More (new) research about language learning

Ran across this (on facebook) today - a new article (out two days ago) about research into how learning at any age, especially languages, increases your brain’s abilities.

http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-how-learning-a-new-language-changes-your-brain-at-any-age

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Fantastic, more confirmation that what we’re doing is good for us at so many levels!

Diolch Sionned!

Great share, diolch yn fawr iawn. The speed at which the brain can adapt is quite remarkable.

Ooooh and right below it there’s a link to a video of a live neurosurgical procedure…a subdural haematoma being removed from someone’s brain!

Ych a fi! Fedra i ddim gwylio pethau fel 'na!

Stu

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Mae fy chwaer yn meddygon…pethau fel na hudo ar’fi

(Neu yw e’n dwi’n hudo gan pethau fel na?)

Dwi’n cael fy hudo gan… :sunny:

Dropping into english for a second…@aran are you saying that the way to say
I am fascinated by things like that
is
Dwi’n cael fy hudo gan pethau fel na
literally,
I have a fascination for things like that
?

Nope, 'fraid not - ‘cael’ is often suggested as the translation of ‘have’ in English, but it’s an incomplete fit - you’ll often find it where you’d use ‘get’ in English - and the ‘cael fy [verb]’ pattern is a general sort of reflexive pattern - a little as though you were saying ‘I get fascinated by things like that’.

It’s also a good example of how quickly this kind of trying to find matches falls down - languages just don’t match neatly to each other - it’s one of the lovely things about them. It’s why a case-by-case approach will always feel like an endless mountain, while exposure to the language will start to get you expressing yourself in ways that don’t match to English… :sunny:

Thanks for the tip, @aran. I have a question about your suggestion regarding case-by-case English->Welsh translation but i’ll leave it to be answered in the How To Say thread instead of derailing this one.

EDIT: Must add reflexive to list of patterns to learn…

and the ‘cael fy [verb]’ pattern is a general sort of reflexive pattern - a little as though you were saying ‘I get fascinated by things like that’.

Reflexive or passive?

Apart from amusing the natives when I visit Wales, I felt that I should give my brain a regular work out to counteract any possible detrimental effects of my increasing age (71) and recent neuro-surgery. It seems to be working and, more importantly, I have a real sense of pleasure and accomplishment whenever I use my new language in the shops, cafes and pubs in both the South and the North. The fact that I have been learning the Southern version didn’t seem to cause too much of a problem on the Llyn Peninsula. I have a lot to thank SSiW for.

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Llongyfarchiadau mawr i ti, Doug! :sunny:

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Thinking in a Foreign Language Makes Decisions More Rational - found this article this morning. A very small test sample, but interesting in its conclusions. Next time I visit the bank, I’ll be speaking Welsh! http://www.wired.com/2012/04/language-and-bias/

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Not sure where to post this, but in case anyone might be interested and might not have seen this there is a news story on the BBC today entitled: “*Babies remember their birth language”

with the research paper here:

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