Applied Languages

New findings by Paul Sulzberger, scholar at Victoria University in Australia, show that foreign languages are best learnt through exposure to its sound patterns. Simply listening to the language, even without understanding a single word, is crucial. According to Sulzberger, this has a positive effect on the structures in the brain which are vital to learning new words.
Sulzberger was looking for the reasons behind the difficulties that anyone learning a new language faces. “When we are trying to learn new foreign words, we are faced with sounds for which we may have absolutely no neural representation”, he says. The answer lies in the neural structures developed by the brain when exposed to new combinations of sounds.
This leads to the conclusion that immersing in the target language and culture is highly beneficial to the learner and challenges existing language teaching methods. So if you are attempting to learn a language, the Internet with its wide range of radio stations offers a multitude of opportunities.

Read more: Times of India

Even though football might be considered a universal language by some, language barriers do not stop at the stadium gates. With more and more players from outside Europe, the new visa system requires anyone from a non-EU country to demonstrate a basic knowledge of English. The new regulations which are coming into force in autumn 2009 are the basis upon which a three-year working permit is allocated.
“I believe that if you go to a foreign country you have to have the ambition to speak the language”, says Arsène Wenger, the French manager of Arsenal Football Club. He stresses the importance of learning the language when moving to another country in order to adapt culturally. “If you want to understand the culture of a country, it is very difficult if you do not speak the language.”
Wenger is, however, concerned that a player could deliberately fail the tests which have to be taken after the first year of residence in the UK. This could appear like a feasible solution to those who have been wooed by another club, but would possibly result in the loss of major investments by the previous club.
Another question remaining is how language issues among players from the various European countries are to be resolved, with no language assessment policy in place for these.

Read more: Times Online, Arsenal.com

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