Posts in Languages
The Guardian: Coronaangst ridden? Overzoomed? Covid inspires 1,200 new German words
The Guardian: Coronaangst ridden? Overzoomed? Covid inspires 1,200 new German words

Linguist who compiled list of words says they help tell story of life during pandemic.

From coronamüde (tired of Covid-19) to Coronafrisur (corona hairstyle), a German project is documenting the huge number of new words coined in the last year as the language races to keep up with lives radically changed by the pandemic.

The list, compiled by the Leibniz Institute for the German Language, an organisation that documents German language in the past and present, already comprises more than 1,200 new German words – many more than the 200 seen in an average year.

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Languages, Education, Lockdown, Media Article, Pandemic, GermanySarah NorrisLando EducationLando Education, Lando, German, Germany, languages, Balkonsänger, the Leibniz Institute for the German Language, new German words, overzoomed, Coronaangst, Kuschelkontakt, Impfneid, Abstandsbier, social media, Dr Christine Möhrs, pandemic, Hamsteritis, Todesküsschen, Covidiot, Einkaufshelfer, CoronaFußgruß, Handschuhe, Weltschmerz, Zeitgeist, Schadenfreude, The GuardianComment
Evening Standard: Languages mustn’t become the preserve of the rich
Evening Standard: Languages mustn’t become the preserve of the rich

In Junior School, my daughter was introduced to: French, Spanish, German and Mandarin. In year 7, she was taught how to learn any language and spent a term learning: German, Russian and Mandarin. In year 8, she’s now being taught: Latin, German and Italian.

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Education, English, Family, Higher Education, Languages, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationLando, Lando Education, languages, Russian, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Latin, Italian, Germans, foreign language, MFL, Google translate, Brexit, Melanie Mcdonagh, GCSEComment
TED Talk: the Danger of a Single Story
TED Talk: the Danger of a Single Story

My daughter was asked to watch novelist Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk for her geography homework. I was listening to it the background and it made me smile/laugh, quite a lot.

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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TED talk, Television, Arts, Charity, Education, English, Family, Higher Education, History, Languages, Media Article, Reading, WritingSarah NorrisLando EducationChimamanda Adichie, TED Talk, Lando, Lando Education, geography, cultures, lives, overlapping stories, novelist, authentic cultural voice, cultural voice, homeworkComment
The Sunday Times: UK university rankings: the best universities by subject
The Sunday Times: UK university rankings: the best universities by subject

As well as institutional rankings, The Sunday Times and The Times have identified the centres of excellence within each of 67 subject areas. The subject rankings are based on student opinion on teaching quality and their wider university experiences, combined with the outcomes of the 2014 research assessments, graduate job prospects and course entry standards.

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Education, Exam Results, Higher Education, Languages, History, Maths, Media Article, Medicine, Music, Science, Space, STEAM, STEM, Technology, WritingSarah NorrisLando EducationThe Sunday Times, UK University Rankings, university, rankings, sujects, research assessments, graduate, graduate job prospects, Cambridge, Aeronautical and manufacturing engineering, anatomy and physiology, anthropology, archaeology and forensic science, biological sciences, chemical engineering, chemistry, civil engineering, classics and ancient history, computer science, East and South Asian studies, education, electrical and electronic engineering, French, geography and environmental science, geology, German, history, history of art, architecture and design, Iberian languages, Italian, land and property management, materials technology, maths, mechanical engineering, Middle Eastern and African studies, physics and astronomy, Russian and eastern European languages, sociology, theology and religious studies, town and country planning, landscape, Economics, English, linguistics, medicine, psychology, Oxford, Glasgow, St Andrews, University of Edinburgh, Birmingham, Strathclyde, Bangor, Bath, Bristol, LSE, Animal science, dentistry, food science, sports scienceComment
The Times: Brighton girl, 7, climbs the Alps on her holidays
The Times: Brighton girl, 7, climbs the Alps on her holidays

As the youngest person to climb Kilimanjaro, seven-year-old Ashleen Mandrick may have earned a break but during the summer holidays she just carried on climbing, this time up the Alps.

Last month the British schoolgirl ascended 4,400 metres to the Colle del Parrot on Monte Rosa, located on Italy’s border with Switzerland, becoming what is thought to be the youngest person to climb the Alps’ second-highest mountain. She was joined on the adventure by her brother Nicolas, 12, and her mother Victoria, 46, a doctor.

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Education, Environment, Family, Holiday Activity, Languages, Lockdown, Media Article, PandemicSarah NorrisLando EducationBrighton, The Times, media article, Monte Rosa, italy, Switzerland, Alps, Mountain, climbing, holiday, rocky terrain, crevasses, Mont blanc, Matterhorn, Mount Elbrus, Caucasus, galciar, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, EverestComment
The Times: Why music really is a universal language
The Times: Why music really is a universal language

“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand,” sang Stevie Wonder in 1976 and now a study backs him up.

Researchers who analysed hundreds of cultures say they have evidence that music is a kind of universal language. Not only does it exist everywhere — it also appears to have an underlying structure that carries meaning between the most distant societies.

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Languages, Music, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando Educationmusic, The Times, media article, Stevie Wonder, study, language, universal, universal language, Samoan, lullaby, Q’ero Quechua people of the Andes, Dance songs, Love songsComment
The Times: Poorer pupils learn to benefit from Classics
The Times: Poorer pupils learn to benefit from Classics

Latin and the works of Sophocles are no longer the preserve of public schools thanks to a project that links professors with underprivileged teenagers.

An initiative between King’s College London (KCL) and Newham Sixth Form College in east London offering lessons in Classics to bright sixth-form pupils is now in its second year.

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Charity, Education, Higher Education, Languages, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationLatin, The Times, media article, Sophocles, public schools, state schools, Kings College London, KCL, Newham Sixth Form College, classics, sixth-form, students, education, lectures, ancient literature, religion, theology, Persian History, philosophyComment
The Times: Italy becomes first to make pupils study climate change
The Times: Italy becomes first to make pupils study climate change

Italy is to become the first country in the world to make classes on climate change compulsory in schools, Lorenzo Fioramonti, the education minister, said yesterday.

From September, schoolchildren will dedicate an hour a week to learning about global warming and the possibilities of sustainable development.

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Education, Family, Languages, Media Article, Science, TechnologySarah NorrisLando EducationThe Times, Italy, pupils, climate change, global warmingComment
The Times: Want to be a success? Fail 15% of the time
The Times: Want to be a success? Fail 15% of the time

Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. But try to succeed 85 per cent of the time.

Scientists have discovered that there is a perfect amount of failure, suggesting that those who get the answers wrong 15 per cent of the time while studying have found the optimum difficulty level to stimulate fast learning.

Researchers said that a success rate of 85 per cent, or getting about six of every seven questions or challenges right, was the “sweet spot” for fast learning, explaining that anything above this is too easy and anything below is too difficult.

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Family, Education, Business, Higher Education, Maths, Languages, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando Educationsuccess, fail, succeed, The Times, media article, learning, education, higher education, perceptual learning tasksComment