Originally developed as a language awareness exercise in education, the Language Portrait is now increasingly used as a research tool investigating how speakers themselves experience and interpret their heteroglossic practices and repertoires (Busch 2018). It allows a multimodal approach as it combines discursive and presentational forms of symbolization (Langer 1948). By providing a body […]
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How many languages are too many?
Have you ever wondered how many languages a child can learn at once or if there is a ‘window’ of opportunity? Can it ever be “too late” to learn another language? Can we learn multiple languages at any time? And what are the cognitive benefits of learning more than one language? https://youtu.be/hW_qpta6zb4 […]
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Werden aus mehrsprachigen Kindern automatisch mehrsprachige Erwachsene?
Mehrsprachigkeit ist in aller Munde. Gab es bis vor kurzem noch viele Vorbehalte gegen eine mehrsprachige Erziehung – man befürchtete, dass Kinder so weder die eine noch die andere Sprache richtig beherrschen würden –, so weiß man inzwischen, dass Mehrsprachigkeit allerlei positive Effekte auf das Sprechen, Denken und Handeln hat.
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Finger-counting across cultures
Finger-counting differs across cultures and can reveal your base language.
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The importance of developing multilingual listening skills
Did it ever happen to you that people would ask you to repeat what you just said, not because they couldn’t hear you, but because they were incapable of understanding your way of speaking the language? Or maybe you have asked someone to repeat because you didn’t understand what the other person was saying – because […]
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