Fun Facts about Language Learning

hazel

30 August, 2013

Previously in the blog, we have looked at the benefits of language learning and which methods our students use to learn another language.

Here are more fun facts about language learning, which languages are the most popular in the world today and how the brain learns new vocabulary!

World Languages
It is thought that there are up to 7,000 different languages spoken around the world today.

More than half of the world's languages have no written form.

The world's most widely spoken languages are: Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, German and French.

It is estimated that 75% of the world’s population does not speak English.

The official languages used by the United Nations are English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic.

The ease or difficulty of learning another language can depend on your native language. Research suggests that Chinese and Arabic are amongst the languages that are the hardest to learn.

The brain and language

Research shows that it is best to start learning a language at a young age, with the best age being age seven.

Researcher Neil Fleming says that there are three types of learner:

The visual learner learns from images and writing down words and phrases.
The auditory learner learns from reading out loud or recording their own oral work or conversations.
The kinesthetic learner learns from physical activity or in a group rather than listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration

The language learning process is mainly conduced by the left side of the brain, which controls logic, reasoning and mathematics.

According to researchers, learning a new language in a short space of time can help the brain to grow - which is great news for our students who are looking to take one of our courses!