More tips on languages, plus we look more into how to get to the ‘alpha state’ - the state in which the brain learns best.

Read also the fascinating research into the effect of being bi-lingual and its influence in slowing down mental decay. I meant to add them to the last newsletter but they got left off.

I’ve set up a Spanish Word of the Day facility that you can click to on the link below.

You can add a free word and cartoon of the day to your own website by clicking on the following link page at https://www.200words-a-day.com/link-to-us.html .

We’ll add French and German ones in coming months.

--------------------
Spanish Tip: A word for Anywhere
--------------------

Dondequiera is a useful word in Spanish. It means ‘anywhere’.

Put the word ‘por’ at the front and it becomes ‘por dondequiera’ meaning everywhere.

Put ‘que’ after as in ‘dondequiera que’ it means wherever.

e.g ‘le encontraré dondequiera que esté.’ I’ll find him (or it) wherever he may be.

--------------------
French Tip: Is it more rainy or is he older?
--------------------

French for rainy is pluvieux.

Which sounds exactly like the French for older (or literally more old) which is ‘plus vieux’.

Of course the context will right one.

--------------------
German Tip:
--------------------

If you ever visit a German you may encounter ‘ein Stammtisch’ which is a table for regular guests.

A regular guest is ‘ein Stammgast,’.

--------------------
Sample words from 200 Words a Day courses*
--------------------

Click the link for a Spanish Word of the Day.

https://www.200words-a-day.com/word-of-the-day.html https://www.200words-a-day.com/word-of-the-day.html
--------------------
More about Alpha #3 – Silva Method
--------------------
In issue #7 we talked about alpha brainwaves, and how the ‘Alpha State’ is the optimum state for learning.

We are talking now about various ways of achieving the ‘alpha state’ and this issue we look at the ‘Silva Method’.

Dr Jose Silva studied Eastern and Western cultures and devised a form of dynamic meditation which allows users to get in to an alpha state, which is more suited to creativity, intuition and learning. He calls ‘alpha’ the secret gearbox in your mind.

Thomas Edison would sit in his chair with a steel ball tied to his finger. He would allow himself to drift into relaxed alpha thought, where his creative juices would flow. Should he inadvertantly fall asleep (being so relaxed) the steel ball would fall, and jolt him back to consciousness (beta), whereupon he could either act on his thoughts or relax back into alpha again, for more creative thought.

The Silva Method, which only takes 10 minutes to learn, simply gives one a set of tools to drift into an alpha state, and focus on things wants to learn or think about.

For more on alpha click on www.200words-a-day.com/alpha.html .

--------------------
Live Longer by learning another language
--------------------

Monday June 14, 07:09 PM Stay young by speaking two languages By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) –

Two languages are better than one when it comes to keeping the brain young, Canadian researchers have reported. Older adults who grew up bilingual had quicker minds when tested than people who spoke only one language, the researchers found.

They showed less of the natural decline associated with aging.

The tests of people who grew up speaking English and either Tamil or French suggested that having to juggle two languages keeps the brain elastic and may help prevent some of the mental slowing caused by age, the researchers said on Monday.

Writing in the journal Psychology and Aging, Ellen Bialystok of York University in Canada and colleagues said they tested 104 monolingual and bilingual middle-aged adults aged 30 to 59 and 50 older adults aged 60 to 88.

They used a test called the Simon Task, which measures reaction time for cognitive tasks, such as recognizing on which part of a computer screen a colored square appears.

Both younger and older bilinguals were faster on the test, Bialystok reported. "We compared groups of people who, as far as we could tell, are exactly the same," Bialystok said in a telephone interview.

"They have all had the same amount of education. They all scored exactly the same on cognitive tests. They all perform the same on memory tests. And they also score the same on tests in English vocabulary.

"The difference was that half the people grew up with either French or Tamil spoken at home and English outside. They all spoke both languages every day from childhood. People who were proficient in a second language acquired in school were not included in the study to keep the effects clear.

"It's not a facility. It's not a talent," Bialystok said. Rather it was a case of being forced from a young age to function in two languages.

Bialystok said her earlier study with children suggested these circumstances force a change in the way the brain processes information.

"In the monolingual group the differences between the younger adults and the older adults were in line with (the decline seen) in previous research," Bialystok said.

"In the older bilingual they slowed down significantly less, dramatically less." Bialystok has not tested people who acquired languages later in life but believes learning new languages can only be good for the brain.

"Language is always good -- more language is always better," she said.

That is it for this newsletter. See you next time.

Hasta la vista...À bientôt...Bis bald.

Kevin Crocombe & the 200 Words a Day Team
https://www.200words-a-day.com/main-page.html
--------------------
The Team
Tom White; Odette; Nigel; Dominic; Albin Vidal; Maud Wojcik; Germain Tottet; Mariana Averza; Julia Watson; Eduardo Aceto; Maria Llorente; Chris White; Alan White, Sandrine Benoit.

--------------------
School Programmes are available worldwide. Words in our courses cover the syllabus in most English-speaking countries.

UK Schools qualify for e-Learning Credits.
--------------------
Trade enquiries are welcome.
--------------------

200 Words a Day!
32 Alverton, Great Linford, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK14 5EF, United Kingdom.
Tel: (+44) 1908 676 873

Learn Languages the 200 Words a Day way!