Talk4Meaning

A flat white skinny latte and a double chocolate chip muffin: or how we learn vocabulary very quickly!

Date posted: Friday 8th March 2013

I have had quite a sheltered life. Last week I did something for the first time: I had a flat white skinny latte. You may be surprised at my lack of experience, but it takes me a while to pluck up the courage to try new things. Early in my coffee drinking days I used to go into the coffee shop and unintentionally annoy the young woman behind the counter. There would be a huge queue and when it was my turn the dialogue between myself and the Barrista (let’s call her Magda) would go like this:
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Cary Grant’s Secret or How to develop children’s vocabulary for free!

Date posted: Sunday 24th February 2013

My Granny once gave me three pieces of useful advice: always carry a handkerchief, wear clean pants every day in case you fall down in the street and end up in hospital, and never trust a man who changes his name. Granny was ‘Old School’, and this post is about two of those nuggets. (more…)

~@!!?**! Or how many times do you need to hear a word before you remember it?

Date posted: Wednesday 30th January 2013

When I was 13 I saw the film Charade, starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

I had never heard of Audrey Hepburn before, but her name (and face) stuck in my mind instantly and forever. When I was 21 I had the same experience with Nastassja Kinski. That was around the time I was studying to be a Speech and Language Therapist. One of our first lectures was led by Professor Soandso from Suchandsuch University. His opening line was “Of course you all realise that a child has to hear a word 500 times before he can start using it.” (more…)