globanova

[globanova]

Documenting the world’s nearly 7,000 languages.

This channel is literally just videos of people speaking languages and if you’re a language nerd it’s basically the best thing ever.

ETA: They have a tumblr! http://wikitongues.tumblr.com/

[globanova]

TED-Ed: A brief history of plural word...s - John McWhorter

Why do we say "goose" and "geese" but not "moose" and "meese"? Plurals in the English language have been through a wild ride. Check out this awesome video by TED-Ed for a brief history lesson.

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[globanova]

Wincy Aquino Ong tells you how our language is so rich that English can hardly catch up with it

[globanova]

This looks like a simple, nifty idea for the ELA teachers out there.

Ninja Update: Tomes shared that Tales of an 8th Grade Teacher did something similar this past school year. 

[globanova]

MOOCs for real world problem solving MOOCs have received their fair share of criticism but writers at the Harvard Business Review make a good point. Instead of retrofitting MOOCs to traditional education models, it’s time to step back and explore the potential MOOCs can bring to the real world. MOOCs have created students in all of us, and their ubiquity enables communities to get together and solve real world problems - students can range from a undergraduate to a CEO of a large corporation, and through sharing of insights and experience, communities of people can come together virtually and in the work place. This cross continent sharing of ideas and solutions creates a global pool of internationally calibrated knowledge. 

(via A New Use for MOOCs: Real-World Problem Solving - Zafrin Nurmohamed, Nabeel Gillani, and Michael Lenox - Harvard Business Review)

[globanova]

These amazing maps generated from Twitter metadata will blow your mind

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AGGRANDIZE (v.) (uh graan diez) : to increase in power, influence, and reputation

The supervisor sought to AGGRANDIZE himself by claiming that the achievements of his staff were actually his own.

Synonyms: amplify; apotheosize; augment; dignify; elevate; enlarge; ennoble; exalt; glorify;...

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盘 - Pán - Measure word for plate

碗 - Wǎn - Measure word for bowl

片 - Piàn - Measure word for slice

块 - Kuài - Measure word for piece

颗 - Kē - Measure word for small spherical object

糖 - Táng - Candy

冰 - Bīng - Ice

面 - Miàn - Noodle

饺子 - Jiǎozi - Dumpling

汤 - Tāng - Soup

筷子 - Kuàizi -...

[globanova]

Some people seem to pick up a second language with relative ease, while others have a much more difficult time. Now, a new study suggests that learning to understand and read a second language may be driven, at least in part, by our ability to pick up on statistical regularities.

[globanova]

Mysteries of vernacular: Earwig - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

TED-Ed brings us another awesome episode ofMysteries of Vernacular. In this episode they talk about every kid at camp's worst nightmare: the dreaded earwig

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Bilingualism in the Workplace: Advantages of Bilingualism - Found here. 

[globanova]

These are words French people sort of use anarchically regladless of their original gender. This confusion can be explained for example by liaisons (L’armistice = le + armistice, but it sounds like la + armistice), by the facts we mostly use them with their plural form (Les horaires d’ouverture...

[globanova]

Minute Hacks: 5 Things You Can Do With A USB Thumb Drive

(by Hack College)

[globanova]

TED-Ed: Who invented writing? - Matthew Winkler

Mysteries of Vernacular While humans have been speaking for tens of thousands of years, writing has only been around for approximately 5000 years.  Check out this video from TED-Ed to see where writing came from.  

[globanova]

TED-Ed: Mysteries of vernacular: Noise - Jessica Oreck

Mysteries of Vernacular has become an office favourite here at GlobaNova. In this episode they explain where the words noise, nausea, and naval all stem from.

[globanova]

A lot of oldies, but some fresh ideas as well. It’s definitely worth a look, especially since each idea comes with a source. Here are three (with sources):

Set up a poll: Teachers might want to set up a Twitter poll for either their students or the broader microblogging community. The applications are limited only by one’s own creativity; for an added bonus, combine the poll with some sort of geotracker.

______ of the day: No matter the class, a vocabulary word, book, song, quote or something else ��of the day” might very well make an excellent supplement to the day’s lesson. When teaching younger kids, tell their parents about the Twitter feed and encourage them to talk about postings at home.

Start a book club: Within the industry but outside the classroom, some educations band together via Twitter and host their own book clubs. A common hashtag and communicative network is all it takes to share insight and recommendations.