This post contains a selection of links related to language and words in the news. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting websites related to global English, language change, education in general, and language learning and teaching in particular.
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Language change and slang
On Spitting and Another Think
Both “another thing coming” and “spitting image” are colloquial expressions that came from a mishearing of other colloquial expressions.
Is “not that” a no-no?
Some language authorities would agree with you that this use of “that” (especially the negative “not that”) is informal, but we see nothing wrong with using it in formal as well as informal contexts.
Books, science, dictionaries, words and language
The riddle of the Voynich Manuscript
The puzzling – and thus far indecipherable – nature of an old manuscript has confounded some of the world’s greatest cryptologists. Is there truly a code to break, or is it all an elaborate hoax?
Yes, writing languages for ‘Game of Thrones’ is a real job
Over the past 30 years, Hollywood has become far more interested in getting languages right onscreen—even ones that are completely made up. An actor who once would’ve barked some gibberish is now given lines drawn from an entire alien language, with a complex grammar and vocabulary.
Language teaching and resources
The Future of ELT
Don’t invest in more IWBs, in computer labs or anything else until a few other things have been sorted; in short, don’t let EdTech private equity and large publisher agendas override social agendas.
I need real people to help me learn a language
I think ultimately, language learning, much like language itself, might be an inherently social pursuit.
Video
Interview with Jill and Charlie Hadfield
Jill and Charlie talk about the use of low resource creativity in the language classroom and how teacher and learner creativity supports motivation and how teachers can use visualising techniques to both motivate learners and improve grammar.
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