Episode 25 - Language

This week, Ben is joined by Dr. Tahnee, a teacher of ESL, to discuss the word language.  Tahnee talks about teaching English and her love of languages.  Ben talks about the origins of the Sims game franchise and tries to answer Tahnee’s questions about the development of the Simlish language.  00:00:20 - Ben and Tahnee introduce themselves 00:01:00 - Tahnee talks about where her interest in language started 00:03:31 - The Mango and Bash love Tahnee mic sounds, and the school system in Brazil  00:07:34 - How cats communicate with humans, and “The Secret Life of Cats” documentary  00:09:04 - Creativity, sentences, syntax, and context   00:11:05 - “…different parts of your brain” and differences in learning 1st and 2nd languages 00:13:43 - Ben hears it but can’t roll it, and Tahnee talks about differences in written and verbal learning 00:17:59 - Learning styles and discussing Japanese  00:19:57 - Say no to banning cursive writing! 00:24:03 - Not all language courses are the same, and structuring coursework to standards 00:28:20 - The subject, the predicate, how to make sense, and “a lot more 20 letter words.” 00:31:22 - The profound end of the pool  00:34:21 - A pitfall of learning a second language 00:36:29 - Ben’s hot take on people correcting grammar  00:39:20 - Tahnee is more objective in English, and she talks about conceptual metaphors  00:42:22 - Syntax, nuance, and using the passive voice  00:45:57 - Tahnee anticipates her student’s needs based on their native language 00:48:04 - Research on interactive video games as a language learning aid  00:52:21 - Ben explains “The Sims” franchise development and history  00:55:34 - Ant not aunt simulator, and William’s tragedy inspires him  00:59:40 - Tahnee has lots of questions and thoughts about Simlish  01:02:42 - Originally, Simlish was entirely improvised 01:05:12 - Tahnee’s professor brain has questions, "The Jabberwocky," and the word baby in Simlish  01:11:16 - Applying nonsense in a systematic way 01:14:59 - Katy Perry songs in Simlish, and Ben’s misunderstanding 01:17:46 - Tahnee’s brain starts looking for patterns… and so do players  01:20:11 - The constraints of languages, and consonant clusters  01:22:50 - Phonetics, Phonology, and baby talk (in all languages) 01:26:56 - Ben’s Sims story, have a wonderful life, and go learn a second language!