MSI Press Blog

  Journalists don’t necessarily learn better than university students, but they learn faster, deeper, and more situationally . Their learning is driven by curiosity, urgency, and the need to connect with sources and audiences. Unlike diplomats, who learn for precision and protocol, journalists learn for access and authenticity. 🗞️ Why journalists learn differently Journalistic language learning is shaped by the demands of storytelling and fieldwork. 1. Urgency and immersion Reporters often learn on the job: interviewing locals, reading regional papers, decoding slang and idioms, and navigating dialects. They absorb language through context and necessity , not through structured lessons. 2. Functional fluency over grammatical perfection Journalists prioritize: understanding nuance, capturing tone, and quoting accurately. They may speak imperfectly but communicate effectively—because their goal is connection , not correctness. 3. Emotional and cultural attunement To tell stories we...

  We regret to announce that on March 18, 2017, Boris Shekhtman passed into eternal rest after a long battle with cancer. His colleague and friend, Natalia Lord, wrote the following commentary on his obituary page: I have known Boris since 1982 as a colleague and friend. He was a genuine trailblazer in foreign language teaching, caring not only about what bits of language his students had acquired, but also focusing on how to help them effectively use their language in face t o face communication with native speakers. His belief that an instructor is responsible a student's proficiency, spurred him to come up with his Rules of Communication and eventually his own method of teaching. He continued to learn from his student's challenges and pass along the findings to the broader foreign language teaching community through his writings. The full significance of his contribution to the field probably won't be understood for quite some time because he was so far ahead of most of ...