Languages

This video is about how people sing birthday songs in different countries. The various languages and tunes are very interesting!

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harris’s? heresy!

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Harris’ all the way!

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Helsingin Sanomat’s most-read story on Monday morning looks at the influence of screen time on children’s language development.

The article reports that some kids aren’t getting enough real-life interaction with their parents to learn to speak properly, and that’s a growing problem.

According to pediatric neurologist Susanna Leivonen, some kids are not learning to speak properly because they spend hours alone on a screen, causing them to pick up random phrases in English.

Leivonen said that an increasing number of 3–5-year-old children are arriving at her clinic whose main communication consists of English phrases and expressions picked up from YouTube or other online sources. She noted that some parents are misguided in believing that this is a positive development.

Repeating catchphrases results from extensive and excessive screen time, according to Leivonen.

“Sometimes I notice how a child immediately starts asking their parent for a smart device as soon as they arrive at my clinic. It’s quite concerning,” Leivonen said, adding that parents shouldn’t resort to screens to calm their kids.

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What grinds my gears is when they randomly flip the surname and personal name for “translation”. No, don’t do that! Then no one is sure of the proper order.

Tonight there should a new episode of One Piece. So I will again be able to do the peculiar synthesis of combining spoken Japanese dialog with English fansub text in my brain. After all these years, my brain is convinced that I know Japanese, even through I definitely don’t. (Maybe there’s been some leakage, but it’s probably bad bad.)

  • I’ve shut the window to better “hear” a show, when I’m reading the subs.
  • I’ve looked away from the screen and been surprised when my “Japanese language skills” suddenly disappear. :rofl:

I’m just saying that someone with some after-hours MRI access, might see interesting stuff happening in the centers of the brain that are combining the meaning and experience from different sources like that.

You’d need a good test group, some people who understand Japanese and don’t need the subtitles, some people with the sound off and just the subtitles, experienced anime watchers, and not-so-experienced. :person_shrugging:

I have no idea of what the outcome would be, and that’s why it’s science!

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been there. searching for the remote because the dialog in the subtitled show is too quiet. :blush:

but actually that might make sense. because we get so much more from speaking than just words. there’s emotional nuance in the tone, and even things like figuring out who’s speaking is easier with sound

i love this quote:

“Once you have removed water from the river, no matter how large a sample you have taken, it is no longer the river,” the paper says.

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a couple of nights ago, I was watching The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and I decided to leave the subtitles off. I understood a good deal of it, and so that’s how I’ve been watching my french films lately.

Last night: Les Diaboliques.

Ideally, the french would close caption their films, but the closest one usually gets is when Quebec and France adapt American films using subtly different translations for the dub and the subtitle.

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rock on! i hear that’s a really great way to up your skills.

i know no other languages :frowning: and sometimes fear i don’t really know english either

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My fave is putting on a film in language A and the subtitles in B where B is something I speak but the kids don’t. :grin:

Bonus points if A or B is :fr:, which the kids know they should have learned in school…

That’s probably why my daughter taught herself Italian: just to get even with me… :thinking:

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It’s always nice, once you get your ear in, when you can tell when the subtitler has missed out phrases or words.

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Our kid decided about 4 months ago, randomly, she wanted to learn American Sign Language. I was all for it.
We tried out both ASL Bloom and Lingvano. Decided to stick with Lingvano and it’s been great! The company is Deaf-owned and all the people in the clips are Deaf. There has been a lot more explanation of syntax and how ASL signs are written than ASL Bloom. Even though ASL Bloom was prettier and initially had more femme representation
I really want some interactive classes but the local options (north Austin) are either geared towards infants/toddlers, the family of kids attending the Texas School for the Deaf, or classes with an age restriction of 12+. Kii-kitten is almost 8. it’s been frustrating. I want to encourage this interest and considering I have a genetic condition that is leading to gradual hearing loss, ASL is a great choice for me too.
I probably need to just find somewhere online that offers tutoring over zoom, but I’m not sure where to start. If Kii-Kitten was older looking, I might just try to pass her for as 12. They would be very respectful and not disruptive of any class (or else I’d drag them out and not let them attend another)

I wish there were more in person options :pensive:

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Have you looked at classes on Outschool.com? I’ve seen this instruction provider mentioned very positively in several secular homeschool groups, no personal experience with them though.

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I haven’t but I will!

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