Increased acceptance of the use of alternative and augmentative communication technologies in general society can enhance the quality of life for people with speech impairment.
French, Spanish and Japanese are spoken faster than German, Vietnamese and Mandarin, with English somwhere in the middle.
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Language, geography, age and other factors can all affect how fast a person talks. But sometimes, these perceived differences are only in the listener’s head.
Up for debate?
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Long treated as a sign of anxiety or a delaying tactic, ‘filled pauses’ are a linguistic trick to signal that what you are about to say might be complicated.
Reading becomes faster when you don’t have to say each word out loud.
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Many people fear the disappearance of the unique way some communities speak. But accent loss is a complicated notion and embracing both language variation and change can be an important social goal.
Humans are the only animals that express their thoughts in full sentences.
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We often imitate styles of speech we hear – what’s known as ‘linguistic convergence.’ But a researcher wanted to see if we alter our speech based on the mere expectation of how someone will sound.
Marlee Matlin covers her ears as Gottfried performs during the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in 2011.
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