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Table of Contents |
Have you already taken a Fluency Fast Language Class? Find out why you should take a second class |
Learning a Foreign Language Can Reduce the Risk of Age Related Symptoms such as Memory Loss, Dementia and Alzheimer's
"You don't have to master it. Just the attempt to learn a language is like running different software through the brain. You're exercising more communication channels in the brain."
Healthy Aging, Dr. Andrew Weil
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day
Michael J. Gelb
Learning a new language is a popular ideal hobby and a wonderful way to cultivate Curiosita. Like Leonardo, you can learn a new language at any age. We all know that babies are the best learners. Their openness, energy, and playfulness allow them to learn languages with ease. Click here to read more.
The demand for multilingual workers is growing
Davis Bushnell
The corporate demand for workers with language skills other than English is driven by a variety of trends including the globalization of business and the growth of immigrant communities in states like Massachusete, which gained more than 200,000 foreign-born residents between 1995 and 2000.
This phenomenon affects industries from high-tech and financial services to healthcare, retailing, and real estate. Click here to read more.
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT FLUENCY FAST’S REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY?
FACT: In the United States, only 9% of Americans speak both their native language and another language fluently.
We have met the other 91%. Most of them say, as they take the seat next to us on the plane, “I took Spanish (or French or German) in high school, but I can’t speak a word.” They tell us they aren’t good at languages. They tell us they have always wanted to learn, to travel a little, to whip it out in business situations and to meet new people. Click here to read more
Spanish-speaking population to jump 55% in Austin area
Austin Business Journal - July 21, 2005
¡Ay caramba! The number of Spanish-speaking residents in the Austin area is expected to soar by 55 percent within the next 20 years, according to study released Wednesday.
Austin joins Boston, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., as major Hispanic markets in the United States that are projected to see 55 percent growth in their Spanish-speaking populations by 2025, according to a study released by Hispanic USA Inc. Those are the highest percentages in the study. Click here to read more
CAREER SERVICES
The possibilities are endless...
Personnel with language skills are needed in many different types and places of work. The demand is apparent in seven major areas...
...The types of companies needing management and sales personnel with foreign language skills cover the whole spectrum of the business world. In their operations, they find that foreign language proficiency is an enormous advantage, both in the United States and in their overseas offices, and lack of it a real handicap... Click here for more.
back to topThe Need for Foreign Language Competence in the United States.
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics Washington DC
In the words of Senator Paul Simon, the United States is a "linguistically malnourished" country compared with many other nations. Despite the large number of individuals from other language and cultural backgrounds who live in various communities throughout the United States, relatively few Americans can boast proficiency in a language other than English. While ample opportunities exist in many other countries to develop proficiency in a second language, exposure to foreign languages in the United States is far from adequate... Click here to read more.
back to topPersonal Benefits of Foreign Language Study.
For a long time Americans tended to think that knowing English was sufficient for all their needs. As a result, Americans developed an image as the people who cannot say even the most rudimentary phrase in any other language. Fortunately, however, many business, political, and educational leaders are belatedly realizing that the whole world does not speak English, and that even many of those who have learned English as a second language prefer to converse, to do business, and to negotiate in their native tongue. Click here to read more.
back to topWhy You Need a Foreign Language
Edward Trimnell on the Myth of Global English and the Costs of Americans' Monolingualism
Like many Americans, Edward Trimnell studied a foreign language in high school only because it was required. In his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio there had been no sizeable immigrant population since the 19th century, and he didn't see the point of conjugating verbs and memorizing vocabulary. He certainly never thought he'd use a foreign language in his future career. Click here to read more
back to topSpanish: The Default Foreign Language for U.S. Citizens
source:www.edwardtrimnell.com
Do you live in the United States? Are undecided about which foreign language you want to learn? Well, you simply can’t go wrong with Spanish. Spanish is extremely useful, easy to learn (relatively speaking), and ubiquitous in the United States. Click here to read more
back to topWhy study Arabic?
source:www.edwardtrimnell.com
Arabic is spoken by the 200 million residents of the Arab states. The language is also understood by millions of Muslims living in Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Turkey.
Arabic owes its wide reach to the success of the Islamic empire of the 7th century. Prior to the conquests of this period, Arabic was just one more Semitic dialect, limited to an area of the Arabian Peninsula. Of course, Arabic is not the only major world language that spread through conquest. The same can also be said of French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and even Japanese. Click here to read more
back to topEducation: The Future Doesn't Speak French
Aware of the challenges ahead, American students are rushing to learn Chinese.
By William Lee Adams
Newsweek
May 9 issue - At Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas, the roster for Advanced Chinese V begins with Jason Chao and ends with Kathy Zhang. In between comes an unexpected name: Elizabeth Hoffman. Hoffman, now a 12th grader, began studying Chinese in the eighth grade, has spent a summer studying in Nanjing and plans to perfect her Mandarin when she starts college next fall. When asked by her peers—who typically take Spanish—why she is learning Chinese, she responds with a question: "Why aren't you?" Click here to read more.
back to top Bilingualism retards senility: Canadian study
From Yahoo News
"Our study found that speaking two languages throughout one's life appears to be associated with a delay in the onset of symptoms of dementia by four years compared to those who speak only one language," ... Click here to read more.
back to topThe Brain that Changes Itself
by Norman Doidge, MD
Excerpts from the book
Page 87...
That’s why learning a new language in old age is so good for improving and maintaining the memory generally. Because it requires intense focus, studying a new language turns on the control system for plasticity and keeps it in good shape for laying down sharp memories of all kinds..... Read more.