Learn more about books with this collection
How to showcase your skills and experience
How to answer common interview questions
How to make a good first impression
Humans have an innate language instinct, which allows them to tackle communication on a whole other level.
14
244 reads
15
195 reads
Since children learn languages as early as 18 months old, but can only learn from observing adults that do it the right way, they have no way of actively telling what’s right from wrong – they’re not studying languages, they just absorb them.
Yet they still apply the right rules at the right time. For example, even deaf children apply the correct grammar, just by learning sign language from their parents.
13
165 reads
Children have a “window” for maximum language learning, while adults tend to have trouble learning a second language.
This window must exist because children around four years old learn grammar and vocabulary so quickly; this exponential learning cannot be explained by adult intervention or guidance. Language learning can be encouraged, and children must be in a social environment to absorb language, but the exact words they remember and the grammar they display probably has a biological basis.
14
142 reads
All languages are based on the same two core principles.
How come we can talk so effortlessly to one another? What is it about language that makes it so easy to communicate with it? There are two forces at play here:
13
141 reads
The form words take doesn’t have a direct relation to their meaning.
For example the word “cat” doesn’t sound like a cat. The sound cats make is “meow” and they’re silent when they walk, whereas “cat” is a pretty strong, snappy, short and loud word.
This is a good thing, because it keeps us from trying to decipher what the word “cat” means by thinking about the way it sounds and instead lets us jump instantly to the result, because we’ve paired the word with the image through generations of rote learning instead.
14
128 reads
This principle allows us to express anything and everything, because even though the number of words in any given language is limited, the number of combinations of words isn’t. Since we use the rules of grammar to create our own sentences, we’re not limited in how much we can express, which makes it easier to get your point across.
13
115 reads
Grammar is a crucial part of language, and it pays to know it well. However, while you’d be punished horribly in school in the 1920s for bad grammar, today it’s not such a big deal, mainly because grammar rules are only one type of rules that determine how well you use language.
Grammar rules are prescriptive, which means they tell us how we’re supposed to talk or write. More and more though, scientists are concerned with descriptive rules, which describe how we actually talk.
15
109 reads
You can be very much descriptively correct with your grammar, while being wrong in a prescriptive sense, just like a driver can follow the rules of physics in his car while breaking the laws of the country he’s driving in. Correct grammar is very much a relative thing, so don’t stress too much about it!
15
99 reads
The theory that language is an instinct has opened up the possibility that humans have had access to language learning for about 2.5 million years.
There are specific genes and regions of the brain that develop to allow the individual to practice language.
While popular media accounts claim that chimpanzees can learn American Sign Language, most data suggest that chimpanzees are not mentally wired to acquire language. They lack the language instinct that humans possess.
14
98 reads
The audible signals people can produce are not a series of crisp beeps like on a touch-tone phone. Speech is a river of breath, bent into hisses and hums by the soft flesh of the mouth and throat.
14
114 reads
Humans are so innately hardwired for language that they can no more suppress their ability to learn and use language than they can suppress the instinct to pull a hand back from a hot surface.
14
124 reads
CURATED BY
We are born with an innate capability to understand languages.
“
Curious about different takes? Check out our The Language Instinct Summary book page to explore multiple unique summaries written by Deepstash users.
More like this
12 ideas
Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos
Ogi Ogas, Sai Gaddam
11 ideas
Rethinking Body Language
Geoffrey Beattie
3 ideas
What the Receiving Gifts Love Language Means for a Relationship
verywellmind.com
Explore the World’s
Best Ideas
Save ideas for later reading, for personalized stashes, or for remembering it later.
Start
31 ideas
Start
44 ideas
# Personal Growth
Take Your Ideas
Anywhere
Just press play and we take care of the words.
No Internet access? No problem. Within the mobile app, all your ideas are available, even when offline.
Ideas for your next work project? Quotes that inspire you? Put them in the right place so you never lose them.
Start
47 ideas
Start
75 ideas
My Stashes
Join
2 Million Stashers
4.8
5,740 Reviews
App Store
4.7
72,690 Reviews
Google Play
samz905
Don’t look further if you love learning new things. A refreshing concept that provides quick ideas for busy thought leaders.
“
Shankul Varada
Best app ever! You heard it right. This app has helped me get back on my quest to get things done while equipping myself with knowledge everyday.
“
Sean Green
Great interesting short snippets of informative articles. Highly recommended to anyone who loves information and lacks patience.
“
Ashley Anthony
This app is LOADED with RELEVANT, HELPFUL, AND EDUCATIONAL material. It is creatively intellectual, yet minimal enough to not overstimulate and create a learning block. I am exceptionally impressed with this app!
“
Ghazala Begum
Even five minutes a day will improve your thinking. I've come across new ideas and learnt to improve existing ways to become more motivated, confident and happier.
“
Giovanna Scalzone
Brilliant. It feels fresh and encouraging. So many interesting pieces of information that are just enough to absorb and apply. So happy I found this.
“
Laetitia Berton
I have only been using it for a few days now, but I have found answers to questions I had never consciously formulated, or to problems I face everyday at work or at home. I wish I had found this earlier, highly recommended!
“
Jamyson Haug
Great for quick bits of information and interesting ideas around whatever topics you are interested in. Visually, it looks great as well.
“
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving & library
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Personalized recommendations
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates