MSI Press Blog

  🧠 When Words Take the Scenic Route: Aging, Language, and the Gentle Art of Retrieval As I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed a subtle but persistent shift in how quickly I can summon certain words—especially names and everyday nouns. The knowledge hasn’t vanished; it’s still tucked safely in the archives. But the path to it has grown a little longer, like a familiar street that now has a few more stop signs. What used to be instantaneous—snapping to mind like a reflex—now takes a beat. Sometimes a few seconds. Occasionally, half a minute. It’s not alarming, just... different. And it turns out, it’s also completely normal. Cognitive research backs this up: while processing speed tends to slow with age, comprehension, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning often remain steady or even improve. Verbs and functional language—the linguistic glue of everyday conversation—are especially resilient. They’re used constantly, embedded in procedural memory, and rarely go missing. It’s the proper nouns,...

  The Role of Conative Variables in Language Learning Textbooks often divide language learning motivation into tidy categories: intrinsic vs. extrinsic , integrative vs. instrumental , short-term vs. long-term , self-efficacy vs. obligation . The reality, however, is rarely that neat. Over a lifetime of learning—and in some cases, mastering—languages, I’ve found that my motivations were layered, situational, and constantly shifting. The umbrella term for this drive is conative values —the will, persistence, and personal disposition that push us forward. Conative values are not fixed; they vary by language, by life stage, and by circumstance. My own language history makes this point vividly. When I was nine, I learned Latin not because it was on any school curriculum, but because my father knew it, wanted to teach it to me, and it gave me precious time with him. My conative value here wasn’t academic ambition—it was connection. Learning Latin became a way to share his world. At twe...

  For many language learners, translation is the default bridge between unfamiliar words and understanding. But for me, translation has never been the path—I bypass it entirely. I do not translate. I comprehend directly, or I don’t comprehend at all. And when I don’t, I approach the text as I would an esoteric passage in English: through context, inference, and inquiry—not through conversion into my native tongue. This isn’t a philosophical stance—it’s a practical necessity. With over twenty languages floating around in my head, reaching for a specific one to serve as a translation anchor is not just inefficient—it’s cognitively disruptive. The languages don’t line up neatly. They swirl, overlap, and sometimes compete. In multilingual settings, English is often absent altogether. I’ve been in situations where I’ve acted as a go-between—not from English to another language, but between two foreign languages. These aren’t rare occurrences; they’re woven into the fabric of my prof...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from  My 20th Language  by Dr. Betty Lou Leaver --  HARES, TORTOISES, AND i You know the story: the hare dashes off and the tortoise plods along. In the classic fable, the tortoise wins. But in the world of language learning, things are more nuanced. I've met both types of learners many times over. The hares are the ones who shoot out of the gate — fast starters, quick to speak, full of confidence. They reach what I call the “awfully fluent” stage early on. You’ve probably heard it — learners who sound great at first blush, but when you listen more closely, you hear gaps, fossilized errors, awkward phrasing, or missing nuance. They’ve got the rhythm down, and even the accent, but it’s a bit like a beautifully frosted cake with a sunken middle. I say this with no judgment — because I am a hare. Then there are the tortoises. They move more slowly at the beginning. They're deliberate, careful, often hesitant to speak early on. T...