to become more comfortable with errors. It talks about motivation in learning and the drive for people's desire to learn the language. It includes a lot of psychology in it too.

This post discusses the Chinese Room thought experiment, which examines whether or not computers are actually able to understand us and our words, or if they're just stringing together certain words by association.

This post discusses whether or not Koko the gorilla could actually speak and utilize sign language, or if she was just trained to associate certain hand motions with a result without really understanding what it meant.

This article outlines research-based advice regarding teen use of social media. Psychological scientists examine potential beneficial and harmful effects of social media use on adolescents' social, educational, psychological, and neurological development. This is a rapidly evolving and growing area of research with implications for many stakeholders (e.g., youth, parents, caregivers, educators, policymakers, practitioners, and members of the tech industry) who share responsibility to ensure adolescents' well-being.b Officials and policymakers including the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy have documented the importance of this issue and are actively seeking science-informed input.c

This article talks about addiction and mental illness and how many people struggle with these issues. It also highlights the use of language and how the correct language use can and will break stigma and eventually help these poeple get out of their struggles.

This cool article talks about the endangered languages in the world today and how we are losing languages. This article makes the connection between languages and worlds because whenever a language is lost, there is no way to recover it and it is like losing a world of culture.

Dr. Michael Rich is the director of the Center on Media and Child Health and the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders. Rich notes some major takeaways: 1.Babies' brains are elastic: the first three years of life are critical for both language and overall brain development. Unlike other animals, humans are born with embryonic brains, rendering babies helpless and in need of caregivers while also providing a developmental advantage: allowing us to build our brains in response to the challenges and stimuli of the environment we're in," In the first three years of life, the brain triples in volume due to synaptic connections, therefore stimuli and challenges babies receive within that time frame help babies build creative, flexible and resilient brains. 2. Face to face interaction is valuable. 3. It's not just about screen time duration, but the type of content being consumed. For example, young children can interact meaningfully via Facetime, if they've previously interacted with that person. However, screens as a distraction for kids in lieu of human interaction= not good.

This article talks about how screen time affects babies language development. The first nine months of a baby's life are important for a child to understand sounds and how they should be used. They are able to understand language much earlier than they actually start talking. Many doctors and scientists encourage parents to communicate with their babies as soon as possible to develop language. Recent studies found that babies that spent more time in front of a screen than talking suffered in language development. I found it interesting that not all screen time is necessarily bad for a child's language development. For example, FaceTime can be beneficially for children because they are interacting in a meaningful way but using screens as a distraction for kids can be harmful.

This article talks about how diverse languages are around the world and how thousands of languages are becoming extinct. It talked about how every language has different forms of grammar and linguists are not necessarily interested in "correct grammar" because we know that grammar changes throughout time and places. This can help us understand our history and how our minds work. I found it interesting that many indigenous languages will become extinct in the near future. For example, South America and Australia are expected to lose all indigenous languages.

This article contains several data tables that show the different modes of communication and how often we use each one. Certain graphs organize data by gender, age, impact on school, and much more. Something that interested me was that our time spent on text-based technology has negatively impacted our ability to write. This article analyzes each set of data points and puts our usage of electronics into perspective, as technology has dominated the way we converse.

This article talks about the negative effects that technology can have on children, as well as what we can do to prevent these negative effects. It gives specific ways on how to help children limit technology use.

This article posted by UCSB speaks to the fact that technology is harming our human interaction, and we are reliant on it for many aspects of our everyday lives. The author uses several examples such as texting a friend, emailing a professor (instead of going in for help,) or missing the opportunity to meet new people. It's important to be mindful of how often one is going on a device because there is more to the world than the internet, social media, etc.

This article is about the positive and negative effects of technology on children, this talks specifically about statistics and how they can benefit and not benefit from technology use.

This article talks about swearing and the hidden benefits that come with it. It also talks a little bit about swearing in different languages and how what words are considered swear words evolved. One thing I found particularly interesting in the article is that swearing has an observable, physical effect on a person. In the article, it said that "Students who repeated a curse word were able to keep their hand in a bucket of ice water longer than those who uttered a neutral word." I think that's both crazy and amazing that repeating a word that's considered taboo can have a physical impact on one's body.

This article covers the word 'like' and talks about how the negative beliefs that are associated with using this word such as "it is a sign of stupidity" are inaccurate. I was originally attracted to this article because I tend to say 'like' a lot when I talk, and I've always been told that this is something I want to avoid. However, after reading this article, I no longer think that saying 'like' often is a bad thing.

Working on the metaphor poems lead me to wonder why metaphors are so important to communication and emotional connection. This article explains why metaphors have a different affect than other types of communication.