Accredited Language Services Blog

Questioning the lost purity of Australian English due to American influence raises the issue of whether language corruption should be a real worry. Is Australian English truly under siege by Americanisms, or is it simply natural linguistic evolution?

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New controversy surrounding the Pictish stones found in Scotland shows just how difficult it is to decipher an unknown written language. Are the symbols found on these stones words or images? Or are they something else entirely?

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Traditionally, baby talk has been thought to hinder proper speech development in children. However, a new study suggests that baby talk may actually aid in infants’ language acquisition by strengthening the linguistic bond between parent and child.

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Efforts to preserve the Plains Indian Sign Language system of “hand talk” reveal that it’s not only spoken native languages that are in danger. What was once used as a lingua franca among Plains Indian tribes is now used less than ever.

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It seems that even untrained lip-readers can pick up on your southern accent. New research suggests that language imitation is possible even if we never actually hear the voice of the person whose speech we are imitating.

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The notion of using English as a lingua franca is becoming an increasingly popular concept as more people around the world learn their own unique style of English. Is the English language suited to use as a lingua franca?

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A new interdisciplinary approach to the foreign language curriculum at US colleges and universities encourages students to look beyond textbooks for a language education. By introducing language studies into other classes, students benefit from real-world language practice.

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Fluent? Bilingual? Native speaker? Differentiating between language proficiency terms may seem nit-picky, but it serves an important purpose: helping to avoid confusion when defining an individual’s language skills.

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The recent media frenzy surrounding Sarah Palin’s coinage of the non-word “refudiate” has put the topic of word invention in the news. A look at how words go from the streets to the dictionary shows that word invention is ultimately a popularity contest.

» Read More of Can’t Refudiate that Word Invention Is a Popularity Contest

The annual German Dubbing Awards recognize the best dubbing talents in Germany, who achieve fame in their own right as the voice of Hollywood stars. But just what makes these behind-the-scenes stars so good at what they do?

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