Language is Everything

The value of language learning

 

Languages Work, the national information service about careers with languages, has launched a Pledge on its web site:

"In order to compete in the global economy, we believe that every young person should leave school with the ability to communicate in more than one language and have an appreciation of other cultures."

You can find out more here.

Critical Link on Facebook

The post-conference Facebook page for Critical Link 6 is now live (click here).

Critical Link 6, which took place from 26th to 30th July at Aston University in Birmingham, was the first major public service interpreting event to be held in the UK.

The theme of the conference was 'interpreting in a changing landscape', and Language is Everything presented a paper on interpreting and education in partnership with Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.

You are what you speak?

This week's New Scientist magazine takes a look at the question of whether language affects the way we experience the world.

The idea that language guides human thinking and shapes perception has a long and turbulent history. Philosophers have toyed with it for centuries, but its reputation became tarnished before modern psychologists could begin putting flesh on its bones.... Recently, however, the idea has made a comeback. Studies in the late 1990s indicated that infants are better able to group objects into categories - animals versus vehicles, say - if they have already learned the category names.... Such findings suggest that language does indeed have benefits beyond communication, for children at least. But is this also true for healthy adults?

Click here to read the full story.