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Body language expert breaks down royal family's Christmas card

<p>A body language expert has broken down the subtle meanings and messages hidden in the royal family's Christmas card. </p> <p>On Monday, Prince William and Kate Middleton shared their 2023 Christmas card portrait, which features the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children in a charming black and white photo. </p> <p>While their family portrait was met with <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/family-pets/blah-brutal-reactions-to-royal-family-s-2023-christmas-card" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mixed reactions</a>, royal fans wasted no time in praising the family for their charming photo. </p> <p>Now, body language experts have dived deep into the real meaning behind almost unnoticeable actions taken by the royals in the pic. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0pf0IXNv15/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0pf0IXNv15/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Body language analyst Judi James told <em><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/royals/24997829/kate-william-christmas-card-body-language-signal/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-ylk="slk:The Sun;elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="26" data-v9y="1">The Sun</a></em> that, "The strong sense of tight, loving ‘uniformed’ grouping and the stark monochrome, plus the relaxed and confident body language looks like the emotional equivalent of them having a moat and drawbridge around them."</p> <p>Judi went on to say that their choice of relaxed outfits - jeans and white button-up shirts - would be an intentional choice as they show "the strength and total confidence of the pared-down family brand here, without all the trimmings and trappings of their royal status."</p> <p>As she notes, "We know they look superb in formalwear and royal regalia but this is the casual and much more relatable version."</p> <p>Judi also claims that Prince William's slight head tilt "suggests a desire to be liked", while "Kate leans into William’s torso to make this a subtly romantic pose too."</p> <p>Meanwhile, according to Judi, the position of Princess Charlotte right in the middle of the family could be intentional, who says "Charlotte looks so much like the late Queen and this central status-rich pose and beautiful smile are like echoes of Elizabeth when she was young."</p> <p>"This effect doesn’t look deliberate but it is still a rather moving message from this family Christmas card."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Body

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Body language expert analyses Hugh Jackman's last public outings with his wife

<p>A body language expert has analysed the last public outings of Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness before they <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/hugh-jackman-devastated-after-marriage-split" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced their split</a> after 27 years of marriage. </p> <p>The couple were spotted at both the Met Gala in New York and Wimbledon in the UK earlier this year, seemingly looking like a perfect loved-up couple. </p> <p>However, Aussie body language expert Louise Mahler said there could be more than meets the eye at their public outings. </p> <p>“These are two people so well rehearsed at being with each other. They lean in together, they move in unison,” Mahler told <a href="https://7news.com.au/entertainment" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline"><em>7Life</em>.</a></p> <p>Assessing footage from their joint appearance at the Met Gala in May 2023, Mahler noticed that “at one point in the video Hugh goes to walk away and she briefly pulls him back and he stops with no hesitation”.</p> <p>“There is no giveaway whatsoever... and remember, they are both actors."</p> <p>“They are working as a team and showing total harmony.”</p> <p>However, Mahler went on to assess a specific moment from the Met Gala where the couple were gazing at one another head-on.</p> <p>“I’m going to speculate that he has left her because he’s looking at her quickly,” she said.</p> <p>“He still loves her but he’s moving on."</p> <p>“And what I see from her is, ‘I get that you’re moving on, you b******, but I will allow this’,” Mahler speculated about Furness’ body language.</p> <p>Two months after their Met Gala appearance, the couple attended Wimbledon to sit side by side and watch the game. </p> <p>Mahler acknowledged that they looked “a little cranky” but said that they were concentrated on the game and likely had cameras on them “for a long time”.</p> <p>“I don’t see that they’re pulling away from each other in any way,” she said.</p> <p>“In fact, their arms are touching the full length. This is a couple who have been together for 30 years, they know each other. I would say they still love each other, but they’re deciding to go their separate ways.”</p> <p>The Hollywood couple shocked the world on Saturday when they released a statement confirming their separation after being married for 27 years.</p> <p>“We have been blessed to share almost three decades together as husband and wife in a wonderful, loving marriage,” Jackman and Furness told <em><a href="https://people.com/hugh-jackman-and-deborra-lee-jackman-separate-exclusive-7970286" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline">People</a></em>.</p> <p>“Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Relationships

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The most misused word in the English language

<p>A traffic jam when you’re already late.</p> <p>A free ride when you’ve already paid.</p> <p>The fact that the King James Bible is the most shoplifted book in the United States.</p> <p>One of these three things is an example of irony – the reversal of what is expected or intended.</p> <p>The other two (no offense to Alanis Morissette) are not.</p> <p>The difference between them may be one of the most rage-inducing linguistic misunderstandings you’re likely to read about on the Internet or hear about from the determined grammar nerds in your life.</p> <p>“Ironic” does not, technically, mean “unfortunate,” “interesting” or “coincidental,” despite these terms often being used interchangeably. And that frequent misuse has not escaped linguists.</p> <p>According to the editors at <a href="http://WWW.DICTIONARY.COM">Dictionary.com</a>, “We submit that ironic might be the most abused word in the English language.”</p> <p>That’s a tough claim to prove, but it’s clear that confusion over the definition of irony is persistent and decades old.</p> <p>“Irony” makes Harvard linguist Steven Pinker’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/the-58-most-commonly-misused-words-and-phrases-a6754551.html">list</a> of the 58 most commonly misused words in English, and ranks in the top 1 percent of all word lookups on Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary.</p> <p>Even Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald got it wrong, some say, when he claimed in 1939, “It is an ironic thought that the last picture job I took yielded me five thousand dollars five hundred and cost over four thousand in medical attention.” </p> <p>So what does irony mean, really, and where does the confusion come from?</p> <p>Part of the ambiguity probably stems from the fact that there are no fewer than three definitions of irony depending on which dictionary you use.</p> <p>There’s Socratic irony (an ancient rhetorical move), and dramatic irony (an ancient theatrical move), but the definition of irony we care about – and the kind that’s most bitterly debated ­– is situational irony.</p> <p>Situational irony occurs when, as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it, “a state of affairs or an event… seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result”. </p> <p>The trick, according to purists, is the deliberately contrary part – for a situation to be ironic, it must be the opposite of what is expected, not merely an amusing coincidence.</p> <p>A traffic jam when you’re already late may be an undesirable coincidence, but it is not the opposite outcome one would expect when leaving for work late (especially if that person lives in a major city).</p> <p>In an article titled <a href="http://www.collegehumor.com/post/229130/lines-from-alanis-morissettes-ironic-modified-to-actually-make-them-ironic">Lines From Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic,” Modified to Actually Make them Ironic</a>, College Humor writer Patrick Cassels corrects the situation like this: “A traffic jam when you’re already late… to receive an award from the Municipal Planning Board for reducing the city’s automobile congestion 80 per cent.” Now that’s irony.</p> <p>Not every linguist goes by this limited view, though.</p> <p>Ever the champions of fluid language growth, Merriam Webster <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony">argues</a> that Mr. Fitzgerald, Ms. Morissette, and anyone else who uses “ironic” to mean “coincidental” isn’t actually wrong, but is actually just trailblazing.</p> <p>“The word irony has come to be applied to events that are merely curious or coincidental,” the editors write, “and while some feel this is an incorrect use of the word, it is merely a new one.”</p> <p>Now isn’t that something.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>Written by Brandon Specktor. This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/our-language/most-misused-word-english-language">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestsubscribe?utm_source=readersdigest&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;utm_medium=display&amp;keycode=WRA85S">here’s our best subscription offer</a>.</em></p>

Retirement Life

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Body language expert weighs in on Prince George

<p>Prince George has stunned fans by stepping out ahead of his family during the annual Easter Sunday service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.</p> <p>9-year-old George was accompanied by his parents - the Prince and Princess of Wales - and his siblings, seven-year-old Princess Charlotte and four-year-old Prince Louis. And while in 2022 the young royal stood between her parents as they made their way into the service, all eyes were on George in 2023 when he took the lead and strode a step ahead of them. </p> <p>And now, body language expert Judi James - who took note of George at both the 2021 and 2022 services as well - has spoken to<em> The Daily Mail </em>about what she believes the 9-year-old’s new “grown-up dynamic” means - both for himself, and the future of the British royal family. </p> <p>“At this Easter service there was a status step-up from George, who walked ahead to lead his family into the service,” she explained, “showing a newly grown-up dynamic from the five Wales’ when it comes to royal outings.</p> <p>“George used to be the one holding his father’s hand and looking rather timid, but here it was Charlotte walking in alongside William, while Kate held Louis’s hand beside them.”</p> <p>Judi went on to note that even this line-up “had its own upgrade”, outlining how Charlotte had appeared to check in on her younger brother, before sharing “a beam of pride at his impeccable behaviour.”</p> <p>“On the way out of the service it was Charlotte mirroring her mother, walking beside Kate and offering her own shy wave to the crowds in a gesture that showed who she takes her own lead from,” she continued. </p> <p>“Louis was a very different boy from the playful, fidgety young royal <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/adorable-prince-louis-upstages-entire-royal-family" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we saw at the Jubilee</a>. Walking beside Kate he looked serious and confident, offering a level stare at the crowds of fans and well-wishers, who seemed to have saved a special cheer for this mother and son duo.</p> <p>“Kate looked down at Louis with a grin of pride before smiling back up at the crowd, as though sharing her admiration for his grown-up behaviour. Louis even appeared to look down to straighten his tie as he entered the chapel.”</p> <p>Judi circled back to George while discussing the family leaving the service, noting that George was the first to exit, and that he demonstrated initiative when he set out “shaking hands without any prompting.”</p> <p>Meanwhile, many fans just couldn’t believe how quickly the young royal had grown before their very eyes, taking to social media in the wake of the service to voice their surprise. </p> <p>“How grown up does Prince George look today?” wrote one. </p> <p>“Can't believe how much Prince George has grown up,” said another. “He will be as tall as Prince William soon.”</p> <p>“It has been wonderful to see him grow in confidence as well as height,” someone agreed.</p> <p>Another noted that George bore a strong resemblance to Charles Spencer, and that the “Spencer genes are currently running strong.”</p> <p>While others couldn’t forget the rest, declaring “​​Princess Charlotte &amp; Prince Louis too! They are so adorable!”</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Family & Pets

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Body language expert reveals three major turn off signs

<p>In the age of online dating and social distancing, many have fallen out of practise with the art of reading body language. </p> <p>But have no fear, whether you’re brand new to the world of dating or dipping your toes back in, an expert in the matter has shared her tips and tricks on how to tell you’re giving someone the ‘ick’.</p> <p>Professional counsellor and psychotherapist Adrianne Carter took to her <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@adriannefacewhisperer?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">popular TikTok account</a> - where she regularly shares such advice - to teach her audience what she believed would best help them in their pursuit of love, and in avoiding an uninterested other half. </p> <p>Adrianne launched into her all important list by informing listeners that the first sign someone can show they aren’t interested is by creating distance. </p> <p>She explained how they might simply lean away, or even move something - like a menu on a dinner date - to create a physical barrier. </p> <p>“A really simple rule for dates,” she said, “is when someone is leaning in, getting closer to you, it’s probably going well.”</p> <p>Next up, and perhaps one of the most obvious signs that many will miss, is their facial expression. </p> <p>“Generally when someone is giving you the ick you will be scrunching up your nose slightly,” Adrianne explained. “When someone doesn’t like someone or has the ick, you will see that nose wrinkling in disgust.</p> <p>“There will be lots of those expressions, but short flashes of them, it won’t be obvious, but if you look for the signs they will be there.”</p> <p>And circling back to her first point, she added, “when we are interested in someone, we lean in. If someone doesn’t like you, or doesn’t fancy you, they are more likely to make more space between you and them.” </p> <p>“Use it as a warning from your body,” she advised. “If I lean back I am not interested in them - your body will always tell you.”</p> <p>Adrianne’s third sign comes in the form of eye contact. </p> <p>“Creating lasting eye contact is important,” she stated, before noting that it’s equally as important not to give too much, and people should be aiming for anywhere between 60 to 70 per cent. </p> <p>“If you do more that can become too intense and aggressive,” was her reason. “It comes across a bit needy like you are waiting for a reaction.”</p> <p>On a related note, she mentioned that prospective daters are likely to try their hand at ‘peacocking’, participating in the act of wearing or doing something extravagant in a bid to be noticed. Something like playing with your hair, or rolling up your sleeves, can be a sure sign that you’re trying to grab someone’s attention, and vice versa.</p> <p>Another move someone might pull to let you know they’d like a second date? The “eyebrow flash”, as Adrianne calls it. </p> <p>“If you want to know if someone likes you and they’re not giving you constant eye contact, watch for this,” she said. “A double eye flash is where someone looks away, looks again and looks again. It is very revealing, it means the person is interested.”</p> <p>She noted that this last manoeuvre isn’t limited just to dating, with people likely to see it in all areas of their life to demonstrate interest, and that like all good things, it should be accompanied with a smile.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Relationships

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Love languages are hugely popular – but there’s very little evidence they exist at all

<p>Love languages – the concept coined by Baptist pastor Gary Chapman some 30 years ago – has taken the relationships world by storm. It’s often the “go-to” topic on first dates, and for those in relationships love languages are said to provide deep, meaningful and reliable insights into how relationships function. Putting love languages into action is believed to increase relationship happiness.</p> <p>The concept clearly has appeal. At last count, 20 million copies have been sold worldwide of Chapman’s 1992 book The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts. The book has been translated into 49 languages.</p> <p>There is only one catch. There is little evidence to support the idea that love languages are “a thing”, or that love languages do much of anything to help improve relationships.</p> <h2>What are the love languages?</h2> <p>According to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=j6d2EAAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PT9&amp;dq=chapman+(1992)+the+five+love+languages&amp;ots=nDeGjK61-3&amp;sig=cBkMcFvfus9SdjVo7_XMWwCSQdo#v=onepage&amp;q=chapman%20(1992)%20the%20five%20love%20languages&amp;f=false">Chapman</a>, there are five love languages. Each of these love languages is a way to communicate your love to your romantic partner.</p> <p>In his role as a Baptist pastor, Chapman had been counselling couples for years. It was through his observations of couples that the idea of love languages was born. </p> <p>He believed love languages were an intuitive and simple way to teach couples about how to tune into each other’s ways of expressing love. And so, he began running seminars for husbands and wives, and the popularity of his seminars grew. </p> <p>The five love languages are: </p> <p>(1) acts of service (doing something that helps a partner, such as running an errand)</p> <p>(2) physical touch (demonstrating physical affection, such as giving your partner a hug or kiss)</p> <p>(3) quality time (spending time together and giving each other undivided attention)</p> <p>(4) gifts (giving your partner a present that communicates thoughtfulness, effort, and/or expense)</p> <p>(5) words of affirmation (such as expressing your admiration, or complimenting your partner). </p> <p>Chapman suggests that people typically use all love languages, but that most people tend to rely on one love language most of the time. This is referred to as a person’s primary love language. </p> <p>According to Chapman, people are more satisfied in their relationships when both partners match when it comes to their primary love language. However, people experience less satisfaction in their relationships when both partners do not share the same primary love language. </p> <p>Another important aspect of the love languages concept is that relationships are likely to deliver the greatest satisfaction when a person can understand their partner’s love language, and act in ways that “speaks to” their partner’s language. In essence, this idea is about tuning in to what a partner wants. </p> <p>This is an idea that has existed across many models and theories about how relationships function well. That is, responding to a partner in a way that meets their needs and wants makes a person feel <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X16300884">understood, validated, and cared for</a>.</p> <h2>What does the evidence tell us?</h2> <p>Despite the popularity of the theory of love languages, only a handful of studies have been conducted and reported over the past 30 years. Research is largely inconclusive, although the balance sways more towards refuting rather than endorsing the love languages concept.</p> <p>Let’s start with how love languages are assessed. In popular culture, the <a href="https://5lovelanguages.com/">Love Language QuizTM</a> is an online questionnaire that people can complete to find out about their love languages. Despite millions of individuals having taken the quiz (according to 5lovelanguages.com), there are no published findings as to the reliability and validity of the measure. </p> <p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17464090500535822">Researchers</a> have developed their own version of the love languages survey, but the findings did not meet the statistical thresholds to suggest the survey adequately captured the five love languages. Also, their findings did not support the idea that there are five love languages.</p> <p>Furthermore, a qualitative study in which <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08934215.2022.2113549?src=recsys">researchers</a> coded the written responses of undergraduate students to questions about how they express love, suggested there may be six love languages. However, the researchers reported difficulty agreeing on how some of the students’ responses neatly fitted into Chapman’s love languages, particularly in the categories of “words of affirmation” and “quality time”. </p> <p>Next, let’s turn to research testing a core premise of the love language theory: that couples with matching love languages experience greater satisfaction than those who do not. Evidence for this premise is very mixed.</p> <p>Three <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pere.12182">studies</a>, including <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-53018-004">one</a> that used Chapman’s Love Language Quiz, have found that couples with matching love languages were no more satisfied than couples who were mismatched. </p> <p>However, a more recent <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0269429#sec006">study</a> found that partners with matching love languages experienced greater relationship and sexual satisfaction than partners with mismatched love languages. This research also found that men who reported greater empathy and perspective-taking had a love language that better matched the language of their partner.</p> <p>Finally, what does the research say about whether having a better understanding of your partner’s love language is linked to higher relationship satisfaction? Only <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/33e5ad9d94f22e2e3ed60d20094eec27/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&amp;cbl=18750&amp;diss=y">two</a> studies have investigated this question. Both <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/0e7114482de1edf3625039e63b72e678/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&amp;cbl=18750&amp;diss=y">found</a> that knowing your partner’s primary love language did predict relationship satisfaction in the present or into the future.</p> <p>So, as you can see, not only is there very little research investigating love languages, but the research to date doesn’t strengthen belief in the powerful properties of love languages.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/love-languages-are-hugely-popular-but-theres-very-little-evidence-they-exist-at-all-198065" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Relationships

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Body language expert goes to TOWN on Harry and Meghan doc

<p dir="ltr">A body language expert has weighed in on Prince Harry and Meghan after part one of their Netflix documentary dropped.</p> <p dir="ltr">Louise Mahler, an Australian body language expert, told <em>The Morning Show</em> that it was obvious that Harry was “embarrassed” of Meghan during one of the interviews.</p> <p dir="ltr">She spoke of the scene where Meghan explained how she wasn’t aware that she would have to curtsy to Queen Elizabeth II when meeting her.</p> <p dir="ltr">“How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother and that you will need to curtsy - especially to an American, like that’s weird,” Harry said on the show.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meghan then began to rant to say how it was “mediaeval” to curtsy to someone, before mocking the Royal Family’s tradition.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty,” she said as she pretended to curtsy while sitting next to her husband.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was so intense,” she said with a throwaway remark.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, social media has been full of close-ups of Prince Harry’s reaction as his wife mocked his grandmother, with Ms Mahler confirming the “uncomfortable” position he was in.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He looked incredibly, I don’t know, uncomfortable. There was something - see how he’s sort of watching her and he looks off to the side. I don’t know, there was something really awkward about the way he looked at her in this story - and then he looks down,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I would adore him to do more of those looks.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He’s not a theatre person at all.... the whole story about the curtsy was disrespectful.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If you went to a different country with a different culture - say Japan - and they said you had to bow, you would not make fun of that bow. You would see it as a creative opportunity.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think he was definitely embarrassed in that moment - and one of the few moments he was embarrassed and I think he should be embarrassed a lot more.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Twitter users exploded at Meghan’s mockery of the late Monarch and also pointed out Harry’s discomfort.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Whoa. Harry really didn’t like the curtsy mocking,” one person wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Why is it ok for Meghan to mock our culture in this way? Or does racism only work one way?” British columnist Sarah Vine questioned.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is the moment that Meghan describes meeting the late Queen Elizabeth for the first time and how she did not understand why she needed to curtsy to Harry‘s grandmother… He looks a little uncomfortable about the whole thing,” presenter Chris Ship wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is just nasty and unbecoming. Meghan looks like a school bully,” journalist and broadcaster Benjamin Butterworth wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Netflix</em></p>

TV

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Body language specialist gives her take on Fab Four

<p dir="ltr">A body language expert has shared what she believes was happening for Prince William, Kate, Harry and Meghan during Wednesday’s lying-in-state ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p dir="ltr">Body language and connection specialist Katia Loisel told <em>7News </em>that William and Kate seemed “highly distressed” and “struggling to hold it together” during the procession at Westminster Hall, pointing to their lowered heads, furrowed brows and tension in the neck and mouth as indicators.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The more pronounced the lip compression, as is the case with Prince William - his lips pressed together, rolling inwards until they have completely disappeared - indicate extreme levels of discomfort and stress,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan holding hands - which is a break with formality - was a sign they had a “desire to connect and be close to one another”.</p> <p dir="ltr">One photo where William and Kate looked forlorn and Harry and Meghan were behind them looking at each other offered an “interesting non-verbal perspective” on the difference between the couples according to Loisel.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Prince Harry and Meghan use both contact tie signs, such as holding hands, and non-contact tie signs, such as postural echoing, their bodies orientated inwards towards one another, and mutual gaze in a mutual display of support and reassurance,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Prince Harry and Meghan use both contact tie signs, such as holding hands, and non-contact tie signs, such as postural echoing, their bodies orientated inwards towards one another, and mutual gaze in a mutual display of support and reassurance.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Loisel added that the couples’ differences were more evident in moments where William and Kate stood apart while Harry and Meghan held hands.</p> <p dir="ltr">She explained that the separation between the newly-appointed Prince and Princess of Wales was “reflective of their roles and the seriousness of the occasion”.</p> <p dir="ltr">The expert noted Kate’s downcast eyes, lack of facial muscle tones, slightly compressed lips, swallowing and rapid blinking, which she said suggested the royal was “on the verge of tears”.</p> <p dir="ltr">William shared a similar expression, reflected in the tightness of his eyebrows, droopy upper lids, compressed lips and lowered corners of his mouth.</p> <p dir="ltr">After Harry and Meghan kept a “more formal distance” during the ceremony, Loisel said their move to join hands showed they were “non-verbally seeking each other out” in an attempt to reduce stress and share “support and reassurance” with each other.</p> <p dir="ltr">Loisel noted that the former prince was more visibly relaxed upon reconnecting with his wife, after exhibiting signs of being visibly in distress, including a heightened blink rate, lowered head, shifting weight, swaying, lip licking, swallowing, and use of pacifying gestures.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0e19448d-7fff-1714-c34e-c474464df3ab"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">She also commented on a now-viral clip of the two couples greeting fans outside Windsor Castle, where Kate flashed a stern look at her sister-in-law.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">One day satan going to deal with Kate Middleton. This woman hates Meghan and had be pulled into being in the same space <a href="https://t.co/iooEBItfeg">pic.twitter.com/iooEBItfeg</a></p> <p>— Thando - Ntsikasaunty (@ntsikasaunty) <a href="https://twitter.com/ntsikasaunty/status/1568722440003387394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Loisel said the interaction would undoubtedly have affected Meghan’s self-confidence, noting that she appeared uneasy during her public appearance with her husband, William and Kate.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Quite unlike the confident Meghan we know, Meghan appeared ill at ease during this encounter, which is not surprising given the recent criticism that she has faced,” she told <em><a href="https://7news.com.au/entertainment/royal-family/body-language-expert-decodes-kates-icy-stare-moment-c-8239742?fbclid=IwAR2SazRZ293BYA3FNmIKZiVNdaFIBQidZAZNM6RRnYh5OJDph05onMqggH8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seven News</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">She added that Wiliam appeared to make an effort with Meghan, but claimed Kate was acting as though she was trying to “freeze out” Meghan.</p> <p dir="ltr">“On numerous occasions Meghan looked over at Kate, however, the gaze wasn't reciprocated,” Loisel said, going on to say Kate chose to “look through” Meghan instead.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Meghan's hand lifted hesitantly as if to wave, but stopped mid-air, rather pausing to adjust her hair, her head and gaze lowered, before looking up and giving a quick wave, her arm coming back to rest in front of her body in a partial arm barrier,” Katia added, pointing out that Harry seemed to notice, touching her arm gently and coming to her side to protect her.</p> <p dir="ltr">The group outing marked the first time all four have been spotted together in public since Commonwealth Day in 2020, just weeks before COVID-19 lockdowns were first introduced.</p> <p dir="ltr">Once dubbed the “fab four”, the royals were greeted with applause from the public as they walked along the gates of Windsor Castle.</p> <p dir="ltr">During the rest of the walk, believed to have lasted around 30 minutes, the couples appeared to remain separate and barely interact with each other.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-67ead0af-7fff-da5e-430e-f90a644a431c"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">During certain points of the walk, all four split up to greet and speak with members of the public individually.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty Images</em></p>

News

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Five myths about Shakespeare’s contribution to the English language

<p>Shakespeare’s language is widely considered to represent the pinnacle of English. But that status is underpinned by multiple myths – ideas about language that have departed from reality (or what is even plausible). Those myths send us down rabbit holes and make us lose sight of what is truly impressive about Shakespeare – what he did with his words.</p> <p>The <a href="http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/shakespearelang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Encyclopedia of Shakespeare’s Language</a> project at Lancaster University, deploying large-scale computer analyses, has been transforming what we know about Shakespeare’s language. Here, incorporating some of its findings, we revisit five things that you probably thought you knew about Shakespeare but are actually untrue.</p> <h2>1. Shakespeare coined a vast number of words</h2> <p>Well, he did, but not as many as people think – even reputable sources assume more than 1,000. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust puts it at <a href="https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-words/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,700</a>, but carefully add that this number concerns words whose earliest appearance is in Shakespeare’s works.</p> <p>The word “hobnail” first appears in a text attributed to Shakespeare, but it’s difficult to imagine it arose from a creative poetic act. More likely, it was around in the spoken language of the time and Shakespeare’s use is the earliest recording of it. Estimates of just how many words Shakespeare supposedly coined do not usually distinguish between what was creatively coined by him and what was first recorded in a written document attributed to him.</p> <p>Even if you don’t make that distinction and include all words that appear first in a work attributed to Shakespeare, whether coined or recorded, numbers are grossly inflated. Working with the literature and linguistics academics <a href="https://english.asu.edu/content/jonathan-hope-professor-literature" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Hope</a> and <a href="https://slt-cdt.sheffield.ac.uk/students" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Hollands</a>, we’ve been using computers to search millions of words in texts pre-dating Shakespeare. With this method, we have found that only around 500 words do seem to first appear in Shakespeare.</p> <p>Of course, 500 is still huge and most writers neither coin a new word nor produce a first recording.</p> <h2>2. Shakespeare IS the English language</h2> <p>The myth that Shakespeare coined loads of words has partly fuelled the myth that Shakespeare’s language constitutes one-quarter, a half or even all of the words of today’s English language.</p> <p>The number of different words in Shakespeare’s texts is around 21,000 words. Some of those words are repeated, which is how we get to the total number of around one million words in works attributed to Shakespeare. (To illustrate, the previous sentence contains 26 words in total, but “of”, “words” and “to” are repeated, so the number of different words is 22). The Oxford English Dictionary has around 600,000 different words in it, but many are obscure technical terms. So, let’s round down to 500,000.</p> <p>Even if every word within Shakespeare had been coined by him (which is of course not the case, as noted above), that would still only be 4.2% of today’s English language. So, Shakespeare could only ever have contributed a very small fraction, though quite possibly more than most writers.</p> <h2>3. Shakespeare had a huge vocabulary</h2> <p>Ludicrously, popular claims about Shakespeare’s huge vocabulary seem to be driven by the fact that his writings as a whole contain a large number of different words (as noted above, around 21,000). But the more you write, the more opportunities you have to use more words that are different. This means Shakespeare is likely to come out on top of any speculations about vocabulary size simply because he has an exceptionally large surviving body of work.</p> <p>A few researchers have used other methods to make better guesses (they are always guesses, as you can’t count the words in somebody’s mind). For example, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sq/article-abstract/62/1/53/5064657?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hugh Craig</a>, a Shakespearean scholar who has pioneered the use of computers for analysing language in literature, looked at the average number of different words used across samples of writings of the same length. He found that, relative to his contemporaries, the average frequency with which different words appear in Shakespeare’s work is distinctly … average.</p> <h2>4. Shakespeare has universal meaning</h2> <p>Sure, some themes or aspects of the human condition are universal, but let’s not get carried away and say that his language is universal. The mantra of the historical linguist is that all language changes – and Shakespeare isn’t exempt.</p> <p>Changes can be subtle and easily missed. Take the word “time” – surely a universal word denoting a universal concept? Well, no.</p> <p>For each word in Shakespeare, we used computers to identify the other words they associate with, and those associations reveal the meanings of words.</p> <p>“Time”, for instance, often occurs with “day” or “night” (for example, from Hamlet: “What art thou that usurp'st this time of night”). This reflects the understanding of time in the early modern world (roughly, 1450-1750), which was more closely linked to the cycles of the moon and sun, and thus the broader forces of the cosmos.</p> <p>In contrast, today, associated words like “waste”, “consume” and “spend” suggest that time is more frequently thought of as a precious resource under human control.</p> <h2>5. Shakespeare didn’t know much Latin</h2> <p>The myths above are popular myths, spread by academics and non-academics alike (which is why they are easy to find on the internet). Myths can be more restricted.</p> <p>Within some theatrical circles, the idea that Shakespeare didn’t know much Latin emerged. Indeed, the contemporary playwright Ben Jonson famously wrote that Shakespeare had “small Latin, and less Greek”. Shakespeare lacked a university education. University-educated, jealous, snooty playwrights might have been keen to take him down a peg.</p> <p>Working with the Latin scholar <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/english/staff/caterina-guardamagna/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caterina Guardamagna</a>, we found that Shakespeare used 245 different Latin words, whereas in a matching set of plays by other playwrights there were just 28 – the opposite of what the myth dictates.</p> <p>That Shakespeare used so much Latin without a university education makes his achievement in using it all the greater.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-myths-about-shakespeares-contribution-to-the-english-language-189402" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </strong></p> <p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Books

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An Indigenous language could help humans and AI communicate

<p dir="ltr">One of the most challenging problems impeding humans from communicating with Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems could have a unique solution: a language spoken by Indigenous Australians in the NT.</p> <p dir="ltr">Researchers at the University of New South Wales have published a paper explaining how Jingulu - a language spoken by the Jingili people - could be translated directly into commands that both AI and humans can understand.</p> <p dir="ltr">The study, published in <em><a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.944064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Frontiers in Physics</a></em>, details how Professor Abbass worked with linguistics expert Associate Professor Eleni Petraki and Dr Robert Hunjet, a member of the Defence Science and Technology Group to create JSwarm, a language inspired by Jingulu.</p> <p dir="ltr">Jingulu uses just three verbs - come, go and do - which also means that the amount of computational power needed to understand the commands is low. </p> <p dir="ltr">“For us, Jingulu is a dream that came true,” Professor Hussein Abbass, the study’s first author, said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A language that can translate straight into AI commands; a human language that humans can understand; an efficient language in its syntax that reduces computational cost; a language where we can change the context of use without changing its syntax to allow us to transfer the AI between different domains with ease; and a language that is born and used in Australia to support research and innovation that are born and used in Australia.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Professor Abbass works with swarm systems of AI, where groups of robots work together to perform tasks and solve complex problems in a system that draws inspiration from how small numbers of sheepdogs can control large flocks of sheep.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This problem is all about movements in different information and knowledge spaces, including the physical spaces,” Professor Abbass said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“These movements are represented mathematically as elements that get attracted to each other or repulse from each other. For a long time, I have been looking at how we can design the languages used at the interface between the swarm and humans.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Having previously investigated systems that rely on gestures, direct commands, and even music, Professor Abbass said these systems all had their challenges.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They either had a richer language than what we needed or did not map exactly to the mathematics we use for guidance and control,” Dr Abbass said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This all changed one day when, out of curiosity, I was searching on Google for studies that looked at the syntax of Aboriginal languages.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I encountered a PhD thesis about Jingulu, I started reading it then it did not take much time before it clicked in my head; this language would be perfect for my artificial intelligence-enabled swarm guidance work.”</p> <p dir="ltr">This isn’t the first time Indigenous languages have been applied to interesting problems either, with applications dating back to World War II.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Aboriginal people have a long history of contributions to the defence of Australia,” Professor Abbass said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“During the Second World War their languages were used for secret communications. Today we are discovering that the wealth and richness of the Aboriginal languages and culture could hold the secret in human-AI interaction.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f939bc00-7fff-1d15-1260-dd99f6eb4720"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Technology

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You’re less likely to die if you’re treated in your own language

<div> <p>Hospital patients who speak the same language as their physicians end up healthier, according to new research.</p> <p>The study, which was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.212155" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that hospital patients had shorter stays and were less likely to die, fall, or catch infections during their treatment if they had a physician speaking their language.</p> <p>The researchers examined medical records for home-care care recipients in Ontario, Canada, between 2010 and 2018. In total, they looked at 189,690 records.</p> <p>A third of Ontario’s population doesn’t speak English as a first language. Among these home-care recipients, 84% were English speakers (Anglophones), 13% spoke French (Francophones) and 2.7% spoke other languages (Allophones).</p> <p>The researchers examined whether these patients were treated by a physician who spoke their first language (language concordant) or didn’t (language discordant).</p> <p>“We found that patients who received language-discordant care had more adverse events (such as falls and infections), longer hospital stays and were more likely die in hospital,” the researchers told Cosmos over email.</p> <p>Francophones treated by a French speaker were 24% less likely to die, while Allophones’ chances of death dropped by 54% when they had language-concordant care.</p> <p>The authors float a few reasons for this disparity. Previous studies have shown that better patient-physician communication leads to faster and more accurate diagnoses, and more patient cooperation – both of which have better health outcomes on average. Language discordance, on the other hand, correlates to cultural differences between patients and healthcare workers, which is typically bad for patients.</p> <p>“These are staggering findings that make a strong case for providing care in the same language for linguistic minorities in hospitals,” says co-author Dr Peter Tanuseputro, a physician scientist in the Department of Medicine of The Ottawa Hospital, Institut du Savoir Montfort and Bruyère Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario.</p> <p>“It’s clearly easier to convey important information about your health in your primary language. Regardless, the more than doubling in odds of serious harms, including death, for patients receiving care in a different language is eye-opening.”</p> <p>Just 44% of Francophones and under 2% of Allophones received care from physicians who spoke their language. For comparison, 58% of physicians in the study spoke English exclusively.</p> <p>“We expect these disparities to be more pronounced in linguistically diverse populations for the following reason: the odds of receiving care from a physician who speaks your primary language decreases if there are more linguistic groups in the population,” the researchers told Cosmos.</p> <p>“We believe that the results of our study highlight the importance of identifying patients who live in minority language communities so that appropriate strategies can be implemented to increase the provision of language-concordant care to these patients.”</p> <p>This means hospitals should ask patients what languages they speak, establish directories of their staff’s language proficiencies, refer patients to doctors who share their languages, and use professional interpreters.</p> <p>“Furthermore, a healthcare system’s ability to provide language-concordant care depends on the languages spoken by physicians, which should match that of the general population,” say the researchers.</p> <p>“This could be optimised by recruiting physicians with specific language proficiencies, and by dedicating resources to increase opportunities for medical education among minority language communities.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></em></div> <div id="contributors"> <p><em>This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/language-hospitals-care/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com </a>and was written by Ellen Phiddian. </em></p> </div>

Mind

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Struggling to learn a language? 6 tips on how pop songs can help

<p>Traditional approaches to adult language teaching often use <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.254185326340682">resources</a> such as textbooks and generic learning materials that are less than inspiring for learners. <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">New research</a> shows using popular song, as well as films and TV series, for language learning can help connect with people’s interests and motivate them. Based on this research, we have developed six tips for using popular songs to learn a language.</p> <p>Learning a second language can be challenging at the best of times. It takes time and effort to learn a language.</p> <p>Better <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-02899-2_36.pdf">ways to promote enjoyment</a> of long-term learning are needed. Enjoyment helps sustain engagement with a language, which in turn can help improve learners’ confidence in their skills.</p> <p>This is where songs come into play. Songs are a common source of daily inspiration and relaxation, and they also have many qualities that aid learning. The lyrics <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3586887">repeat words</a>, are simple, “conversation-like” and generate personal associations.</p> <p>It’s important for both learners and teachers to be able to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280734191_English_Language_Teaching_in_the_post_method_era">relate to</a> their language-learning resources. Different people will have different backgrounds, interests and cultural contexts. Adult learners in particular often <a href="https://ijels.com/detail/an-investigation-into-factors-demotivating-students-in-efl-learning-at-tertiary-level/">require greater choice</a> in how they engage with language learning prompts.</p> <h2>What did the research find?</h2> <p>Newly released <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">doctoral research</a> on university students shows the benefits of using popular songs, films and TV series as prompts for learning a language. In online surveys, weekly diary entries and focus groups, these young adults unanimously <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">reported</a> they paid greater attention to the language and themes of popular songs beyond their scheduled classes.</p> <p>Students preferred popular songs due to their real-world <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccx071">authenticity</a>, the personalised choices available in streaming libraries, and relatable topics embedded within them. Learners were likely to encounter these songs outside the classroom, increasing their engagement with their studies.</p> <p>One student noted in her diary, "Using songs really helps me to participate more in class because it is something more familiar to me, because I listen to songs every day."</p> <p>A focus group participant said, "Especially in recent years, with technology, a film, a series or a song are much closer to us. We use them much more than a text or a book. After so many years with texts and books, this is much more interesting."</p> <p>One class task used Rudimental’s These Days, a song well known to students. They enjoyed this exercise in comprehension, making inferences as well as identifying tone and central themes of this song about a relationship break-up.</p> <p>Towards the end of the semester, another student noted in their diary, "It is the most fun way of learning and generally the most entertaining way of learning a foreign language."</p> <p>Another benefit relates to the <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/camh.12501?casa_token=iv_gNeISE0kAAAAA%3AlNGii2WZzUpJjLHStrMlulcZyyTOxCXUjvdTie7ZKXUE5cYV-5rhqCeXPFR2eYu8holJhkwS96TCvF7_">mental health challenges</a> young people are facing, especially during the pandemic. There is evidence to suggest the use of song can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168815606151">help reduce anxiety</a> about learning.</p> <h2>6 tips for using songs to learn a language</h2> <p>The new research resulted in the SMILLE Model shown below, as well as six recommendations to guide teachers on using popular song in the classroom.</p> <p>1. Ensure teachers and learners (including learning groups) can self-select the songs and other media when designing learning tasks and for cross-cultural activities.</p> <p>2. Bridge language learning tasks and songs, ensuring selections match the learning objectives.</p> <p>3. Encourage the use of popular song and media outside the classroom to extend learning beyond school.</p> <p>4. Avoid using textbooks or sources that don’t interest learners or they are less able to relate to.</p> <p>5. Discuss with the learners how they relate to the popular song, film or TV series. Use these discussions as a springboard for learning tasks in and out of class.</p> <p>6. Have a range of prompts prepared to help teachers determine students’ understanding of what is going on, the level of involvement, why the event is happening, the topics and messages being portrayed, cultural similarities or differences, and why the source was chosen.</p> <h2>How do music and songs help with learning?</h2> <p>Research shows music stimulates <a href="https://www.nlclibrary.ca/eds/detail?db=cat06118a&amp;an=neos.4059079&amp;isbn=9781400040810">higher-level thinking</a> and helps learners with both <a href="https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/2845/">right-brain strengths and hearing abilities</a>. Music has also been shown to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320692369_Songs_in_the_young_learner_classroom_A_critical_review_of_evidence">strengthen connections</a> to language.</p> <p>In literature classes, music has been <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40648238">used as an emotional “hook”</a> to engage students’ interest in the works being studied.</p> <p>Learning resources linked to popular culture also help <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2014.924392">motivate students</a> who see textbook-type resources as uninteresting or less relevant to their lives outside the classroom.</p> <h2>Evidence of the benefits from around the world</h2> <p>Research has shown embedding songs in language lessons has benefited younger learners across the world:</p> <ul> <li> <p>in <a href="https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol42/iss1/8">the United States</a>, it improved kindergarten students’ motivation, excitement and enthusiasm about learning, increasing their desire to attend kinder</p> </li> <li> <p>in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal-2016-0004">China</a>, kindergarten students’ vocabulary increased as a result of repeating targeted words in song lyrics</p> </li> <li> <p>in <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/0300443981440105">Singapore</a>, reserved and shy students became more confident and comfortable when attempting English pronunciations and were better able to recall difficult language instructions</p> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <p>in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2009.08.002">Germany</a>, students improved their ability to form and identify plurals and vowels for unknown words in songs</p> </li> <li> <p>in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17501229.2016.1253700">Scotland</a>, students in a singing-learning group showed greater improvements in a second language than a non-singing group</p> </li> <li> <p>in <a href="https://doi.org/10.7227/RIE.82.1">England</a>, students were able to learn targeted phrases better in song-focused lessons than those who didn’t use song.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Previous studies of university students have also shown the benefits of using songs for adult language learning:</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.12.021">Finnish students</a> improved their writing fluency</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277267872_The_use_of_songs_as_a_tool_to_work_on_listening_and_culture_in_EFL_classes">in Colombia</a>, students’ listening skills, motivation and engagement in discussions all improved</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="http://languageinindia.com/april2017/shabnamsongsforacademicwriting1.pdf">in Bangladesh</a>, using songs as audio prompts generated richer content in students’ writing and more positive and pleasant learning experiences</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="https://app.amanote.com/v4.0.6/research/note-taking?resourceId=oahFAnQBKQvf0BhiOffl">Spanish students’</a> recall of text improved.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Our <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/exploring-the-impact-of-popular-song-and-sources-of-popular-cultu">research</a> adds to the evidence that popular songs and media are strong resources to kick-start and sustain adult motivation when learning a second language.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/struggling-to-learn-a-language-6-tips-on-how-pop-songs-can-help-184642" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>

Music

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Girlboss or businessperson? Should we highlight or downplay gender in our language?

<p>Just hearing the term “girl boss” makes me cringe. But after reading new research findings on gendered language in the workplace, I’m now more open to embracing it.</p> <p>Gender-neutral words such as “businessperson” may not be gender-neutral at all, and may even be reinforcing stereotypes. This is because if gender is not specified, often we fill in the blanks with a masculine default – so suggests new research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.05.001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> in <em>Trends in Cognitive Sciences</em>.</p> <p>“If anyone suggested saying ‘female politician’ or ‘lady scientist’, I think many would say, ‘No, thank you’,” says co-author of this study, Assistant Professor Stav Atir, from the University of Wisconsin, US. “But wholesale gender neutrality in language is no panacea. Occupation words such as ‘businessperson’ or ‘surgeon’, though technically gender neutral, likely conjure up an image of a man. Likewise, ‘nurse’ (also technically gender neutral) conjures up an image of a woman.”</p> <p>The alternative, using a gender-marking approach, can be useful to highlight women and nonbinary people’s successes in a normally male-dominated field. “In order to spotlight the breakers of glass ceilings and those following in their footsteps, we must mention their gender,” says Atir. “If we discuss the CEO of YouTube, for instance, or the 2020 Nobel laureate in physics, and don’t mention they are women (Susan Wojcicki and Andrea Ghez, respectively), we’d be missing an opportunity to change people’s perceptions of who belongs and who can be successful in these professions.”</p> <p>This is similar to the effect of not “<a href="https://ideas.ted.com/why-saying-i-dont-see-race-at-all-just-makes-racism-worse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seeing race</a>”, where ignoring someone’s <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/does-race-count-in-healthcare/">race</a> means we could be failing to recognise and celebrate additional obstacles overcome by underrepresented people.</p> <p>The lack of “gender marking” could have negative effects on nonbinary people too.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p194192-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> </div> </div> <p>“The gender-neutral businessperson is technically inclusive, but the same male-default thinking that makes women disappear in gender-neutral language likely makes nonbinary people disappear, too.” says Atir. “Even writing about gender in a nonbinary way is difficult using existing linguistic tools.”</p> <p>Unfortunately, gender marking also has its own drawbacks, and potentially reinforce stereotypes between different genders.</p> <p>“Gender marking, then, should not be used thoughtlessly,” says Atir. “Though it can draw attention to professionals whose gender is underrepresented, it can also have ironic consequences, prompting stereotypical thinking and bolstering the perception of women as exotic exceptions to the male rule.”</p> <p><strong>So what do we do?</strong></p> <p>“We might be tempted to throw up our hands and give up the endeavour of using language to express and promote our beliefs,” says Atir. “That would be a mistake.</p> <p>“Language remains one tool in our toolbox for social change, and, unlike some of our other tools, it’s one that we can all use. The key to using this tool effectively is to tailor our language to the context, taking into account our situation-specific goals.”</p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=194192&amp;title=Girlboss+or+businessperson%3F+Should+we+highlight+or+downplay+gender+in+our+language%3F" width="1" height="1" /></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/girlboss-or-businessperson-should-we-highlight-or-downplay-gender-in-our-language/">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/qamariya-nasrullah">Qamariya Nasrullah</a>. Qamariya Nasrullah holds a PhD in evolutionary development from Monash University and an Honours degree in palaeontology from Flinders University.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Caring

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How to learn a new language as an adult

<p>Learning a new language can be a tough challenge at any age, however it seems to be exceptionally difficult to get the hang of a foreign tongue as we age.</p> <p>This is because the human brain becomes less adept at soaking up new information straight away and takes a bit more processing and practice before it’s able to hit its stride.</p> <p>To help us on this path, teacher, Esteban Touma shares his insight on getting to grips with learning another language as an adult and make language learning a fun part of your routine…</p> <p><strong>1. Open your mind</strong></p> <p>As humans age, unfortunately adults become a bit less adaptable than kids – and we don’t just mean physically!</p> <p>We’ve spent years developing a mind system that’s great at organising information. This makes us really effective at learning new things, except for languages.</p> <p>It’s hard to break with the rules of that system, and that’s exactly what you need to do, because you’re literally learning another system.</p> <p>This is why it can seem easier for kids to learn a new language. Children are open-minded and their cognitive function is wide open, meaning it’s less work for them to pick up new things.</p> <p>The good news is that learning a language isn’t really that hard if you’re open to opening your mind! But it does take dedication and motivation to achieve your goals.</p> <p><strong>2. It's about the connection</strong></p> <p>Firstly, it’s important to remember that learning a language is not really about learning a language.</p> <p>What you’re actually learning is how to communicate in a new way with other human beings, so keeping that in mind throughout the language learning process can really help you achieve your goals.</p> <p>Try to connect with people you may know, or listen to podcasts and music in your target language, or read about the country’s history.</p> <p>Also remember that you have to be ready to share your own unique human experience with others in that language, so make sure what you’re learning is related to you.</p> <p>If I’m learning, say, Italian, I would never remember how to say “dove è la biblioteca?” or “where is the library?” but I will always remember how to say “Dov’è la pizza e il vino? Subito!”. Priorities.</p> <p><strong>3. Make it entertaining</strong></p> <p>Watching TV shows in another language is an excellent way to get used to hearing a foreign tongue spoken in real-time.</p> <p>Anything that exposes you to the language is great, so I would recommend engaging with entertainment in the language learning, so long as you find it enjoyable.</p> <p>TV shows, films, podcasts and even video games are all great forms of entertainment for learning a new language.</p> <p>Not only will these forms of entertainment lend added cultural and regional insights, but they’ll help you have fun while doing it, which will help you see your goal through until the end.</p> <p><strong>4. Patience is key</strong></p> <p>While you are learning, be patient with yourself. Learn to love your progress and celebrate your successes. Did you know the word ‘piano’ means ‘piano’, ‘slow’ and ‘quiet’ in Italian?</p> <p>Adding a single new word to your vocabulary can be so beautiful and rewarding. The road to fluency can be hard, but the view along the way is really amazing, so it’s OK if you are driving slow.</p> <p>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/culture/how-to-learn-a-new-language-as-an-adult" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reader's Digest.</a></p> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 26px; color: #444444; background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial !important;"> </p>

Retirement Life

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The variation advantage: how to master tennis, learn a language, or build better AI

<p>Want to become a better tennis player? If you repeatedly practise serving to the same spot, you’ll master serving to that <em>exact</em> location, if conditions remain similar. Practising your serve to a variety of locations will take much longer to master, but in the end you’ll be a better tennis player, and much more capable of facing a fierce opponent.</p> <p>The reason why is all about variability: the more we’re exposed to, the better our neural networks are able to generalise and calculate which information is important to the task, and what is not. This also helps us learn and make decisions in new contexts.</p> <p><strong>From fox to hounds</strong></p> <p>This generalisation principle can be applied to many things, including learning languages or recognising dog breeds. For example, an infant will have difficulty learning what a ‘dog’ is if they are only exposed to chihuahuas instead of many dog breeds (chihuahuas, beagles, bulldogs etc.), which show the real variation of <em>Canis lupus familiaris</em>. Including information about what is <em>not</em> in the dog category – for example foxes – also helps us build generalisations, which helps us to eliminate irrelevant information.</p> <p>“Learning from less variable input is often fast, but may fail to generalise to new stimuli,” says Dr Limor Raviv, the senior investigator from the Max Planck Institute (Germany). “But these important insights have not been unified into a single theoretical framework, which has obscured the bigger picture.”</p> <p>To better understand the patterns behind this generalisation framework, and how variability effects the human learning process and that of computers, Raviv’s research team explored over 150 studies on variability and generalisation across the fields of computer science, linguistics, motor learning, visual perception and formal education.</p> <p><strong>Wax on, wax off</strong></p> <p>The researchers found that there are at least four kinds of variability, including:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Numerosity</strong> (set size), which is the number of different examples; such as the number of locations on the tennis court a served ball could land</li> <li><strong>Heterogeneity</strong> (differences between examples); serving to the same spot versus serving to different spots</li> <li><strong>Situational</strong> (context) diversity; facing the same opponent on the same court or a different component on a different court</li> <li><strong>Scheduling</strong> (interleaving, spacing); how frequently you practice, and in what order do you practice components of a task</li> </ul> <p>“These four kinds of variability have never been directly compared—which means that we currently don’t know which is most effective for learning,” says Raviv.</p> <div class="newsletter-box"> <div id="wpcf7-f6-p191362-o1" class="wpcf7" dir="ltr" lang="en-US" role="form"> <form class="wpcf7-form mailchimp-ext-0.5.61 init" action="/people/behaviour/the-variation-advantage-how-to-master-tennis-learn-a-language-or-build-better-ai/#wpcf7-f6-p191362-o1" method="post" novalidate="novalidate" data-status="init"> <p style="display: none !important;"><span class="wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page"><input class="wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page" name="referer-page" type="hidden" value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" data-value="https://cosmosmagazine.com/technology/" aria-invalid="false" /></span></p> <p><!-- Chimpmail extension by Renzo Johnson --></form> </div> </div> <p>According to the ‘Mr Miyagi principle’, inspired by the 1984 movie <em>The Karate Kid</em>, practising unrelated skills – such as waxing cars or painting fences – might actually benefit the learning of other skills: in the movie’s case, martial arts.</p> <p><strong>Lemon or lime?</strong></p> <p>So why does including variability in training slow things down? One theory is that there are always exceptions to the rules, which makes learning and generalising harder.</p> <p>For example, while colour is important for distinguishing lemons from limes, it wouldn’t be helpful for telling cars and trucks apart. Then there are atypical examples – such as a chihuahua that doesn’t look like a dog, and a fox that does, but isn’t.</p> <p>So as well as learning a rule to make neural shortcuts, we also have to learn exceptions to these rules, which makes learning slower and more complicated. This means that when training is variable, learners have to actively reconstruct memories, which takes more effort.</p> <p><strong>Putting a face to a name</strong></p> <p>So how do we train ourselves and computers to recognise faces? The illustration below is an example of variations of a fox for machine learning. Providing several variations – including image rotation, colour and partial masking – improves the machine’s ability to generalise (in this case, to identify a fox). This data augmentation technique is an effective way of expanding the amount of available data by providing variations of the same data point, but it slows down the speed of learning.</p> <p>Humans are the same: the more variables we’re presented with, the harder it is for us to learn – but eventually it pays off in a greater ability to generalise knowledge in new contexts.</p> <p>“Understanding the impact of variability is important for literally every aspect of our daily life. Beyond affecting the way we learn language, motor skills, and categories, it even has an impact on our social lives.” explains Raviv. “For example, face recognition is affected by whether people grew up in a small community (fewer than 1000 people) or in larger community (over 30,000 people). Exposure to fewer faces during childhood is associated with diminished face memory.”</p> <p>The learning message for both humans and AI is clear: variation is key. Switch up your tennis serve, play with lots of different dogs, and practice language with a variety of speakers. Your brain (or algorithm) will thank you for it… eventually.</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=191362&amp;title=The+variation+advantage%3A+how+to+master+tennis%2C+learn+a+language%2C+or+build+better+AI" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/behaviour/the-variation-advantage-how-to-master-tennis-learn-a-language-or-build-better-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/qamariya-nasrullah" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Qamariya Nasrullah</a>. Qamariya Nasrullah holds a PhD in evolutionary development from Monash University and an Honours degree in palaeontology from Flinders University.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Technology

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How adults learn a new language

<div class="copy"><p>Learning languages is a breeze for young children, but once that window of opportunity closes, for adults it becomes notoriously difficult. Now, Spanish scientists have shed more light on how we get around this.</p><p>While it’s thought that language is specialised in the left side of the brain, the researchers found that the right side also helps out when learning a new language as an adult, providing further evidence of the brain’s remarkable flexibility.</p><p>“The left hemisphere is widely considered to be more or less hardwired for language, but there is plenty of evidence that it is not quite as simple as that,” says Kshipra Gurunandan from the Basque Centre on Cognition, Brain and Language, lead author of a paper <a href="https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0851-20.2020" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">published</a> in the Journal of Neuroscience.</p><p>This is seen, for instance, in the unpredictable nature of language impairment and recovery after brain damage to either hemisphere, especially in people who are multilingual. </p><p>Gurunandan and colleagues noted that adults can memorise lists of foreign or nonsense words but struggle to distinguish or pronounce foreign sounds or tones. They reasoned that this difficulty could arise from non-linguistic, sensorimotor aspects of language.</p><p>“Reading, listening and speaking activate common ‘language’ regions in the brain,” Gurunandan explains, “but they also involve the visual, auditory and motor regions, respectively, and we wanted to study the consequences for language learning.”</p><p>To test this, they recruited 48 healthy native Spanish speakers aged 17 to 60 from language schools. The study consisted of two experiments: one compared basic and advanced level learners of the <a href="https://nabasque.eus/euskara.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Basque</a> language and the second looked at Spanish-Basque natives before and after a three-month language course in intermediate-level English.</p><p>The volunteers performed language tasks involving reading, listening and speaking in their native and new languages while their brains were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).</p><p>While speaking primarily activated language regions in the left hemisphere, results showed much greater variation in which hemisphere was activated while reading and, to a lesser degree, listening. The switch was most apparent in more advanced learners.</p><p>This suggests reading and listening are more flexible throughout adulthood, which makes them easier to learn as people become more proficient, according to Gurunandan. It could also explain why adults can often understand a new language but struggle to speak it to the same skill level.</p><p>It’s striking, she adds, that the switch from a native language to a new one that’s being actively learned recruits the brain’s left hemisphere but lateralises to both hemispheres with greater proficiency, which might also help people separate the two languages.</p><p>The researchers say these insights “have major theoretical and practical implications” for understanding the neural underpinnings of language, clinical patients and language learning in the general population.</p><p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p><em><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="height: 1px!important;width: 1px!important;border: 0!important" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=125490&amp;title=How+adults+learn+a+new+language" width="1" height="1" data-spai-target="src" data-spai-orig="" data-spai-exclude="nocdn" /></em></div><div id="contributors"><p><em>This article was originally published on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/health/how-adults-learn-a-new-language/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Natalie Parletta. </em></p></div>

Mind

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Pope unveils strongest language yet on vaccination

<p>Pope Francis has shared his strongest views on the Covid vaccine, describing it as a "moral obligation", simultaneously denouncing those who have been persuaded by "baseless information" to refuse a life-saving measure.</p> <p>Francis shared his views for the first time in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See: an annual event that discusses the Vatican's foreign policy goals for the upcoming year.</p> <p>Pope Francis, 85, has previously held back from sharing views on the vaccine, though his Covid-19 advisory body has referred to it as a "moral responsibility".</p> <p>Now however, he has deemed vaccination as "an act of love" and that refusing to get jabbed was simply "suicidal".</p> <p>During his speech, he said that individuals had a duty of care to consider which "translates into respect for the health of those around us".</p> <p>“Health care is a moral obligation,” he said.</p> <p>“Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts,” he said, calling for the adoption of a “reality therapy” to correct this distortion of human reason.</p> <p>“Vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease,” he added.</p> <p>Some Catholics, including conservative US cardinals and bishops, have claimed that vaccines were immoral and have refused to get the jab, based on research that claims vaccines used cells derived from aborted foetuses.</p> <p>However, the Vatican's doctrine office has said that is "morally acceptable" for those in the Catholic faith to get the jab.</p> <p>Francis repeated his call for universal vaccines and health care availabilities for all, especially in parts of the world with low vaccination rates, while also calling for governing bodies to let these countries develop their own vaccines.</p> <p>“It is appropriate that institutions such as the World Trade Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organisation adapt their legal instruments lest monopolistic rules constitute further obstacles to production and to an organised and consistent access to health care on a global level,” he said.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Does language work to make the world a happier place?

<p>In fiction, Pollyanna was a young girl who tried to cheer everybody up by urging them to look on the bright side of life. It turns out she was simply encouraging a natural human tendency. Recent research published in the <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, </em>shows that human language has a “universal positivity bias”.</p> <p>The idea that we humans are essentially a positive bunch is not new.</p> <p>In 1978 psychologists Margaret Matlin and David Stang found that people tended to remember positive experiences more vividly than sad or painful ones. They dubbed their finding “the Pollyanna principle”.</p> <p>But the latest research suggests language itself helps create that frame of mind.</p> <p>Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth at the Computational Story Lab at the University of Vermont led the research that looked at the most commonly used words in English, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Indonesian and Arabic. Native speakers from each language were asked to rate their responses to about 10,000 words on a nine-point scale (one being the saddest and nine the happiest). A computer program then analysed the rated words as they appeared on social media, in web searches, <em>The New York Times,</em> Google books (including Melville’s <em>Moby Dick</em>, Dumas’s <em>The Count of Monte Cristo</em> and Dostoyevsky’s <em>Crime and Punishment</em>) and film scripts.</p> <p>Their analysis found that, to quote the old song, humans naturally tend to accentuate the positive, although there are slight cultural variations. Spanish speakers in Mexico and Portuguese speakers in Brazil were found to be the most positive overall, while the Chinese were at the dour end of the spectrum, or, as the academics put it, the “most constrained”. English speakers were the third most positive in the group.</p> <blockquote> <p>The hedonometer found a dip in happiness in France after the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, and a spike in Mexican happiness over the Christmas holidays.</p> </blockquote> <p>The latest research builds on work begun in 2009, when the same team constructed <a rel="noopener" href="http://hedonometer.org/about.html" target="_blank">a hedonometer</a>,  an online instrument that its creators claim can “measure the happiness of large populations in real time”. It chiefly does this by analysing the number of positive words in Twitter feeds. Recently the hedonometer found a dip in happiness in France after the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, and a spike in Mexican happiness over the Christmas holidays.</p> <p>The current research “takes a similar sort of idea and looks at the (emotional) temperature of a large body of work,” says Lewis Mitchell, a mathematician at the University of Adelaide who worked on the hedonometer and also took part in the latest research. He says it shows we are “inherently positive creatures” – although whether our language is the cause is hard to say.</p> <p>But what excites him most about the research is that it gives mathematicians the opportunity to apply their skills to areas that were once the domain of linguists, psychologists and social scientists. Mitchell says the analysis of big data gives mathematicians the opportunity “to measure what was previously unmeasurable”.</p> <p>It also raises intriguing questions about how we frame the stories we share about the human experience. For his part in the language project, Mitchell downloaded 1,000 English language film scripts from the internet to see if he could devise a simple algorithm by which it might be possible to identify the emotional signatures of basic story types.</p> <p>The idea isn’t new. Literary theorists, psychologists and script-writing manuals have all argued that human stories follow predictable patterns. An inspiration for Mitchell’s story research was a brief talk by the US author Kurt Vonnegut on the shapes of stories, in which the author draws a graph of the biggest story of all, which he summarises as “man falls in a hole”. Bad or unexpected events can overtake our protagonist, but experience and resilience can redeem him (he climbs out of the hole).</p> <p>Which brings us back to the positivity bias in language. The big story sees man falling into a hole as an opportunity – a set up that calls forth the adventure and happy ending.</p> <p>Professor Hugh Craig, the director of the Centre for Linguistic and Literary Computing at the University of Newcastle says the research is “impressive” and “something quite new”.</p> <p>“When you start to think about it, it does make a lot of sense,” he says. “When you ask people how they are, they tend to say ‘fine’ rather than ‘terrible’ … people do get rewarded for being optimistic and positive.”</p> <p><!-- Start of tracking content syndication. Please do not remove this section as it allows us to keep track of republished articles --></p> <p><img id="cosmos-post-tracker" style="opacity: 0; height: 1px!important; width: 1px!important; border: 0!important; position: absolute!important; z-index: -1!important;" src="https://syndication.cosmosmagazine.com/?id=6348&amp;title=Does+language+work+to+make+the+world+a+happier+place%3F" alt="" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><!-- End of tracking content syndication --></p> <div id="contributors"> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/social-sciences/does-language-work-to-make-the-world-a-happier-place/" target="_blank">This article</a> was originally published on <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com" target="_blank">Cosmos Magazine</a> and was written by <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/contributor/katherine-kizilos" target="_blank">Katherine Kizilos</a>. Katherine Kizilos is a staff writer at Cosmos.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p> </div>

Mind

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How to use the 5 love languages, according to therapists

<p>Your love language isn’t English, Italian, German, Portuguese, or any other verbal language you can learn in school. The term refers to the ways in which people give and receive love in their lives.</p> <p>Although this includes romantic love, it may also affect how we prefer to give and receive love in friendships and other relationships too.</p> <p>They can also shed light on your personal habits or behaviour that might not seem to be linked to love languages or relationships at all.</p> <p>For example, a viral TikTok pointed out that your love language could be linked to self-destructive habits.</p> <p>If your preferred love language is words of affirmation, you might be prone to negative self-talk, or if your love language is gifts, you may tend to over-spend.</p> <p>That’s just one of the many ways people might use love languages to learn more about relationships and their own mental health.</p> <p>Not sure what your love language is? Here’s what you need to know about the five love languages, including love language examples, how to determine yours, and other insights and relationship advice from therapists.</p> <p><strong>The history of the five love languages</strong></p> <p>The love language concept comes from the book <em>The 5 Love Languages</em> by Gary Chapman, which was first published in 1992.</p> <p>In it, he describes the most common ways that people communicate love, based on his experience in marriage counselling and linguistics.</p> <p>Everyone has a different idea of how to express love to those around them, explains Sanam Hafeez, a neuropsychologist.</p> <p>The trick is avoiding language barriers when your love language differs from that of your partner, family, or friend.</p> <p>Couples need to find balance and harmony given their respective styles and differences to make sure they speak the language of love, says Jane Greer, a marriage and family therapist and author of several books, including <em>What About Me? Stop Selfishness From Ruining Your Relationship.</em></p> <p><strong>What are the five love languages?</strong></p> <p><em><strong>Acts of service</strong></em></p> <p>“Some of us prefer to express our appreciation through various acts of service, like running errands for our partners,” Hafeez says.</p> <p>This love language essentially refers to the things loved ones do for each other to make their lives easier.</p> <p><em><strong>Gifts</strong></em></p> <p>Giving or receiving gifts is a somewhat straightforward love language. People value the thought and effort that goes into the gift-giving process.</p> <p>“People who speak this language cherish the gift and the time and thought put into the gift,” Hafeez adds.</p> <p><em><strong>Physical touch</strong></em></p> <p>Physical signs of affection, like hugging, kissing, holding hands, cuddling, and having sex, are ways to connect and communicate appreciation for those who prefer this love language.</p> <p>“The love language physical touch includes those who require physical attention to express and know that they are loved,” Hafeez says.</p> <p><em><strong>Quality time</strong></em></p> <p>Those who identify with this love language prioritize spending attentive time with their partner or loved one.</p> <p>People who rely on quality time to express their passion need undivided attention from their loved ones instead of a simple “I love you,” according to Hafeez.</p> <p>Speaking this love language may look like identifying a favourite activity to do together, acknowledging it, and doing it together.</p> <p><em><strong>Words of affirmation</strong></em></p> <p>People who prefer this love language value verbal and/or written communication and acknowledgment.</p> <p>Those who speak this language prefer to express and receive their love through spoken words, rather than just spending time together, per Hafeez.</p> <p><strong>What is my love language?</strong></p> <p>Determining your love language requires looking at how you prefer to express and receive love. Hafeez notes that you can identify with more than one.</p> <p>“Not everyone has just one way that they like to show their appreciation,” she says. “It’s common to have a combination of the five.”</p> <p>Paul Hokemeyer, a clinical and consulting psychotherapist and author of <em>Fragile Power: Why Having Everything Is Never Enough</em> adds that not only is it possible to have more than one love language, but it’s also beneficial.</p> <p>“Humans are dynamic and multidimensional. We change and grow over time,” he says. “As such, we need to be able to communicate in a host of languages. The ability to do so opens up our lives and our hearts and enables us to have rich and meaningful lives.”</p> <p>And, no, one language isn’t “better” than another.</p> <p>“I think to make a judgment over which is better or not is to ultimately limit the way love is conveyed, shared, and expressed,” Greer says.</p> <p><strong>The pros of love languages</strong></p> <p><span>Hafeez says that knowing each other’s love languages can be very helpful for both parties while in a relationship. </span></p> <p><span>Hokemeyer agrees, saying the concept of love languages is brilliant. Here’s how they may help:</span></p> <p><em><strong>Deepen understanding</strong></em></p> <p>Rather than question whether you’re meeting your partner’s needs, discuss love languages to get a deep understanding of what they need, recommends Hafeez.</p> <p>“Knowing how to communicate and express your love eliminates miscommunication in the relationship,” she says.</p> <p>Greer adds that another benefit is that love languages help your partner appreciate what’s important to you, what you consider loving, and what you appreciate.</p> <p><em><strong>Improve communication </strong></em></p> <p>People can form better relationships with more communication if they know how to express and receive love, according to Hafeez.</p> <p>For example, if someone knows they need words of affirmation to feel loved, they can communicate that to their partner, making the relationship much healthier.</p> <p><em><strong>Simplify love</strong></em></p> <p>Love languages give people a concrete way to think about how to give and receive love in a meaningful way, according to Hokemeyer.</p> <p>“They provide us with language to talk about what can be a very abstract feeling,” he says. This helps people manage the raft of consuming negative feelings when we intuitively know the relationship isn’t right.</p> <p><em><strong>Build the relationship</strong></em></p> <p>Romantic relationships require reciprocation to be meaningful and enduring, Hokemeyer says. That means that there must be an emotional and physical give and take.</p> <p>“Love languages enable people to figure out what they want to take and what they need to give,” he says. “They are helpful in that they provide a starting point from which couples can learn about their partner and themselves.”</p> <p>For this reason, it’s important to look at them as an art form that you are constantly practising and striving to improve, Hokemeyer says.</p> <p><strong>The cons of love languages</strong></p> <p>A 2017 study in the journal <em>Personal Relationships</em> looked at whether couples with aligned love languages experience more relationship satisfaction.</p> <p>The researchers looked at 67 couples and found that neither sharing the same love language nor knowledge of a partner’s primary love language corresponds with higher relationship satisfaction.</p> <p>So although the experts see value in this concept, there are limits to the benefits.</p> <p><em><strong>It can be narrow-minded</strong></em></p> <p>Hafeez says that, in some cases, love languages can hurt a relationship. “If all the focus is put on speaking in your partner’s love language, you can sometimes forget to listen to what they are saying,” she says.</p> <p>In addition, love languages can change throughout a relationship, so just sticking to one love language can eventually become irritating, according to Hafeez.</p> <p>That’s a real downside, according to Hokemeyer, who says identifying your love language may cause you to see it as fixed and exclusive.</p> <p>“The truth of the matter is that most people are bilingual – they can enjoy multiple love languages,” he says.</p> <p>It’s key to remember these languages are dynamic. They can change throughout life as people mature and come to value different aspects of love and romance.</p> <p><em><strong>It could cause competition </strong></em></p> <p>Another problem: love languages can create an issue of “who does more” overall for the relationship.</p> <p>For example, one person can feel as if they are speaking their partner’s love language all the time, but maybe their partner isn’t stepping up to the plate, Hafeez explains.</p> <p>“This can create a sort of score-keeping attitude and create ongoing issues, such as feeling like one person loves more in a relationship or that the relationship is unequal,” she says.</p> <p><em><strong>The discussion may be misread</strong></em></p> <p><span>Another con that could come out of discussing love languages is that sometimes, when you tell your partner what you like, want, or need, they can translate it as a demand. </span></p> <p><span>They may misinterpret it as a control tactic, Greer explains.</span></p> <p><strong><em>It's not a cure-all</em></strong></p> <p><span>It’s important to remember that knowing each other’s love language will not cure all your relationship troubles, Hafeez notes.</span></p> <p><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article first appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.co.nz/true-stories-lifestyle/relationships/how-to-use-the-5-love-languages-according-to-therapists" target="_blank">Reader's Digest</a>.</em></p>

Relationships

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Music really is a universal language

<div> <div class="copy"> <p>Tin Pan Alley, the Brill Building, Motown – all names synonymous with the creation of often formulaic yet highly successful styles of popular music that swept out of the United States and spread around the globe.</p> <p>Without being aware of it, these mid-twentieth-century hit-makers underpinned the finding of a new study: there are universal elements in music that connect with people everywhere.</p> <p><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.042">In a paper published in the journal </a><a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.12.042">Current Biology</a>, researchers from Harvard University in the US and New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington say songs with a similar purpose – love songs, lullabies or dance music – tend to sound similar, no matter which culture they come from.</p> <p>The findings are consistent with the existence of universal links between form and function in vocal music, the researchers say.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p> <p>“Despite the staggering diversity of music influenced by countless cultures and readily available to the modern listener, our shared human nature may underlie basic musical structures that transcend cultural differences,” says the report’s lead author, psychologist Samuel Mehr, from Harvard.</p> <p>“We show that our shared psychology produces fundamental patterns in song that transcend our profound cultural differences,” adds co-author Manvir Singh, also from Harvard.</p> <p>“This suggests that our emotional and behavioural responses to aesthetic stimuli are remarkably similar across widely diverging populations.”</p> <p>The researchers say they have found evidence of recurrent, perceptible features of three domains of vocal music across 86 human societies.</p> <p>These inform the striking consistency of <span style="font-family: inherit;">understanding across listeners from around the globe – “listeners,” the add, “who presumably know little or nothing about the music of indigenous peoples”.</span></p> <p>Among non-human animals, there are links between form and function in vocalisation.</p> <p>For instance, when a lion roars or an eagle screeches, it sounds hostile to naive human listeners.</p> <p>But it wasn’t clear whether the same concept held in human song.</p> <p>Many people believe that music is mostly shaped by culture, leading them to question the relation between form and function, Singh says, explaining, “We wanted to find out if that was the case.”</p> <p>In their first experiment, the researchers asked 750 internet users in 60 countries to listen to 14-second excerpts of songs.</p> <p>The songs were selected from 86 predominantly small-scale societies, such as the Fulani people in Africa and the Blackfoot Indians from North America.</p> <p>They also spanned a wide array of geographic areas designed to reflect a broad sampling of human cultures.</p> <p>After listening to each excerpt, participants answered six questions indicating their perceptions of the function of each song on a six-point scale.</p> <p>The questions evaluated the degree to which listeners believed that each song was used.</p> <p>The possible uses offered were: dancing, soothing a baby, healing an illness, expressing love for another person, mourning the dead, and telling a story.</p> <p>In fact, none of the songs were used in mourning or to tell a story.</p> <p>The options were included to discourage listeners from assuming that only four song types were actually present.</p> <p>Participants listened to more than 26,000 excerpts and provided more than 150,000 ratings.</p> <p>Despite listeners’ unfamiliarity with the societies represented, the random sampling of each excerpt, short duration, and the enormous diversity of the music, the ratings demonstrated accurate and cross-culturally reliable inferences about song functions on the basis of their forms alone.</p> <p>In a follow-up experiment designed to explore possible ways in which people made those determinations about song function, the researchers asked 1000 internet users in the US and India to rate the excerpts for three “contextual” features: number of singers, gender of singer(s), and number of instruments.</p> <p>They also rated them for seven subjective musical features: melodic complexity, rhythmic complexity, tempo, steady beat, arousal, valence (or “goodness”), and pleasantness.</p> <p>Analysis found some relationships between various features and song function, but not enough to explain the way people were able to so reliably detect a song’s function.</p> <p>Mehr and Singh say that one of the most intriguing findings relates to the relationship between lullabies and dance songs.</p> <p>“Not only were users best at identifying songs used for those functions, but their musical features seem to oppose each other in many ways,” Mehr says.</p> <p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dance songs were generally faster, rhythmically and melodically complex, and perceived by participants as “happier” and “more exciting”. Lullabies, on the other hand, were slower, rhythmically and melodically simple, and perceived as “sadder” and “less exciting”.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></p> <p>The researchers say they are now conducting these tests with listeners who live in isolated, small-scale societies and have never heard music other than that of their own cultures.</p> <p>They are also further analysing the music of many cultures to try to understand how their particular features relate to function and whether those features themselves might be universal.</p> <p>The study asks: Why do songs that share social functions have convergent forms?</p> <p>If dance songs are supposed to indicate unity, their context and musical features should amplify that signal.</p> <p>The research supports this idea: “Dance songs tend to have more singers, more instruments, more complex melodies, and more complex rhythms than other forms of music,” the authors write.</p> <p>Meanwhile, they add, if lullabies are supposed to signal parental attention to infants, their acoustic features should amplify that signal.</p> <p>Indeed, lullabies “tend to be rhythmically and melodically simpler, slower, sung by one female person, and with low arousal relative to other <span style="font-family: inherit;">forms of music.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The researchers say their study raises two key questions about the basic facts of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">music. </span></p> <p>They note that despite the geographic spread of the experiment participants, all could read and write English, and all had access to a wide range of music through the Internet.</p> <p>This raises the question of whether the same assumptions about form and function will be found among people who are familiar only with music from a single culture.</p> <p>The authors suggest exploring this idea would result in “a stronger test of universality”.</p> <p>Second, they believe a stronger demonstration of universals in music would require “in-depth analyses of a cross-culturally representative sample of music from small-scale societies, informed by expert listeners, music information retrieval, and modern approaches from data <span style="font-family: inherit;">science”.</span></p> <p>Nevertheless, they conclude, the present work demonstrates that cross-cultural regularities in human behaviour results in music that fits into recurrent, recognisable forms while maintaining a profound and beautiful variability across cultures.</p> <div><em>Image credit: Shutterstock</em></div> <div></div> <div><em>This article was first published for <a rel="noopener" href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/culture/music-really-is-a-universal-language/" target="_blank">cosmosmagazine.com</a> by Jeff Glorfeld.</em></div> </div> </div>

Music