Noam Chomsky has endured many attempts to disprove his widely respected theories of language, but never have any of them come from a 3-ounce bird. The European starling, a tiny virtuoso, has the ...
The love song of a humpback whale sounds magnificently free-flowing and improvised to the casual human listener. But fresh mathematical analysis of shows there are complex grammatical rules. Using ...
The “round” in “Silent Night” might call up imagery of the soft, maternal kind, but in the phrase “round yon virgin,” it simply means “around.” “Yon” is an antiquated word for “that one” or “over ...
Songs can help develop skills that any language learner needs: widening vocabulary, developing understanding of grammar, making it easier to remember words and phrases — BBC Learning English Editor, ...
Drop these facts about the grammar in your favorite carols when you're out caroling this holiday season. Notice the comma placement there? The gentlemen in this phrase are not necessarily taken to be ...
Justin Bieber’s 2012 hit Boyfriend might be a cracking pop tune but that hasn’t stopped one primary school pupil from taking offence to its grammar. So much so that the unnamed year 5/6 student from ...
A new series from BBC Learning English offers global audiences an opportunity to learn English by meeting local musicians from across the UK Songs can help develop skills that any language learner ...