Toddlers can learn second language at 20 months

August 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has shown that bilingual people are not actually capable of "turning off" a language entirely. Ghent University psychologists Eva Van Assche, Wouter Duyck, Robert Hartsuiker and Kevin Diependaele have found that knowledge of a second language actually has a continuous impact on native-language reading.

August 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Dogs' mental abilities are close to a human child age 2 to 2.5 years, according to a new research. Psychologist and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of British Columbia has reviewed numerous studies to conclude that dogs have the ability to solve complex problems and are more like humans and other higher primates than previously thought.

July 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has shown that squirrels quickly learn by watching their peers. In the study, Dr Lisa Leaver of the University of Exeter and her colleagues tested grey squirrels' ability to learn to choose between two pots of food after watching another squirrel remove a nut from one of the pots.

July 26th, 2009 LONDON - The way text messages are composed using technological jargon and abbreviations is a new threat to clear language, the Plain English Campaign has warned on its 30th anniversary. The organisation likens incomprehensible instruction manuals and the 'text speak' associated with mobile phones and the internet to the hard-to-understand legal language of 'small print'.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Having conversations with your children could help them develop language skills, according to a new study. The study by UCLA researchers has found that adult-child conversations have a more significant impact on language development than exposing children to language through one-on-one reading alone.

June 29th, 2009 LONDON - A group of British pensioners have been barred from enjoying a coffee morning at a public library for health and safety reasons. The seven members of the coffee morning for over 50s have met at Eye Library in Eye, near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, every Tuesday for the last four years without incident.

May 7th, 2009 LONDON - Linguistic experts have revealed that the one-millionth word will be added to the English language next month. The experts say since English has become the world's main language, new words are being introduced at the rate of 14.7 a day, reports The Sun.

April 20th, 2009 LONDON - Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Monday criticised Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's campaign pledge to banish the use of English in Uttar Pradesh, saying such a move would only deepen existing divisions between the haves and have-nots in the state. 'I don't know what Mulayam Singh Yadav has in mind...

April 20th, 2009 LONDON - Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Monday criticised Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's campaign pledge to banish the use of English in Uttar Pradesh, saying such a move would only deepen existing divisions between the haves and have-nots in the state. 'I don't know what Mulayam Singh Yadav has in mind...

April 3rd, 2009 LONDON - A leading educationalist in the UK says that kids learn four times fast when they are taught by the best teachers, compared to those taught by the worst ones. Professor Dylan Wiliam, of the Institute of Education, London, suggests that the Government better focus on making teachers better at their jobs, instead of cutting class sizes or buying new technology.

March 30th, 2009 LONDON - Watching how a tot reacts to cartoons could help spot autism, according to a new research. It is already known that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) tend to stare at people's mouths rather than their eyes.

March 20th, 2009 LONDON - A British postmaster born in Sri Lanka has caused a stir by declaring that he will refuse to serve customers in his shop if they do not speak English. Deva Kumarasiri, who came to Britain from Sri Lanka 18 years ago, runs the Sneinton Boulevard Post Office in Nottingham, central Britain.

March 18th, 2009 LONDON - One in seven migrant pupils in the United Kingdom does not speak English, even as the number of immigrant children in primary schools has soared by 25 per cent in five years. According to The Sun, around 566,000 primary children now have a foreign language as their mother tongue - up by 113,500 since 2004.

March 7th, 2009 LONDON - Actress Charlize Theron has been inspired to take Spanish lessons after learning to curse in the language on the sets of her new film 'The Burning Plain'. The 33-year-old worked with Mexican director Guillermo Arriaga on the film and the moviemaker helped improve her Spanish skills by teaching her a string of swear words, contactmusic.com reports.

December 25th, 2008 LONDON - James Bond star Daniel Craig says he found it tough learning Russian for his new film 'Defiance' and nearly gave up in the middle. The actor had to learn the language for his role in the upcoming World War II movie in which he plays one of four Polish brothers who help save Jews from the Nazis.