How do children learn their mother tongue

If you want to learn a foreign language, you need to have good command of your mother tongue. There is no doubt that babies and toddlers learn a language in a different way than do adults. Until the late 1950's, behavioral researchers were of the opinion that babies are born without any linguistic disposition. As a result of further examinations, it became clear that acquiring a language as well as acquiring human behavior is based on stimulus-response mechanisms. If the child frequently gets in touch with these stimuli and is encouraged, he will learn to repeat the sounds that have triggered a positive reaction in a similar situation. Does this mean,through the eyes of the behavioral researchers, that second language acquisition concentrates on learning certain language patterns by heart?
One of the most convincing arguments against this theory of children's language acquisition is: If children could only learn a language by imitating sounds, they were only able to use words and sentences that they have heard before. However, babies and toddlers use real words and structures to create new words. As a result of this, researchers came to the conclusion that babies have the ability to acquire language from birth on. The researcher Chomsky has shown that each human being has a disposition to develop language. By seeing how language is used, children finally learn to use it themselves

Winston Churchill's MasterPiece Quotes

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference

Broadly speaking, the short words are the best, and the old words best of all.

Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen

Difficulties mastered are opportunities won

Eating words has never given me indigestion

Great and good are seldom the same man

I always avoid prophesying beforehand, because it is a much better policy to prophesy after the event has already taken place

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught

I am prepared to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter

I never worry about action, but only inaction

If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another

If you are going through hell, keep going

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words, and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet

In those days he was wiser than he is now; he used to frequently take my advice

India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the Equator

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened

My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me

My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them

My wife and I tried two or three times in the last 40 years to have breakfast together, but it was so disagreeable we had to stop

Never, never, never give up

No comment" is a splendid expression. I am using it again and again

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.

Politics are very much like war. We may even have to use poison gas at times.

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business

Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind

The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see

The first quality that is needed is audacity

The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself
The price of greatness is responsibility

There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you.

This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.

We are all worms. But I believe that I am a glow-worm

We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give

We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival

We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us

When the war of the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life

World's Number One Orator, Winston Churchill

Born 30 November 1874 (1874-11-30 BlenHeim, Oxfordshire,England, United Kingdom
Died 24 January 1965 (aged 90) Hyde Park, London, England, United Kingdom
Resting place St Martin’s Church, Bladon, EnglandNationality British
Political party Conservative (1900–1904, 1924–1964) Liberal (1904–1924)
Spouse(s) Clementine Churchill
Relations Pamela Harriman, daughter-in-law
Children Pamela HarrimanRandolph Churchill
Sarah Tuchet-Jesson
Marigold Churchill
Mary Soames
Residence 10 Downing Street (official) Chartwell (private)
Alma mater Harrow School, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Profession Member of Parliament, statesman, soldier, journalist, historian, author, painter

The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), the son of Lord Randolph Churchill and an American mother, was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. After a brief but eventful career in the army, he became a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1900. He held many high posts in Liberal and Conservative governments during the first three decades of the century. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty - a post which he had earlier held from 1911 to 1915. In May, 1940, he became Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and remained in office until 1945. He took over the premiership again in the Conservative victory of 1951 and resigned in 1955. However, he remained a Member of Parliament until the general election of 1964, when he did not seek re-election. Queen Elizabeth II conferred on Churchill the dignity of Knighthood and invested him with the insignia of the Order of the Garter in 1953. Among the other countless honours and decorations he received, special mention should be made of the honorary citizenship of the United States which President Kennedy conferred on him in 1963.Churchill's literary career began with campaign reports: The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899), an account of the campaign in the Sudan and the Battle of Omdurman. In 1900, he published his only novel, Savrola, and, six years later, his first major work, the biography of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill. His other famous biography, the life of his great ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, was published in four volumes between 1933 and 1938. Churchill's history of the First World War appeared in four volumes under the title of The World Crisis (1923-29); his memoirs of the Second World War ran to six volumes (1948-1953/54). After his retirement from office, Churchill wrote a History of the English-speaking Peoples (4 vols., 1956-58). His magnificent oratory survives in a dozen volumes of speeches, among them The Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The Dawn of Liberation (1945), and Victory (1946).

Speech Organs, How Important?

Speech organs produce the many sounds needed for language. Organs used include the lips, teeth, tongue, alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum (soft palate), uvula and glottis.
Speech organs - otherwise articulators - are divide into two: passive articulators and active articulators. Passive articulators are those which remains static during the articulation of sound. Upper lips, upper teeth, alviolar ridge, hard palate etc. are the passive articulators. Active articulators move towards these passive articulators to produce various speech sounds, in different manner. The most important active articulator is tongue. Uvula, lower jow which include lower teeth and lower lip are the other active articulators

The Origin Of The Blarney Stone

The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney about 5 miles (8 km) from Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the Stone and tour the castle and its gardens.
The word blarney has come to mean clever, flattering, or coaxing talk.
The proprietors of Blarney Castle list several alternative explanations for the origins of the Stone and its supposed powers, many of which suppose that the Stone had previously been in Ireland but was then taken to Scotland and returned to Ireland in 1314.[1] The theories listed include those that the stone:
was part of the wailing wall in Jerusalam brought to Ireland during the Crusades.
was half of the original Stone of Scone - presented to Cormac McCarthy by Robert the Bruce in 1314 in recognition of his support in the Battle of Bannockburn.[1].
was the stone that Jacob used as a pillow, and was brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah.
was the pillow used by St. Columba of Iona on his deathbed.
was the Stone of Ezel, which David hid behind on Jonathan's advice, while fleeing from King Saul, and may have been brought back to Ireland during the Crusades.
was the rock that Moses struck with his staff to produce water for the Israelites, during their flight from Egypt.
was related to the stone was known as the Lia Fáil or "Stone of Destiny" - part of the king's throne, with mysterious powers.
None of these provenance stories account for why a stone of such significance and antiquity would be used in the construction of a fifteenth century castle, inconspicuously incorporated into an exterior wall and exposed to the elements. Apart from discoloration and wear caused by human contact, the stone is not readily distinguishable from its neighbors

USEFUL TIPS

Two Simple Techniques to Gain Fluency in English

1. Use Active Voice
Active Voice and Passive Voice are two ways to speak. Although both the methods are theoritically and grammatically correct, the use of active voice makes speech easy and effective. Avoid passive sentences in speeches as far as possible. According to a research conducted, it takes upto 25% more time to understand a passive sentence. It is also difficult to utter a passive sentence.
Examples: You did the cooking?(active voice)
The cooking was done by you(passive voice)

2 Use Direct Speech
Direct speech means those words of the speaker that are enclosed within inverted commas.
Examples: John said,"I have done my homework"
Indirect speech means that we do not use the actual words of the speaker.
Examples: John said that he had done his homework.

INTRODUCTION

English is the most important language of communication in the world. It is the most widely spoken language, cutting accross geographical barriers. Although Mandarin Chinese and Hindi is spoken by millions, it is essentially confined to select places, thus not compelling people from other nations to learn these languages. Although, many countries have tried a policy of systematic phasing out of english, by promoting their own language for their day to day official communication, the significance of english, as a language of interaction remains. Very few international business agreements take place without the use of english. With the advancement of science and technology, and with the exchange of more and more culture between nations, knowledge of english has become indispensible. It has managed to bring people of different culture, race and ethnic group closer. In some regions, knowledge of english is a matter of status and dignity in society. People conversing in english are considered sophisticated and advanced.

In english, there are many ways to say anything. Some ways are easy and some ways are difficult and confusing. According to a research conducted, it was revealed, that people by and large, prefered to speak and write english in simple and lucid style, rather that using technical or complicated vocabulary, which no one understood. When complicated words are used, especially in spoken form, the purpose is defeated, because the speaker fails to convey his thoughts and ideas to the listener effectively. The listener may not be as qualified as the speaker to understand the meaning of certain words. So the communication fails to produce the desired result. So the essence in gaining fluency in english or for that matter any language is to keep it simple.