Scientists have found that words can trigger painful memories (details).  In the research  study, researchers exposed listeners to words about pain, negative words not about pain, and neutral words.  The words about pain caused pain circuits in the body to activate.  The researchers concluded that  “words alone are capable of activating … pain.”

Of course, we are often unaware that this is happening. And hearing the words does not guarantee that we will feel pain.  But it should make us think a little more about the words we use when talking to others (and to ourselves).

Do you think the same thing is true for pleasure words? Can saying pleasurable things activate pleasure circuits? Are there any special words that you use (in any language) that have the power to make you feel better?

Language is powerful and plays an important role in people’s lives. But is it as powerful as Professor Higgins says it is:

What could possibly matter more than to take a human being and change her into a different human being by creating a new speech for her?  It’s filling up the deepest gap that separates class from class and soul from soul.

Do you think it is possible to become a completely new person by changing how you speak? Do you think Professor Higgins is a good teacher?

If you chose the first version of each of these, then you are with the majority of British English and American English speakers who did the same in a recent study. The researchers concluded that English speakers “are still sexist in writing.” It was common 500 years ago to put male names before female names (such as Romeo and Juliet). However, one would expect that this has changed in modern times with the rise of gender equality. Not so, say the researchers.

Why do you think English speakers still do this? Do writers of other languages do the same thing or something different? Why?

You probably said “soda,” or “pop,” or maybe “coke.” In fact, it’s all three. But what you called it reveals a lot about where you might be from. Research has shown that these choices have a geographical distribution. This means that what you said depends on where you are from. As can be seen on this map (and this one, too), people from the East and West Coasts of the US are more likely to say “soda.” People from the North are  more likely to say “pop.” And those from the South are more likely to say “coke.”

What do you call it? Do you know of any other examples of regional variation in lexicon (in any language)?

Some researchers believe that you can. They tested over 3,000 words and found that listeners used phonological information when listening to words alone, and both phonological and grammatical information when listening to words in sentences (details). Although the researchers studied English words, they believe the same phenomenon may occur in all languages.

Do you think this same phenomenon occurs for second language learners? Can you tell if a new word is a noun or a verb just by listening to it? Do you think this would be a good skill for second language learners to have?

What do you think? Is it better to have a native-speaking teacher of the new language?

Some sounds are more difficult than others and will take longer for a young child to learn. Easier sounds include m, p and d. Some harder sounds to learn are r, l, s and th.

Interestingly, these are the same sounds that give some adult second language learners problems, too. Do you think the reason why these sounds are difficult for child first language learners and for adult second language learners is the same?

However crazy it might sound, just listening to the language, even though you don’t understand it, is critical.

Dr. Sulzberger believes that listening builds networks in the brain that make it easier to learn language later. Based on your language learning experience, what do you think? Will just listening to English, even if you do not understand it, improve your English?

Some people believe that we can do special exercises that will help balance the brain, and make learning, and therefore language learning, easier. This is the idea behind the Brain Gym and one of its exercises, “Hook Ups.” What do you think? Is it possible to do specific exercises to improve learning? Do you have any special exercises that you do to help you learn?

What do you usually do when you watch an English movie? Do you turn on the English subtitles or the ones of your first language? Or none?