Language News

In response to America’s language deficit, a bipartisan Congressional report has called for the country to “to value language education as a persistent national need similar to education in math or English, and to ensure that a useful level of proficiency is within every student’s reach.” Earlier this year, CIA Director Gina Haspel included “emphasizing…

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Confidence in classroom technology is growing, but confidence in how best to use it has not kept pace. According to one study, commissioned by Samsung, 90 percent of K-12 teachers surveyed believe that technology in the classroom is important to student success, but only 60 percent feel they are adequately prepared to use it. Another study…

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When learning a language, there’s one skill that’s more neglected than the others. It’s underestimated both in terms of its complexity and its utility. It’s less glamorous than speaking, and more difficult to master than reading. Listening, unfortunately, is the black sheep of language learning. A recently-posted discussion thread on Quora began with the question,…

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If Latin is a dead language, why is it still so useful in modern life? In an educational system that prioritizes STEM and hard skills, where spoken languages can be swapped out for coding languages, it can be hard to drum up interest in Latin. But the so-called “dead language” complements nearly any skill set…

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Educators’ confidence in digital tools is increasing, but legitimate concerns remain. Not all ed tech is designed or implemented equally, so how can language teachers find the right tools to meet their needs—and the needs of their students? A 2015 report by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation found a shift in the perception of…

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