2015-04-06 Communication: accents, memory, misc.

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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“BBC English” - used to be the standard accent that all BBC reporters needed to have (more commonly called “RP” = “Received Pronunciation”, because it was “received” in private schools in England, rather than being anyone’s native regional accent)

Now, BBC encourages reporters from other places to keep their accents, partly to seem more reliable and authentic when they explain news in those places.

de jure = by law (there is no de jure official language in the US)
de facto = in fact (English is the de facto official language in the US)

loan words = words originally from one language that become part of another language

If you want to learn a language very quickly and well, be a baby.

confirmation bias = You remember things much more strongly if they confirm things you already believe or want to believe, than you do if they go against what you previously thought.

(cognitive biases = common mental tendencies like this^ which result in believing or remembering things incorrectly)
- You can find lists of biases on Wikipedia, for example.