It has been proven!

Reading is a good thing. It has always been a good thing.
But now it has been proven to be the most spectacular thing especially to the little ones!


I came across an article on Tech Times by Jim Algar called Reading to Children Strengthens Language-Processing Areas of the Brain and found fascinating that reading to children has finally been proven to be a good thing. We always knew it was a good thing but fantastic Dr. John Hutton, the study leader, has the evidence and the work to prove it. The study was basically taking MRI scans of children while they were listening to someone read to them. The MRI scans showed a lot of activity in regions of the brain that may predict a child's success in language (reading, comprehending, all of that amazing Language Arts stuff).


So why does reading to children strengthen language-processing areas of the brain?
Being read to, children are able to learn how to create mental images that will prepare children to be able to do this process once they reach the appropriate age to read a book without images. This helps a lot in comprehending messages being said to them (hmm, obeying, perhaps?)


This is just rad news. I mean, yes, we all knew about the wonders of reading but now we have a study to prove that reading to children is vital and could help in their future success.

A language comeback, perhaps

I decided to not blog about the depressing situation of dead languages and blog about a language that was dead but has now found revival. I came across an interesting article on "How the Manx Language Came Back from the Dead." The Manx language is a language spoken on the Isle of Man, a self governing British Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea (according to Wikipedia, yeah I know Wikipedia is not a reliable source but I would hope that the location of this place wouldn't be incorrect on there). Or at least it was until it had been declared dead in 2009. But now it is alive again! And again, it is because of the citizens of the Isle of Man finally understanding that their language is no longer an unpleasant one anymore. You see, a person would be thrown out of a place for speaking Manx because it was seen as a provocative language. The Manx language had declined because of this and because of the economic advantage of ditching their language for the Great English language.

Now, the revival is because of the citizens of the Isle of Man and for the citizens of the Isle of Man. In fact, after their language had been declared dead, the citizens snapped back with letters asking if their language was dead then what language were they writing in. Sassy. Anyway, there were many revitalization projects of the Manx language. One included Douglas Faragher and Brian Stowell who spent time learning and documenting the Manx language (much like the linguists in that movie we watched last week). Another project is the primary school Bunscoill Ghaelgagh who teaches in the Manx language and allows their students to write letters in it (or at least in Scottish Gaelic which is fairly close to the Manx language). Then there is Adrian Cain who has made the Manx language grow through social media like Youtube and Twitter. Lastly, music has been a help in revitalization with Manx bands such as Barrule who communicate not only their language but culture through their music.

I really loved how the article ended saying that "...the X factor for reviving languages is really the pride and love for the language."

It is true! There must be something special about this language that makes it hard for the world to lose it.

...It is indeed the Isle of Man in which Thomas the Tank Engine came from...

You don't have to be bilingual to codeswitch...

Codeswitching is great. I mean, I think it is amazing how people are able to switch from one language to another. In our book, codeswitching "is a speech style unique to bilinguals, in which fluent speakers switch languages between or within sentences."

But, but when I googled codeswitching, I found an article on NPR called "How Code-Switching Explains The World." This article was to launch the new NPR team, "Codeswitch." The team has twisted the meaning of codeswitching to " hop-scotching between different cultural and linguistic spaces and different parts of our own identities — sometimes within a single interaction." 

I found it interesting that they made a different meaning of codeswitching which is something that even people who are stuck at one language can relate to. The ability to speak in different tones and have a totally different vocabulary when you around a certain set of people can be codeswitching. You can go from meeting a stranger on the street with a "Hello, how are you today?" to "What's good?" to a friend of yours. 

I also loved their use of a Key and Peele excerpt that related to cultural codeswitching. 

I mean, it was so astonishing when I watched the video of a little boy switching from English to French to Indonesian. I was at awe! But also jealous at the same time.

I think it's pretty awesome how NPR has redefined codeswitching which makes it more relate-able for those who cannot speak another language.