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Category: Language

  • Sisu: An Important Concept of Finnish Resilience
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    Sisu: An Important Concept of Finnish Resilience

    In the depths of a Nordic winter, when daylight is a fleeting rumor and temperatures plunge well below freezing, you will find Finns swimming in ice-cut lakes or trekking through knee-deep snow. To an outsider, it’s a spirited cultural tradition. In Finnish, it is called sisu. What Does It Actually Mean? Pronounced see-su, this untranslatable Finnish…

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  • 6 Non-English Words Express Emotions Better
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    6 Non-English Words Express Emotions Better

    While how a language expresses emotions is largely culture-specific, some words express specific emotions that we all understand. And they don’t exist in English. Gigil (Tagalog) This word captures a visceral, present-moment reaction to something overwhelmingly adorable. It describes that intense, almost aggressive urge to squeeze, pinch, or bite something adorable. The chubby-cheeked baby, a…

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  • Learning a New Language Is Beneficial to the Brain
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    Learning a New Language Is Beneficial to the Brain

    For most people, learning a second language is a practical decision: career advancement or immigration. What tends to get less attention is what the process is doing to the brain in the background. But there are many benefits of learning a new language that can change the brain structure. Over the past decades, research on…

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  • Do We Listen to the Sound More than the Words?
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    Do We Listen to the Sound More than the Words?

    “It’s gonna be fine.” Emily leaned across the coffee shop table, her hands wrapped around a ceramic mug, as her friend repeatedly reassured her about the ongoing project. Same words, same sentence. And this time, the pitch slightly fluctuated, the tempo slowed, and warmth crept into each syllable like honey dissolving in a cup of…

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  • Lost in Translation: When Words Journey Across Cultures
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    Lost in Translation: When Words Journey Across Cultures

    The story has become marketing legend: In the 1970s, American automaker Chevrolet proudly marketed the Nova across Latin America, only to have sales lag because “No va” means “it doesn’t go” in Spanish. The tale, however good, is largely a myth. The Nova actually did sell briskly in Mexico and Venezuela, even running ahead of…

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