MSI Press Blog

  Second language acquisition has always been treated as a primarily cognitive endeavor—words, grammar, memory, input, output. But human beings do not learn languages with the brain alone. We learn with the body, the senses, the emotions, and the rhythms that shape how we move through the world. Dance, often dismissed as extracurricular or “arts enrichment,” is in fact one of the most neurologically potent tools available to language learners. Dance is not a metaphor for language learning. It is a mechanism for it. 1. Dance Activates the Whole Brain—Exactly What Adult Learners Need Adult language learners benefit from multimodal stimulation: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, emotional, and social. Dance activates all of these simultaneously. Neuroscientists have shown that dance integrates: Motor cortex (movement planning and execution) Cerebellum (coordination, timing, sequencing) Basal ganglia (pattern recognition and habit formation) Hippocampus (memory consolidation) Prefronta...

Today's Publisher's Pride is  How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately  by Boris Shekhtman, which reached  #6 in study and teaching references . the successful practices of diplomats and international journalists now available to any language learner Book description: This is the fifth edition of a popular book that provides a unique set of tools designed to enhance an individual's success in communicati0n in a foreign language environment. The devices presented allow the speaker of a foreign language to demonstrate the level of his/her language more impressively, so impressively, in fact, that it appears that the speaker's language itself has improved overnight. These techniques were developed and tested by the author with adult professionals in such varied fields as journalism, diplomacy, government, and international business. Many of these professionals have attested to the efficacy of these tools in their own columns. "This book provides the most bang ...