LA City Council rapidly learns Spanish

In a bold but smart move, members of the LA City Council are taking it upon themselves to learn Spanish...and fast! According to statistics, 40% of LA county residents above the age of 5 speak Spanish at home. It's interesting that members of government would face the reality that many if not most of its constituents speak Spanish and would consequently move to be accessible, which I wholeheartedly applaud. No word yet on how the council members are picking up their palabras.

True immersion: Learning languages from drunks

"Drunks, he explains, "are the world's most underrated language teaching resource.""

Well there's a way to start an interesting article! The LA Times writes a review of linguist Derek Bickerton's new book Bastard Tongues. What could possibly be the context for such a strange claim?

"They speak slowly and with exaggerated care, they often repeat themselves, and they don't mind if you ask them the same questions over and over."

Oh, that. Not to mention the fact that their pronunciation might be a little...slurred perhaps. But that appears to be Bickerton's style, going out in the world more like Anthony Bourdain than Sister Wendy. Bickerton is no braggart, however, drawing closely on Noam Chomsky's theories, and doing field research in places that most linguists fear to tread.  It should make for a very interesting read.