Welcome to Part 9 of There's A Special App For That series on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad apps for students with special needs.
Via Sam Gliksman, Tom D'Amico (@TDOttawa)
While many people actively look for and purchase nearly any new app that shows up in the market for digital products, one educator decided to be proactive and create his own apps for his students.
Staying focused is hard. With all the distractions available through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, getting in the mood to study often takes as much time as actually getting work done itself. However, a brilliant concept is beginning to change that: productivity apps.
Staying focused is hard. With all the distractions available through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, getting in the mood to study often takes as much time as actually getting work done itself.
However, a brilliant concept is beginning to change that: productivity apps.
As the name suggests, these are apps that are specifically designed to keep you focused and on top of your workload. Often, they offer smart ways to seamlessly organise your workload according to your schedule, as well as set reminders, lock away distractions, and more. This can prove invaluable for students — especially if you have a deadline looming and can’t seem to put your phone away.
The best part? There are many that you can easily access for free, giving you a way to stay on task without sacrificing cost.
Here are five of the best free productivity apps for any student to stay organised, focused, and ready to tackle their workload.
From note-taking to creating to-do-lists, these productivity apps will help you stay on top of your workload. Source: Christof Stache/AFP
Best free productivity apps for students
Forest
Are you constantly reaching for your phone during inopportune moments? Then this is the best app for you.
Forest is an app that you can download to keep you from using your phone. Its concept is simple: whenever you want to begin a new study session, you plant a “tree”. The longer you keep the app open, the more trees you grow. Eventually, you can work to grow your own forest.
If you leave the app to scroll through Instagram or TikTok — or even exit it for as short as two minutes — your trees will begin to wither and die. It’s a great way to restrain you from using your phone when you’re not supposed to.
More than that, the company behind the app actually plants real trees whenever you use its virtual coins for in-app purchases — meaning that your time spent studying will literally have a positive effect on the Earth!
Cold Turkey
Working on your laptop can be hard, especially with all the opportunities for distraction present on the internet. If you find yourself constantly switching between your PDF document and an open YouTube tab, you should look into Cold Turkey.
This application is as brutal as it sounds. You set a timer for the amount of time you aim to study for, and from then on, Cold Turkey will lock you out of every distracting website.
Until the timer stops, there’s no possible way for you to unblock the websites — or the entire internet — save for a few pages if you set it that way. Through this, you’ll be forced to focus entirely on your work.
Some apps can help you transcribe audio — making note-taking during lectures easier. Source: Sam Wasson/AFP
Evernote
Now that you’ve got your distractions out of the way, you can focus on productivity apps that help you stay organised. Evernote is the perfect solution.
This app acts as a digital notebook — through text, audio, video, PDF, and images — and organises them according to tags, colour codes, among others. More than that, it gives you the option to retrieve text from images, make to-do lists, scan physical documents, save web articles — you name it.
These can be instantly searchable and synced across all your devices so that you can access your notes anytime, anywhere. It’ll completely change the way you organise your coursework for the better.
NaturalReader
Are you always struggling to keep up with your lecturer? Or perhaps you’ve taken to recording lectures, and transcribing them manually after?
NaturalReader aims to simplify that by giving you a direct audio-transcription service — all for free. With this app, you can transform your voice directly into notes. This can be transcribed into Word documents, PDFs, or email.
This works well if you learn by speaking out loud, as well — just keep the app running and learn through your own means without having to worry about the note-taking you’ll have to do after.
Todoist helps you stay on top of your workload in a simple, efficient manner. Source: Christof Stache/AFP
Todoist
As a student, it’s incredibly important to plan ahead. After all, you’ll have to keep track of all your deadlines, any presentations due, or tasks you need to get done before your next seminar.
Todoist helps you stay on top of your workload in a simple, efficient manner. With this app, you can create and organise any impending tasks according to labels and filters, set reminders, add notes, and sync these across your devices.
If you have an urgent assignment coming up, Todoist allows you to arrange your tasks according to priority, so you’ll always know what to work on first. You won’t even have to go through the manual labour of setting a time and date for your task — just input when it’s due, and the app will take care of the rest.
"Staying focused is hard. With all the distractions available through TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, getting in the mood to study often takes as much time as actually getting work done itself.
However, a brilliant concept is beginning to change that: productivity apps.
As the name suggests, these are apps that are specifically designed to keep you focused and on top of your workload. Often, they offer smart ways to seamlessly organise your workload according to your schedule, as well as set reminders, lock away distractions, and more. This can prove invaluable for students — especially if you have a deadline looming and can’t seem to put your phone away.
The best part? There are many that you can easily access for free, giving you a way to stay on task without sacrificing cost.
Here are five of the best free productivity apps for any student to stay organised, focused, and ready to tackle their workload.
From note-taking to creating to-do-lists, these productivity apps will help you stay on top of your workload."
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists have isolated the smallest biological molecule to date that completely and specifically neutralizes the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is the cause of COVID-19. This antibody component, which is 10 times smaller than a full-sized antibody, has been used to construct a drug — known as Ab8 — for potential use as a therapeutic and prophylactic against SARS-CoV-2. The researchers report today (September 14, 2020) in the journal Cell that Ab8 is highly effective in preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice and hamsters. Its tiny size not only increases its potential for diffusion in tissues to better neutralize the virus, but also makes it possible to administer the drug by alternative routes, including inhalation. Importantly, it does not bind to human cells — a good sign that it won’t have negative side-effects in people. Ab8 was evaluated in conjunction with scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, as well as the University of British Columbia and University of Saskatchewan.
“Ab8 not only has potential as therapy for COVID-19, but it also could be used to keep people from getting SARS-CoV-2 infections,” said co-author John Mellors, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UPMC and Pitt. “Antibodies of larger size have worked against other infectious diseases and have been well tolerated, giving us hope that it could be an effective treatment for patients with COVID-19 and for protection of those who have never had the infection and are not immune.” The tiny antibody component is the variable, heavy chain (VH) domain of an immunoglobulin, which is a type of antibody found in the blood. It was found by “fishing” in a pool of more than 100 billion potential candidates using the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as bait. Ab8 is created when the VH domain is fused to part of the immunoglobulin tail region, adding the immune functions of a full-size antibody without the bulk. Abound Bio, a newly formed UPMC-backed company, has licensed Ab8 for worldwide development. Dimiter Dimitrov, Ph.D., senior author of the Cell publication and director of Pitt’s Center for Antibody Therapeutics, was one of the first to discover neutralizing antibodies for the original SARS coronavirus in 2003. In the ensuing years, his team discovered potent antibodies against many other infectious diseases, including those caused by MERS-CoV, dengue, Hendra and Nipah viruses. The antibody against Hendra and Nipah viruses has been evaluated in humans and approved for clinical use on a compassionate basis in Australia.
Clinical trials are testing convalescent plasma — which contains antibodies from people who already had COVID-19 — as a treatment for those battling the infection, but there isn’t enough plasma for those who might need it, and it isn’t proven to work. That’s why Dimitrov and his team set out to isolate the gene for one or more antibodies that block the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which would allow for mass production. In February, Wei Li, Ph.D., assistant director of Pitt’s Center for Therapeutic Antibodies and co-lead author of the research, began sifting through large libraries of antibody components made using human blood samples and found multiple therapeutic antibody candidates, including Ab8, in record time. Then a team at UTMB’s Center for Biodefense and Emerging Diseases and Galveston National Laboratory, led by Chien-Te Kent Tseng, Ph.D., tested Ab8 using live SARS-CoV-2 virus. At very low concentrations, Ab8 completely blocked the virus from entering cells. With those results in hand, Ralph Baric, Ph.D., and his UNC colleagues tested Ab8 at varying concentrations in mice using a modified version of SARS-CoV-2. Even at the lowest dose, Ab8 decreased by 10-fold the amount of infectious virus in those mice compared to their untreated counterparts. Ab8 also was effective in treating and preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in hamsters, as evaluated by Darryl Falzarano, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan. Sriram Subramaniam, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia uncovered the unique way Ab8 neutralizes the virus so effectively by using sophisticated electron microscopic techniques.
Original study published in Cell (August 31, 2020):
I studied French in school for three years and couldn’t hold a single spontaneous conversation. We were supposedly learning the important phrases and words necessary for travel to a French-speaking country or province, but really all I, and most of my classmates, could do was repeat a few select phrases that would most likely be completely useless in a real conversation. Only if the stars aligned and the solely French-speaking person that I was speaking to followed a very specific and unrealistic script while speaking at half speed, could I have a chance of utilizing what I learned in school. Granted, many people don’t have a vested interest in learning another language, although I would personally attribute that apathy to other failings of the education system. Learning another language opens up incredible opportunities to study another culture and connect with the millions of people who speak that language. While English is becoming a universal language, it’s still incredibly important and beneficial to learn more languages for connections, experiences and brain development.
Not until I began studying French in my own way outside of school did I start to make any progress. Like many others, I struggled to find motivation to learn another language. But my aunt, who’s fluent in French, inspired me to start really learning. Combined with the cognitive benefits and opening up new cultures and countries to travel to, there was little reason not to pursue language learning. I wasn’t sure where to start as I couldn’t hold a conversation. So I started watching French YouTube videos. Initially I watched videos about the French language, with online professors explaining grammar rules or teaching me new words. Although not very fun, this was an important step as it allowed me to brush up on what I had learned in school. Apps like Duolingo can also be helpful in this way.
The biggest step I took that made a difference was narrating my plan for the day in French. I didn’t expect it to make as big of a difference as it did, but by thinking in French, I was creating a natural foundation of the language and learning words that were relevant to my life specifically. Rather than looking up important words and phrases that are commonly used, I was looking up phrases and words that I personally use a lot. In working towards translating my day to day activities, I found I didn’t have to look up certain words and verbs anymore because I used them so much. I repeated verbs such as “to have to” or “to want” in my mind dozens of times and have since been ingrained in my mind. I didn’t need a language partner to do this as I was just thinking about my day. I would also try my best to journal at the end of the day about the things I did, which is a useful practice in general, whether you’re doing it to learn a language or not. I was hitting two birds with one stone, which helped keep me motivated. The act of writing out the activities I did made it more personal and fun, as well as easier to remember new words. I found I was progressing very quickly in my language learning, all while doing things I enjoyed, or things I was basically doing anyway. Soon enough, I had a solid base to start watching french videos and movies. I also began reading French books, working my way from children’s books to more adult books. I found that if I read a French version of a book I’ve read a lot, I didn’t need to know what every word meant because I had the book basically memorized in English. Once I could understand enough and was able to form sentences that I commonly use in English, I could practice by conversing in French with my aunt. This mode of practicing is, in my opinion, the most fun and rewarding part of language learning. Not everybody has somebody they know that speaks their target language, but there are many ways to meet people who speak it, whether through school, clubs or programs in your area.
Learning a new language is no easy task, especially if you don’t have someone to practice with. The current system schools use for teaching languages is not working and it’s important that people learn this skill. Learning a new language can be incredibly fun and rewarding as you can consume content and media and still be learning a language. Schools should put more focus on allowing students to engage in the language in their own way, including having projects and exams focused on more personal topics or by consuming more entertaining and interesting content in class. Schools can’t force students to take time outside of class to practice more, but dedicating an hour a day in class is a great start. Assigning more interesting homework is important as well, such as preparing sentences about your day to share. Rather than assigning homework of filling out worksheets with boring information using words and phrases you can’t apply to your life, we should emphasize a personal connection to the language. Language learning can be very personalized and has endless possibilities of practicing and studying, unlike other subjects, and this trait should be utilized when designing lesson plans.
"...Learning a new language is no easy task, especially if you don’t have someone to practice with. The current system schools use for teaching languages is not working and it’s important that people learn this skill. Learning a new language can be incredibly fun and rewarding as you can consume content and media and still be learning a language. Schools should put more focus on allowing students to engage in the language in their own way, including having projects and exams focused on more personal topics or by consuming more entertaining and interesting content in class. Schools can’t force students to take time outside of class to practice more, but dedicating an hour a day in class is a great start. Assigning more interesting homework is important as well, such as preparing sentences about your day to share. Rather than assigning homework of filling out worksheets with boring information using words and phrases you can’t apply to your life, we should emphasize a personal connection to the language. Language learning can be very personalized and has endless possibilities of practicing and studying, unlike other subjects, and this trait should be utilized when designing lesson plans."
What is a marketing plan and why is it so essential to the success of your business? Find out here, in the first section of our comprehensive guide to...
Background: The aim of the study was to measure empathy in healthcare professionals in Singapore and to compare the scores between the different professions: doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals.
Methods: An online survey questionnaire was conducted using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) from July 2019 to January 2020. The total JSE score was calculated and compared among the different groups. Multiple linear regression was performed to assess predictors of total empathy scores for groups with statistically lower scores.
Conclusion: Nurses in Singapore had significantly lower empathy scores compared to doctors and allied health professionals. Further research on the underlying causes should be undertaken and measures to improve empathy among Singapore nursing staff should be explored and implemented.
Elementary students lined up behind a white curtain in the middle of a grand gymnasium at their school in northern California. They stood still as a dog handler walked a yellow Labrador along the other side of the curtain. Hidden from the children’s view, the 2-year-old female pup sniffed each child’s shoes from beneath that curtain barrier. After each sniff, the dog looked back up at the handler. Then the handler brought the dog to the next tiny pair of feet beneath the curtain, and the dog curiously brought her snout close to those toes, then a young girl’s lavender tennis shoes and then another child’s white high-tops. The dog was smelling for what are called volatile organic compounds that are known to be associated with Covid-19 infections. While watching the Covid-sniffing dog in action, Dr. Carol Glaser saw her vision come to life. Months prior, Glaser and her team were implementing the school’s Covid-19 testing program, using antigen nasal swab tests. Around that same time, Glaser heard about reports of dogs being used to screen for Covid-19 infections in sports venues, airports and other public settings. That’s when Glaser had her “aha” moment – incorporating canines into Covid-19 testing programs at schools, nursing homes or other public facilities could help save time, personnel, possibly even costs, and “would be a lot more fun,” she said. “I thought if we had dogs in schools to screen the students it would be so much faster and less burdensome for schools,” said Glaser, assistant deputy director in Central Laboratory Services and medical officer for infectious disease laboratories at the California Department of Public Health. “Remember when an antigen test is done at school, as opposed to home, there’s a whole bunch of rules and regulations that run under that. It’s not as simple as just handing those things out at school and having the kids do them,” said Glaser, who oversaw antigen testing programs at some California public schools. For now, Glaser and her colleagues described in a new study the lessons they learned from the Covid-19 dog screening pilot program that they launched in some California K-12 public schools. In their research, published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, they wrote that the goal was to use dogs for screening and only use antigen tests on people whom the dogs screened as positive – ultimately reducing the volume of antigen tests performed by about 85%. They wrote that their study supports the “use of dogs for efficient and noninvasive” Covid-19 screening and “could be used for other pathogens.”
Letting the dogs out for screening
The dogs used in the pilot program – two yellow Labradors named Rizzo and Scarlett – trained for a couple of months in a laboratory, sniffing donated socks that were worn by people who either had Covid-19 or didn’t. The dogs alerted their handlers when they detected socks that had traces of the disease – and received a reward of either Cheerios or liver treats. “The one thing we do know for sure is when you’re collecting a sample off of a human being, you want to go where the most scent is produced. That is the head, the pits, the groin and the feet. Given those options, I went with feet,” said Carol Edwards, an author of the study and executive director of the nonprofit Early Alert Canines, which trains medical alert service dogs, including Rizzo and Scarlett. “We collected some socks from people willing to donate socks, and we taught the dogs, by smelling the socks, which ones were the Covid socks and they picked it up very quickly,” Edwards said. “Then we moved into the schools and started sniffing the kids at the ankles.” Last year, from April to May, the dogs visited 27 schools across California to screen for Covid-19 in the real world. They completed more than 3,500 screenings. Rizzo acted as an energized worker, performing tasks with eagerness, Edwards said, while Scarlett tended to have more of a mellow and easygoing personality. The screening process involves people – who voluntarily opted in to participate – standing 6 feet apart while the dogs, led by handlers, sniff each person’s ankles and feet. The dogs are trained to sit as a way of alerting their handlers that they detect a potential Covid-19 infection. To protect each person’s privacy, sometimes the people face away from the dogs and toward a wall or behind a curtain, so that they can’t see the dogs or when a dog sits. If the dog sits in between two people, the handler will verbally ask the dog, “Show me?” And the dog will move its snout to point toward the correct person. “Our dogs can come in, they can screen 100 kids in a half hour, and then only the ones the dog alerts on have to actually do a test,” Edwards said. “There’s no invasive nasal swab unless the dog happens to indicate on you.”
The researchers found that the dogs accurately alerted their handlers to 85 infections and ruled out 3,411 infections, resulting in an overall accuracy of 90%. However, the dogs inaccurately alerted their handlers to infections in 383 instances and missed 18 infections, which means the dogs demonstrated 83% sensitivity and 90% specificity when it came to detecting Covid-19 infections in the study. “Once we stepped into the schools, we saw a drop in their specificity and sensitivity due to the change,” Edwards said, referring to the distractions that children in a school setting can bring. However, Edward said, accuracy improved as the dogs spent more times in schools. In comparison, Covid-19 BinaxNOW antigen tests have been shown in one real-world study to demonstrate 93.3% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity. That study was conducted in San Francisco and published in 2021 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “We never said the dogs will replace the antigen. This was a time for us to learn how they compared,” Glaser said. “We will always plan on doing some amount of backup testing, but the idea would be that the actual antigen testing would be a fraction of what it would currently be because of the dogs.” “To run these antigen testing programs at school, it’s taking a lot of school personnel resources, test cards as well as biohazard waste. So, I have no doubt in the long-run once it can be perfected, dogs will be cheaper, but I don’t have a great cost comparison,” she said. This isn’t the first time that dogs’ abilities to detect traces of Covid-19 infections in real-time have been studied in the scientific literature. “What we have learned in this work is that the dogs in general are capable of discriminating samples from individuals testing,” said Dr. Cindy Otto, professor and director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the new study. Regarding the new research, Otto said, “On the surface their results are encouraging and with the appropriate selection of dogs, rigorous training and impeccable quality control, there is the potential for dogs to be incorporated in threat monitoring.”
Nursing homes could be next
Now that Glaser and her colleagues have published research about their Covid-19 dog screening pilot program, she is eager to implement the approach in nursing home settings. “Honestly, schools aren’t that interested in testing anymore. The outbreaks just aren’t what they used to be, but what we have done is we’ve transitioned to nursing homes, because there is a tremendous need in nursing homes,” Glaser said, adding that many residents may prefer to undergo screening with a dog than with uncomfortable nasal swabs. “What would you rather have: A swab in your nose or something that just maybe tickles your ankle at most for testing?” In skilled nursing homes, the dogs visit each resident’s room to sniff their feet, calmly smelling for Covid-19 volatile organic compounds as the resident lies in bed or sits in a chair. “Thinking about where dogs would be deployed, I do really think nursing homes and residential care facilities and even schools – if they were ever to have a big outbreak – would be the natural next fit for this,” Glaser said. “We think we’ll probably end up primarily using them in nursing homes,” she said. “But we’re still doing a little bit of both – there was a school that asked us to come back last week.” The pilot program within California public schools also has left Edwards with hope for future opportunities in which canines can help detect disease in humans. “I really do think it’s the tip of the iceberg. This is the door swinging wide open, and now we need to collaborate with those in the science world and figure out where we can take this,” Edwards said. “There’s been a lot of chatter, even in the very beginning of this project, talking about what other diseases they could do. We’ve talked about TB, we’ve talked about flu A and B, possibly for this next flu season, seeing if we can get the dogs to alert on that,” she said, as volatile organic compounds are also produced by people with influenza. “It’s just a matter of being able to figure out how to collect samples, how to train the dogs, and then to be safe and effective around those diseases too.”
Research published in JAMA Pediatrics (April 24, 2023):
Sun, February 11, 2024 at 8:01 AM GMT+1·8 min read
In this article, we will look at the 15 careers that bilinguals and multilinguals will excel in. We have also talked about the benefits of learning multiple languages. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, head straight to the 5 Careers That Bilinguals and Multilinguals Will Excel in.
How Does Being Bilingual Help Your Career?
Being bilingual enhances career prospects by opening doors to a wider range of job opportunities. It enables effective communication with different colleagues, clients, and stakeholders, facilitating collaboration and understanding in multicultural environments. Bilingualism demonstrates valuable cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and adaptability, which are highly sought after in various industries. Additionally, it can lead to increased marketability and higher earning potential, as bilingual professionals often have a competitive edge in global markets.
Is It Easier to Get a Job If You Speak Multiple Languages?
Job opportunities for bilingual and multilingual speakers are often more plentiful. Employers value language skills for different reasons like facilitating communication with international clients, expanding market reach, and enhancing cultural understanding.
In today's global job market, the demand for multilingual speakers is skyrocketing, with a projected 42% increase in demand for interpreters as estimated by the US Department of Labor. Surprisingly, speaking a second language can boost your career prospects and salary by up to 35%, as highlighted by recent research.
Moreover, 9 out of 10 employers rely on bilingual employees, particularly for business development and expansion into new markets, with 56% expecting a increase in demand for multilingual speakers over the next five years.
Notably, fluency isn't a prerequisite; even basic proficiency can open doors to international experiences and competitive advantages. Diversifying beyond popular languages like Spanish or French can further enhance your marketability, especially in niche contexts. By mastering language skills relevant to specific job contexts, individuals can significantly increase their employability and confidence, ultimately paving the way for career advancement and financial success in today's globalized economy.
How Can You Learn a New Language Today?
Learning a new language can be achieved through different methods, with technology playing a key role. Utilizing apps like Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL), an American educational technology company, offers a convenient and interactive way to learn languages. With courses spanning over 40 languages, including less commonly studied ones like Welsh and Swahili, Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) caters to all kinds of learners. Its freemium model allows access to basic features, while premium services offer ad-free experiences and additional features.
With a monthly user base of 83 million and a daily engagement of 24.2 million learners, the popularity of Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) has surpassed all other traditional educational platforms. Utilizing gamification techniques akin to mobile games, each lesson is meticulously crafted for maximum effectiveness, maintaining user interest with rewards and challenges.
It is worth highlighting that Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s English proficiency certification exam is now accepted by thousands of universities worldwide and has therefore, democratized access to education by reducing costs and eliminating geographical barriers.
On the other hand, Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO) also has a major presence in language teaching materials and services, including English language learning resources. The company has recently opened bookings for its new English proficiency test, PTE Core, designed specifically for Canadian economic migration visa purposes. Approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), PTE Core assesses speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in a two-hour, computer-based format.
It is worth noting that Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO) and Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) have teamed up to improve foreign language education for college and university students. DuoLingo's gamified platform offers interactive language lessons, and through this partnership, students can access personalized learning tools aligned with Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO)’s content. These courses are available on iOS, Android, and web platforms and aim to improve students' language skills outside the classroom.
Our Methodology
To list the careers that bilinguals and multilinguals will excel in, we identified jobs with three main features. Firstly, we identified jobs that involved cross-cultural interaction. Secondly, we looked at jobs that have a language proficiency requirement. Thirdly, we analyzed jobs with a global focus. We identified 15 such jobs and scored each job out of 30 based on the presence of these features. A higher score means a higher probability that a multilingual or bilingual person will excel in that field. We utilized Reddit as our primary source to gauge the consensus.
By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.
The list is presented below in ascending order.
15. Digital Marketer
IM Score: 10
Multilingual professionals can tailor content for specific markets, ensuring messages are culturally relevant and accurately conveyed. Moreover, they possess a unique advantage in global campaigns, facilitating seamless communication and understanding among international audiences. The average salary of a digital marketer is $63,827.
14. Customer Service Representative
IM Score: 11
Customer service representatives are crucial for businesses because they serve as the primary point of contact between a company and its customers. While it is one of the highest-paying remote customer service jobs, it is also among the highest paying jobs for 18 year olds.
It is one of the bilingual jobs without a degree. To read more about customer service representative jobs, see highest paying customer service jobs.
13. Social Worker
IM Score: 13
The language proficiency of social workers enables them to bridge communication gaps, build trust, and provide culturally competent services to clients from various linguistic backgrounds. It is one of the happiest jobs for multilingual speakers.
12. Healthcare Professional
IM Score: 14
In settings where language barriers can hinder patient care, healthcare professionals with multilingual proficiency can bridge the gap to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment. For instance, a Spanish-speaking nurse can provide crucial information to a monolingual patient about their medication regimen and thus, enhance adherence and safety. Additionally, multilingual physicians can conduct thorough medical histories with non-English speaking patients, leading to better-informed diagnoses and treatment plans.
Healthcare professions offer some of the high paying jobs for multilingual people.
11. Language Teacher
IM Score: 16
Language teaching is a career where bilinguals and multilinguals excel owing to their innate understanding of language structures and cultural nuances. Their firsthand experience navigating multiple languages equips them with unique insights into language acquisition processes, enabling more effective instruction.
Multilingual journalists can conduct interviews in multiple languages, accessing sources inaccessible to monolingual reporters, thereby providing a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective on a story. Additionally, they can produce content for international audiences, offering insights into global events and fostering cross-cultural understanding. It is one of the careers with languages and travel.
Language technologists apply computational linguistics, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning techniques to analyze, understand, and generate human language.
The average salary for a Language Specialist is $61,682 per year in US. It is one of the best jobs for multilingual speakers.
8. Flight Attendant
IM Score: 19
Being fluent in multiple languages allows flight attendants to provide clear instructions during emergencies and assist non-native speakers more efficiently. For instance, a bilingual flight attendant can seamlessly switch between languages to convey safety protocols or address passengers' concerns, enhancing overall communication and passenger satisfaction.
Bilingual recruiters facilitate smoother communication between candidates and hiring managers in multinational companies, fostering understanding and cohesion. For instance, a recruiter fluent in Spanish and English can bridge communication gaps between a Spanish-speaking candidate and an English-speaking hiring team, streamlining the hiring process and ensuring accurate information exchange, ultimately leading to successful placements.
It is one of the highest-paying foreign language jobs.
6. Tour Guide
IM Score: 22
A tour guide with proficiency in multiple languages opens doors to a diverse range of clients and destinations and hence, can ultimately enhance the overall experience for travelers. It broadens the scope of employment opportunities, from leading international tours to catering to specific language-based tour groups. Multilingualism also adds value by facilitating cultural exchanges and providing personalized insights, enriching the journey for visitors. It is one of the best jobs with proficiency in multiple languages.
Sun, February 11, 2024 at 8:01 AM GMT+1·8 min read
In this article, we will look at the 15 careers that bilinguals and multilinguals will excel in. We have also talked about the benefits of learning multiple languages. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, head straight to the 5 Careers That Bilinguals and Multilinguals Will Excel in.
How Does Being Bilingual Help Your Career?
Being bilingual enhances career prospects by opening doors to a wider range of job opportunities. It enables effective communication with different colleagues, clients, and stakeholders, facilitating collaboration and understanding in multicultural environments. Bilingualism demonstrates valuable cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and adaptability, which are highly sought after in various industries. Additionally, it can lead to increased marketability and higher earning potential, as bilingual professionals often have a competitive edge in global markets.
Is It Easier to Get a Job If You Speak Multiple Languages?
Job opportunities for bilingual and multilingual speakers are often more plentiful. Employers value language skills for different reasons like facilitating communication with international clients, expanding market reach, and enhancing cultural understanding.
In today's global job market, the demand for multilingual speakers is skyrocketing, with a projected 42% increase in demand for interpreters as estimated by the US Department of Labor. Surprisingly, speaking a second language can boost your career prospects and salary by up to 35%, as highlighted by recent research.
Moreover, 9 out of 10 employers rely on bilingual employees, particularly for business development and expansion into new markets, with 56% expecting a increase in demand for multilingual speakers over the next five years.
Notably, fluency isn't a prerequisite; even basic proficiency can open doors to international experiences and competitive advantages. Diversifying beyond popular languages like Spanish or French can further enhance your marketability, especially in niche contexts. By mastering language skills relevant to specific job contexts, individuals can significantly increase their employability and confidence, ultimately paving the way for career advancement and financial success in today's globalized economy.
How Can You Learn a New Language Today?
Learning a new language can be achieved through different methods, with technology playing a key role. Utilizing apps like Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL), an American educational technology company, offers a convenient and interactive way to learn languages. With courses spanning over 40 languages, including less commonly studied ones like Welsh and Swahili, Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) caters to all kinds of learners. Its freemium model allows access to basic features, while premium services offer ad-free experiences and additional features.
With a monthly user base of 83 million and a daily engagement of 24.2 million learners, the popularity of Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) has surpassed all other traditional educational platforms. Utilizing gamification techniques akin to mobile games, each lesson is meticulously crafted for maximum effectiveness, maintaining user interest with rewards and challenges.
It is worth highlighting that Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s English proficiency certification exam is now accepted by thousands of universities worldwide and has therefore, democratized access to education by reducing costs and eliminating geographical barriers.
On the other hand, Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO) also has a major presence in language teaching materials and services, including English language learning resources. The company has recently opened bookings for its new English proficiency test, PTE Core, designed specifically for Canadian economic migration visa purposes. Approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), PTE Core assesses speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in a two-hour, computer-based format.
It is worth noting that Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO) and Duolingo Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) have teamed up to improve foreign language education for college and university students. DuoLingo's gamified platform offers interactive language lessons, and through this partnership, students can access personalized learning tools aligned with Pearson Plc (NYSE:PSO)’s content. These courses are available on iOS, Android, and web platforms and aim to improve students' language skills outside the classroom.
Our Methodology
To list the careers that bilinguals and multilinguals will excel in, we identified jobs with three main features. Firstly, we identified jobs that involved cross-cultural interaction. Secondly, we looked at jobs that have a language proficiency requirement. Thirdly, we analyzed jobs with a global focus. We identified 15 such jobs and scored each job out of 30 based on the presence of these features. A higher score means a higher probability that a multilingual or bilingual person will excel in that field. We utilized Reddit as our primary source to gauge the consensus.
By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.
The list is presented below in ascending order.
15. Digital Marketer
IM Score: 10
Multilingual professionals can tailor content for specific markets, ensuring messages are culturally relevant and accurately conveyed. Moreover, they possess a unique advantage in global campaigns, facilitating seamless communication and understanding among international audiences. The average salary of a digital marketer is $63,827.
14. Customer Service Representative
IM Score: 11
Customer service representatives are crucial for businesses because they serve as the primary point of contact between a company and its customers. While it is one of the highest-paying remote customer service jobs, it is also among the highest paying jobs for 18 year olds.
It is one of the bilingual jobs without a degree. To read more about customer service representative jobs, see highest paying customer service jobs.
13. Social Worker
IM Score: 13
The language proficiency of social workers enables them to bridge communication gaps, build trust, and provide culturally competent services to clients from various linguistic backgrounds. It is one of the happiest jobs for multilingual speakers.
12. Healthcare Professional
IM Score: 14
In settings where language barriers can hinder patient care, healthcare professionals with multilingual proficiency can bridge the gap to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment. For instance, a Spanish-speaking nurse can provide crucial information to a monolingual patient about their medication regimen and thus, enhance adherence and safety. Additionally, multilingual physicians can conduct thorough medical histories with non-English speaking patients, leading to better-informed diagnoses and treatment plans.
Healthcare professions offer some of the high paying jobs for multilingual people.
11. Language Teacher
IM Score: 16
Language teaching is a career where bilinguals and multilinguals excel owing to their innate understanding of language structures and cultural nuances. Their firsthand experience navigating multiple languages equips them with unique insights into language acquisition processes, enabling more effective instruction.
Multilingual journalists can conduct interviews in multiple languages, accessing sources inaccessible to monolingual reporters, thereby providing a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective on a story. Additionally, they can produce content for international audiences, offering insights into global events and fostering cross-cultural understanding. It is one of the careers with languages and travel.
Language technologists apply computational linguistics, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning techniques to analyze, understand, and generate human language.
The average salary for a Language Specialist is $61,682 per year in US. It is one of the best jobs for multilingual speakers.
8. Flight Attendant
IM Score: 19
Being fluent in multiple languages allows flight attendants to provide clear instructions during emergencies and assist non-native speakers more efficiently. For instance, a bilingual flight attendant can seamlessly switch between languages to convey safety protocols or address passengers' concerns, enhancing overall communication and passenger satisfaction.
Bilingual recruiters facilitate smoother communication between candidates and hiring managers in multinational companies, fostering understanding and cohesion. For instance, a recruiter fluent in Spanish and English can bridge communication gaps between a Spanish-speaking candidate and an English-speaking hiring team, streamlining the hiring process and ensuring accurate information exchange, ultimately leading to successful placements.
It is one of the highest-paying foreign language jobs.
6. Tour Guide
IM Score: 22
A tour guide with proficiency in multiple languages opens doors to a diverse range of clients and destinations and hence, can ultimately enhance the overall experience for travelers. It broadens the scope of employment opportunities, from leading international tours to catering to specific language-based tour groups. Multilingualism also adds value by facilitating cultural exchanges and providing personalized insights, enriching the journey for visitors. It is one of the best jobs with proficiency in multiple languages."
Winter Wessels Library Newsletter - January/February: Volume 5, Issue 4 , 2024 by Wessels Library | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for individual educators, schools and districts
Dr. Russ Conrath's insight:
Winter Wessels Library Newsletter | Smore Newsletters for Education
I have put together a Google Chrome App and Extension Database for Teachers that is loaded with apps and extensions for productivity and classroom integration. Google Chrome can be customized to fit the needs of our student learners. The database includes 100+ Apps and Extensions and is searchable and filterable. I do not recommend every app and extension for every teacher. Rather, use this as a guide to find what works for you, your classroom and your students. There is something in here for everyone.
Most people can draw from tens of thousands of words in their memory within milliseconds. Studying this process can improve language disorder treatment and appreciation of the gift of communication.
Assistant Professor of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, University at Buffalo
The days of having a dictionary on your bookshelf are numbered. But that’s OK, because everyone already walks around with a dictionary – not the one on your phone, but the one in your head.
Just like a physical dictionary, your mental dictionary contains information about words. This includes the letters, sounds and meaning, or semantics, of words, as well as information about parts of speech and how you can fit words together to form grammatical sentences. Your mental dictionary is also like a thesaurus. It can help you connect words and see how they might be similar in meaning, sound or spelling.
As a researcher who studies word retrieval, or how you quickly and accurately pull words out of your memory to communicate, I’m intrigued by how words are organized in our mental dictionaries. Everyone’s mental dictionary is a little bit different. And I’m even more intrigued by how we can restore the content of our mental dictionaries or improve our use of them, particularly for those who have language disorders.
Language is part of what makes humans special, and I believe everyone deserves the chance to use their words with others.
Your mental dictionary
While a physical dictionary is helpful for shared knowledge, your personal mental dictionary is customized based on your individual experiences. What words are in my mental dictionary might overlap with the mental dictionary of someone else who also speaks the same language, but there will also be a lot of differences between the content of our dictionaries.
You add words to your mental dictionary through your educational, occupational, cultural and other life experiences. This customization also means that the size of mental dictionaries is a little bit different from person to person and varies by age. Researchers found that the average 20-year-old American English speaker knows about 42,000 unique words, and this number grows to about 48,000 by age 60. Some people will have even larger vocabularies.
By now, you might be envisioning your mental dictionary as a book with pages of words in alphabetical order you can flip through as needed. While this visual analogy is helpful, there is a lot of debate about how mental dictionaries are organized. Many scholars agree that it’s probably not like an alphabetized book.
Scientists created an interactive map of which brain areas respond to hearing different words.
One widely rejected theory, the grandmother cell theory, suggests that each concept is encoded by a single neuron. This implies that you would have a neuron for every word that you know, including “grandmother.”
While not accepted as accurate, the aspect of the grandmother cell theory suggesting that certain parts of the brain are more important for some types of information than others is likely true. For example, the left temporal lobe on the side of your brain has many regions that are important for language processing, including word retrieval and production. Rather than a single neuron responsible for processing a concept, a model called parallel distributed processing proposes that large networks of neurons across the brain work together to bring about word knowledge when they fire together.
For example, when I say the word “dog,” there are lots of different aspects of the word that your brain is retrieving, even if unconsciously. You might be thinking about what a dog smells like after being out in the rain, what a dog sounds like when it barks, or what a dog feels like when you pet it. You might be thinking about a specific dog you grew up with, or you might have a variety of emotions about dogs based on your past experiences with them. All of these different features of “dog” are processed in slightly different parts of your brain.
Using your mental dictionary
One reason why your mental dictionary can’t be like a physical dictionary is that it is dynamic and quickly accessed.
Your brain’s ability to retrieve a word is very fast. In one study, researchers mapped the time course of word retrieval among 24 college students by recording their brain activity while they named pictures. They found evidence that participants selected words within 200 milliseconds of seeing the image. After word selection, their brain continued to process information about that word, like what sounds are needed to say that chosen word and ignoring related words. This is why you can retrieve words with such speed in real-time conversations, often so quickly that you give little conscious attention to that process.
Until … you have a breakdown in word retrieval. One common failure in word retrieval is called the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. It’s the feeling when you know what word you want to use but are unable to find it in that moment. You might even know specific details about the word you want, like other words with similar meaning or maybe the first letter or sound of that word. With enough time, the word you wanted might pop into your mind.
These tip-of-the-tongue experiences are a normal part of human language experience across the life span, and they increase as you grow older. One proposed reason for this increase is that they’re due to an age-related disruption in the ability to turn on the right sounds needed to say the selected word.
For some people, though, tip-of-the-tongue experiences and other speech errors can be quite impairing. This is commonly seen in aphasia, a language disorder that often occurs after injury to the language centers of the brain, such as stroke, or neurodegeneration, such as dementia. People with aphasia often have difficulty with word retrieval.
Fortunately, there are treatments available that can help someone improve their word retrieval abilities. For example, semantic feature analysis focuses on strengthening the semantic relationships between words. There are also treatments like phonomotor treatment that focus on strengthening the selection and production of speech sounds needed for word production. There are even apps that remotely provide word retrieval therapy on phones or computers.
The next time you have a conversation with someone, take a moment to reflect on why you chose the specific words you did. Remember that the words you use and the mental dictionary you have are part of what make you and your voice unique.
Nichol Castro, Assistant Professor of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, University at Buffalo
The days of having a dictionary on your bookshelf are numbered. But that’s OK, because everyone already walks around with a dictionary – not the one on your phone, but the one in your head.
Just like a physical dictionary, your mental dictionary contains information about words. This includes the letters, sounds and meaning, or semantics, of words, as well as information about parts of speech and how you can fit words together to form grammatical sentences. Your mental dictionary is also like a thesaurus. It can help you connect words and see how they might be similar in meaning, sound or spelling.
As a researcher who studies word retrieval, or how you quickly and accurately pull words out of your memory to communicate, I’m intrigued by how words are organized in our mental dictionaries. Everyone’s mental dictionary is a little bit different. And I’m even more intrigued by how we can restore the content of our mental dictionaries or improve our use of them, particularly for those who have language disorders.
Language is part of what makes humans special, and I believe everyone deserves the chance to use their words with others.
Your mental dictionary
While a physical dictionary is helpful for shared knowledge, your personal mental dictionary is customized based on your individual experiences. What words are in my mental dictionary might overlap with the mental dictionary of someone else who also speaks the same language, but there will also be a lot of differences between the content of our dictionaries.
You add words to your mental dictionary through your educational, occupational, cultural and other life experiences. This customization also means that the size of mental dictionaries is a little bit different from person to person and varies by age. Researchers found that the average 20-year-old American English speaker knows about 42,000 unique words, and this number grows to about 48,000 by age 60. Some people will have even larger vocabularies.
By now, you might be envisioning your mental dictionary as a book with pages of words in alphabetical order you can flip through as needed. While this visual analogy is helpful, there is a lot of debate about how mental dictionaries are organized. Many scholars agree that it’s probably not like an alphabetized book...
One reason why your mental dictionary can’t be like a physical dictionary is that it is dynamic and quickly accessed.
Your brain’s ability to retrieve a word is very fast. In one study, researchers mapped the time course of word retrieval among 24 college students by recording their brain activity while they named pictures. They found evidence that participants selected words within 200 milliseconds of seeing the image. After word selection, their brain continued to process information about that word, like what sounds are needed to say that chosen word and ignoring related words. This is why you can retrieve words with such speed in real-time conversations, often so quickly that you give little conscious attention to that process.
Until … you have a breakdown in word retrieval. One common failure in word retrieval is called the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. It’s the feeling when you know what word you want to use but are unable to find it in that moment. You might even know specific details about the word you want, like other words with similar meaning or maybe the first letter or sound of that word. With enough time, the word you wanted might pop into your mind.
These tip-of-the-tongue experiences are a normal part of human language experience across the life span, and they increase as you grow older. One proposed reason for this increase is that they’re due to an age-related disruption in the ability to turn on the right sounds needed to say the selected word.
For some people, though, tip-of-the-tongue experiences and other speech errors can be quite impairing. This is commonly seen in aphasia, a language disorder that often occurs after injury to the language centers of the brain, such as stroke, or neurodegeneration, such as dementia. People with aphasia often have difficulty with word retrieval.
Fortunately, there are treatments available that can help someone improve their word retrieval abilities. For example, semantic feature analysis focuses on strengthening the semantic relationships between words. There are also treatments like phonomotor treatment that focus on strengthening the selection and production of speech sounds needed for word production. There are even apps that remotely provide word retrieval therapy on phones or computers.
The next time you have a conversation with someone, take a moment to reflect on why you chose the specific words you did. Remember that the words you use and the mental dictionary you have are part of what make you and your voice unique."
While the improved 2023 matric pass rate is cause for celebration, consider the almost 500 000 children who started grade one in the same year but dropped out of school along the way. What can be done to ensure that more learners stay in the system until grade 12?
The crisis in South Africa’s education can be linked directly to the crisis around literacy. Learners with strong literacy skills are more likely to stay longer in school and do well academically. Yet, the latest results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study shows that 81% of 10-year-olds in South Africa don’t understand what they are reading. Not only does this give clues as to why learners in the foundation phase drop out, it also gives meaningful insight into what happens in the successive years, up to grade 12.
Nic Spaull writes in the report Learning to Read, Reading to Learn: “Since almost all future learning will depend on this fundamental understanding of the relation between print and spoken language, it is unsurprising that literacy, built upon a firm foundation of basic reading, is used as one of the primary measures of school efficacy.”
The reason reading is so important for young children is that from grade four level, they need language skills to access information and acquire knowledge from the school curriculum. It is a vital stepping stone to greater education, future skills training and establishing a career.
As former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said, “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realise his or her full potential.”
But what can parents, grandparents and passionate educators do when the educational divide is so wide and the playing field is not level? Most learners in South Africa are in public schools and many don’t have cellphones or access to mobile devices and/or the affordable data that’s necessary for connectivity. This is why it is important that resources, such as dictionaries, be accessible both digitally and in print. This makes it possible to cater for diverse social circumstances in an equitable manner.
Back to basics
Core books, readers, dictionaries and other print reference materials may seem old school but they can play a vital role in improving reading ability and boosting literacy. This is because language and vocabulary are at the root of understanding and learning.
In addition to the learning that takes place at schools, parents, especially of young children, need to focus on creating an environment where children can develop their language ability. It’s time to pull out the dictionary — or perhaps buy a new one — and actively encourage its use when doing homework or assignments.
Many studies show that dictionaries are valuable learning tools for children. There is evidence that they also help foster critical thinking and improve reading skills. There is even proof that children using a bilingual school dictionary in one particular South African context helped Xhosa students as well as those struggling with Additional Language (English) to read better, understand more and grow their vocabulary.
This is particularly helpful for those learners whose home language is not English and who are required to transition to English medium of instruction in grade four as required by the department of basic education. They need a comfortable reading understanding of English and dictionaries can change the trajectory of language development for them.
In addition, many newer dictionaries are localised to our Mzanzi setting — weaving in socio-cultural references and concepts — making them more relatable, accessible and easy to understand.
We need to improve access to learning tools for South African learners, focusing on schools in poorer communities that have no libraries and few books. We must raise awareness of the needs of these schools, to prevent learners here from falling behind and dropping out of the school system.
Tatiana Kazim, an Equal Education Law Centre researcher, points out that the South African Human Rights Commission views library books as a necessary material to learn how to read and write.
“When access to the internet in South Africa is so patchy and so unequal, there’s still a pressing need for physical resources, like books and libraries,” she emphasised in one interview.
Anyone who is wondering what they can do to improve the situation at so many under-resourced schools should sponsor a mobile library or donate a set of reference books or dictionaries.
Make your next gift a book — the child will thank you later.
Lucia Ndabula is the national education manager at the Oxford University Press.
While the improved 2023 matric pass rate is cause for celebration, consider the almost 500 000 children who started grade one in the same year but dropped out of school along the way. What can be done to ensure that more learners stay in the system until grade 12?
The crisis in South Africa’s education can be linked directly to the crisis around literacy. Learners with strong literacy skills are more likely to stay longer in school and do well academically. Yet, the latest results of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study shows that 81% of 10-year-olds in South Africa don’t understand what they are reading. Not only does this give clues as to why learners in the foundation phase drop out, it also gives meaningful insight into what happens in the successive years, up to grade 12.
Nic Spaull writes in the report Learning to Read, Reading to Learn: “Since almost all future learning will depend on this fundamental understanding of the relation between print and spoken language, it is unsurprising that literacy, built upon a firm foundation of basic reading, is used as one of the primary measures of school efficacy.”
The reason reading is so important for young children is that from grade four level, they need language skills to access information and acquire knowledge from the school curriculum. It is a vital stepping stone to greater education, future skills training and establishing a career.
As former UN secretary general Kofi Annan said, “Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope. It is the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realise his or her full potential.”
But what can parents, grandparents and passionate educators do when the educational divide is so wide and the playing field is not level? Most learners in South Africa are in public schools and many don’t have cellphones or access to mobile devices and/or the affordable data that’s necessary for connectivity. This is why it is important that resources, such as dictionaries, be accessible both digitally and in print. This makes it possible to cater for diverse social circumstances in an equitable manner.
Back to basics
Core books, readers, dictionaries and other print reference materials may seem old school but they can play a vital role in improving reading ability and boosting literacy. This is because language and vocabulary are at the root of understanding and learning.
In addition to the learning that takes place at schools, parents, especially of young children, need to focus on creating an environment where children can develop their language ability. It’s time to pull out the dictionary — or perhaps buy a new one — and actively encourage its use when doing homework or assignments.
Many studies show that dictionaries are valuable learning tools for children. There is evidence that they also help foster critical thinking and improve reading skills. There is even proof that children using a bilingual school dictionary in one particular South African context helped Xhosa students as well as those struggling with Additional Language (English) to read better, understand more and grow their vocabulary.
This is particularly helpful for those learners whose home language is not English and who are required to transition to English medium of instruction in grade four as required by the department of basic education. They need a comfortable reading understanding of English and dictionaries can change the trajectory of language development for them.
In addition, many newer dictionaries are localised to our Mzanzi setting — weaving in socio-cultural references and concepts — making them more relatable, accessible and easy to understand.
We need to improve access to learning tools for South African learners, focusing on schools in poorer communities that have no libraries and few books. We must raise awareness of the needs of these schools, to prevent learners here from falling behind and dropping out of the school system.
Tatiana Kazim, an Equal Education Law Centre researcher, points out that the South African Human Rights Commission views library books as a necessary material to learn how to read and write.
“When access to the internet in South Africa is so patchy and so unequal, there’s still a pressing need for physical resources, like books and libraries,” she emphasised in one interview.
Anyone who is wondering what they can do to improve the situation at so many under-resourced schools should sponsor a mobile library or donate a set of reference books or dictionaries.
Make your next gift a book — the child will thank you later.
Lucia Ndabula is the national education manager at the Oxford University Press."
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, represent and supply music creators.
The FDA approved the first oral fecal microbiota productopens in a new tab or window for preventing recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections in adults, the agency announced on Wednesday. Developed as SER-109 and given the trade name of Vowst, the therapy is indicated for patients who have already received a course of antibiotics for recurrent C. difficile infections. SER-109 -- which involves four pills taken once a day for 3 consecutive days -- contains live bacteria from donor fecal matter, with the donors and stool screened for a slew of pathogens. Despite that, the agency still warns that the product carries the potential risk of transmitting infectious agents or food allergens. "Today's approval provides patients and healthcare providers a new way to help prevent recurrent C. difficile infection," Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. "The availability of a fecal microbiota product that can be taken orally is a significant step forward in advancing patient care and accessibility for individuals who have experienced this disease that can be potentially life-threatening."
Approval was supported by the randomized ECOSPOR III trialopens in a new tab or window and an open-label studyopens in a new tab or window conducted in the U.S. and Canada. In ECOSPOR III, which involved 182 patients with recurrent infections but with symptoms under control following a course of antibiotics, patients assigned to SER-109 had significantly lower recurrence rates of C. difficile infection through 8 weeks compared with those assigned to placebo (12.4% vs 39.8%, P<0.001). Results were consistent across age groups and largely held up at 24 weeks, at 21.3% in the SER-109 group and 47.3% for the placebo group. C. difficile infections can cause a host of symptoms (diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever) and organ failure or death in severe cases. One of the most common healthcare-associated infections, these infections are linked with anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 deaths each year. While standard treatment involves antibiotics, these can alter the microbiome and allow C. difficile to return, and few treatments exist for recurrent infections, which are more likely to affect immunocompromised individuals, people over 65, and those who are hospitalized or living in nursing homes. Recurrent C. difficile infection is a highly debilitating and life-threatening disease," said Carl Crawford, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, in a statementopens in a new tab or window from developer Seres Therapeutics, adding that antibiotics alone do not address the underlying cause of recurrent infections -- "dysbiosis of the gut microbiome."
The first-of-its-kind treatment, Paxlovid, has been found to be highly protective against severe illness. It could be available within a few days. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the first pill for Covid-19, offering a highly effective defense against severe illness that will arrive as the country endures another major surge of the pandemic. The drug, developed by Pfizer and known as Paxlovid, is authorized for Covid patients age 12 and over who are vulnerable to becoming severely ill because they are older or have medical conditions such as obesity or diabetes. Tens of millions of Americans — including both vaccinated and unvaccinated people — will be eligible if they get infected with the virus. The treatment could be available within a few days. Pfizer’s laboratory studies indicate that its pills are likely to work against the Omicron variant, which has rapidly become the dominant form of new cases in the United States. A clinical trial indicated that Paxlovid is highly effective when taken soon after people start feeling sick. In a final analysis of a key study conducted while the Delta variant was surging, Pfizer’s drug reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 88 percent when given to high-risk unvaccinated adults within five days of the start of their symptoms. Paxlovid appears to be substantially more effective than a similar antiviral pill from Merck, known as molnupiravir, that is still awaiting authorization by the F.D.A. In a clinical trial, Merck’s drug reduced risk of hospitalization and death for high-risk patients by 30 percent.
Until now, monoclonal antibody drugs, which are typically infused into the bloodstream at a hospital or clinic, have been the only authorized treatments for Covid patients who are not hospitalized but at higher risk of developing severe disease. But the antibodies have gone to fewer people than the pills are expected to reach, and most of the country’s supply of the antibody treatments is unlikely to work against Omicron. The federal government has ordered enough of Pfizer’s pills to cover 10 million people, at a cost of about $530 per patient, but the supply will be limited at first. Within a week, Pfizer is expected to make available to the United States enough of its pills to cover 65,000 Americans. At current infection rates, that would be enough supply for less than one day if it were given to half of people in the United States who test positive for the virus. Pfizer is expected to make available to the United States another 200,000 treatment courses in January. The pace of deliveries is expected to increase sharply in the subsequent months, with Pfizer expected to fulfill the government’s full order by late summer. Coronavirus cases have been increasing since early November, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast, driven first by the Delta variant and now mostly by Omicron. The federal government will allocate the antiviral pills to states, which can then distribute them to local health departments and pharmacies, as was done with Covid vaccines. The government will also distribute the pills directly to community health centers.
“The tough thing for states to figure out is who to make it available to, since there’s so few to begin with,” said Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research at Boston University. “You want to make sure that it’s at least given to people who are the most likely to benefit from it.” She said it would be important for state and local governments to prioritize getting the pills to medically vulnerable people, particularly in nursing homes and clinics in hard-hit communities. To get Pfizer’s pills, the F.D.A. said, patients will need to test positive for the virus and get a prescription from a health care provider, all within no more than five days after their symptoms start. Those requirements may pose serious challenges. While the agency did not specify which type of test will be needed, over-the-counter rapid antigen tests, which return results within 15 minutes, are expected to be widely used. President Biden announced on Tuesday that the administration is buying 500 million rapid tests to distribute free to the public, but it is not clear if that will be enough to meet what is expected to be very high demand. There is also a risk that Americans most in need of the pills will refuse them, just as they have spurned vaccines. About half of unvaccinated adults polled by Morning Consult said they would not take F.D.A.-authorized antiviral pills if they got sick with Covid. Pfizer expects to produce 120 million courses of Paxlovid in 2022. The company already has deals to sell its pills to a number of wealthy countries, and says it’s in discussions with dozens of governments around the world about additional supply deals. It has also agreed to allow other manufacturers to inexpensively make and sell the pills to poorer countries.
The European Medicines Agency last week recommended Paxlovid to treat adults with Covid who are at risk of severe disease, paving the way for European nations to begin using it soon. Pfizer’s treatment is meant to be taken as 30 pills over five days. Patients take three pills at a time: two of Pfizer’s pills and one of a low-dose H.I.V. drug known as ritonavir, which helps Pfizer’s drug remain active in the body longer. The F.D.A. said that Paxlovid should not be taken with certain medications, including a commonly used statin, because ritonavir can interfere with them, potentially causing serious side effects. With certain drugs, health care providers may need to recommend that patients stop taking their usual medication for a few days or adjust its dosage. Pfizer, already flush with cash from its record-setting Covid vaccine, stands to get another windfall from its new pill, which originated in a company laboratory during the SARS epidemic nearly two decades ago. Pfizer executives told analysts last week that Paxlovid could reach up to 155 million people in wealthier countries and up to 95 million people in poorer countries in 2022. They said they expected the market to be long-lasting, as governments and commercial buyers may be interested in stockpiling the pills in the coming years. Analysts at the investment bank SVB Leerink estimated that Paxlovid would bring in $24 billion in global revenue in 2022 and $33 billion in 2023.
Merck’s treatment is also expected to win authorization this week. Within weeks, some patients may be able to choose between Pfizer’s treatment and Merck’s. Pfizer’s option, in addition to working better in staving off severe Covid, may be safer. Merck’s pill inserts errors into the virus’s genes to stop it from replicating. While Merck has said that its studies have found that its treatment is safe, some scientists have raised concerns that could result in dangerous unintended consequences. Paxlovid does not introduce mutations, so it has not raised the same concerns as molnupiravir. But for the first few months, Merck’s treatment is expected to be in much more abundant supply. Merck is expected to make available to the federal government enough pills for 3.1 million Americans by the end of January. The first 378,000 treatment courses are expected about two weeks after authorization. “Clearly if people have a choice, they’re going to choose the Pfizer product,” said Dr. Walid Gellad, who directs the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. “There’s no doubt that the data supports better efficacy and fewer concerns about safety. The question is, how easily obtainable is the Pfizer product going to be?”
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Eventbrite - The Learning Revolution Project presents Library 2.024: AI and Libraries - Thursday, March 21, 2024 - Find event and registration information.
America's national security and economic competitiveness are at risk.
BY GLENN C. ALTSCHULER AND DAVID WIPPMAN, OPINION CONTRIBUTORS - 01/29/23 8:30 AM ET
U.S. government officials have long recognized that what Americans don’t know about foreign languages, cultures, and histories, has — and will — hurt us. And so, for over 60 years, Congress has supported efforts to increase Americans’ knowledge of other countries.
Nonetheless, funding for such efforts, which has never been adequate, has declined precipitously in recent years, putting the country’s national security and economic competitiveness at risk. It will take a major public-private effort to fill the void.
In the aftermath of World War II, the Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie Foundations awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to institutions of higher education to support the interdisciplinary study of foreign languages and the regions in which they are spoken. The Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 spurred Congress to provide its own funding for area studies through Title VI of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958 (renamed the Higher Education Act in 1965). Title VI was supplemented by the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, which supported overseas study.
Prior to the passage of Title VI, “few of the languages spoken by more than three-fourths of the world’s population were being offered in the United States … Hindi, for example, was being studied by only 23 students.” The NDEA initially funded 19 centers (the number grew to 127 in 2010), now known as National Resource Centers (NRCs), for the study of foreign languages and regions. It also created fellowships for foreign language study, later known as Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships.
The centers “subsidize instruction in less-commonly taught languages,” “provide seed money for faculty positions, develop new courses on international subjects, and organize hundreds of conferences and workshops each year.” Although originally established “to ensure trained manpower … to meet the national defense needs of the United States,” the programs’ goals have expanded to include improved understanding of other societies, global cooperation, and enhanced economic competitiveness.
Since 2010, funding has declined; in 2020, only $68 million “was appropriated for Title VI, less than 0.25 percent” of Education Department discretionary spending. In 2022, only $25.5 million was spread across 98 national resource centers (for an average of $260,000 per center, a fraction of what it takes to mount a robust program), with another $32 million devoted to 112 FLAS fellowships.
When the Cold War ended, large foundations shifted their priorities from area studies to global causes such as human rights and democracy promotion. Without Title VI funding, many less commonly taught languages would probably not be taught at all in this country. That said, current support is woefully inadequate. When the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, “the entire U.S. government could call on no more than two or three speakers of Pushto (the dominant language in Afghanistan).” When the United States intervened in Iraq, the lack of “basic cultural literacy” seriously “hampered our ability to collect intelligence on the growing insurgency there.”
Many colleges and universities no longer require foreign language study. Most offer a wide range of study abroad options, many of which do not require foreign language proficiency. And between 2013-16, American colleges and universities discontinued more than 600 foreign language programs. Without Title VI support, these numbers would be even more dismal.
To be sure, area studies has critics. Beginning in the 1960s and ’70s, some scholars attacked what they perceived as area studies’ endorsement of Cold War policies, connection to colonialism, and acceptance of American “exceptionalism.” Some claimed “the very association of academic research with government priorities inevitably pollutes the scholarly enterprise.”
But with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, heightened economic and military competition with China, nuclear brinksmanship by North Korea, and the continued threat of international terrorism, there should be no disagreement about the need for enhanced government support of instruction in foreign languages and the study of other countries’ history, politics, and culture.
It’s time for the Department of Education, colleges and universities, foundations, and major corporations to collaborate to provide the resources for a 21st century area studies renaissance. Title VI provides the template. The prospect of continued global leadership by the United States rests on bi-partisan support for far more extensive use of it.
Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He is the co-author (with Isaac Kramnick) of “Cornell: A History, 1940-2015.”
David Wippman is the President of Hamilton College.
"U.S. government officials have long recognized that what Americans don’t know about foreign languages, cultures, and histories, has — and will — hurt us. And so, for over 60 years, Congress has supported efforts to increase Americans’ knowledge of other countries.
Nonetheless, funding for such efforts, which has never been adequate, has declined precipitously in recent years, putting the country’s national security and economic competitiveness at risk. It will take a major public-private effort to fill the void...."
Text of H.R. 9567 (89th): An Act to strengthen the … as of Nov 8, 1965 (Passed Congress version). H.R.9567 (89th): An Act to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in post-secondary …...
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