It’s never too late to pick up a hobby, learn something new, face your fear, or just take some time off. No matter what society has to say or what your kids tell you, do whatever you want to, at whatever age you wish to. The same goes for learning to read, write, and speak a new language. People might call the idea of taking language lessons in your 40s absurd, but if you want to expand your horizon, a new language is bound to help you do it. Focus on what you desire.
Benefits of Learning a New Language
Not everyone chooses a foreign language as a supplementary subject in school or college. The ones who do usually end up backing out midway. It’s important to understand that being able to understand multiple languages comes with a huge bag of benefits. From high-paying jobs to traveling opportunities to shaping your ability to focus, everything!
Look for Your Motivation
One of the biggest reasons why students give up on their linguistics classes is because of a lack of motivation. However, you’re not a kid anymore. Research! Read about people and look for motivation. Studying a foreign language isn’t easy, but when you have the motivation, you’ll definitely work towards it.
Choose the Right Tools
Don’t have time to enroll in a school? Doesn’t matter. There are several applications and online lectures that you can become a part of. Just ensure that you read about them before you put your trust in them. It can become a trial-and-error process at a point, but that’s okay. Stay only where you feel right.
Take Advantages of the Technology
Suppose you choose to learn German. Apart from your classes and homework, try to explore more opportunities. Watch German movies, read books, and listen to songs in that language. In fact, you can also simply point at a thing in your room and learn what it’s called in the language you’re learning. Dive deep into it.
Look for Friends to Practice With
No matter how much you think you’ve nailed the language, it’s important to see what a person who understands it says. Get social and look for people who know you’re on the journey to learning this language. Practice with them, and use the foreign language while having an everyday conversation. Since you both are beginners, this communication zone will become judgment-free for both.
Could the Next Solar Storm Bring in an Internet Apocalypse? A New Study Suggests So
Climate change and the increasing environmental degradation may have a serious impact on our lifestyles on a global scale. This fact has been doing the rounds for a very long time. The magnitude of change is touted to have multiple ramifications ranging from economic disruption, the outbreak of newer diseases to further evolution of disease-causing microbes. As per a recent study, the next solar storm on the earth can potentially shut down the Internet across the world causing massive disruption to the economic activities of the nations worldwide.
About the Study
The paper, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, posits that such an Internet shutdown would last for days, weeks, and maybe months – and could vary from nation to nation. As we increasingly rely on technology and the internet, being in such a situation would be no less than living a nightmare. The research paper was presented at the SIGCOMM 2021 Data Communication Conference by Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, an Assistant Professor at the University of Irvine, California.
Possible Impacts of the Phenomenon
In her research paper, Jyothi says that the existing infrastructure is poorly equipped to handle the magnitude of the future solar storm. But, the silver lining here is that these solar storms (also called coronal mass ejections) are relatively rare in occurrence. Only two such solar storms have been recorded in history – one in 1859, and the second in 1921. Both these storms created acute geothermal turbulence on the earth causing the local electricity to go kaput. The research paper goes on to say if such an event happens, the nations at high latitudes will bear the brunt of catastrophe more than the nations that are at lower latitudes. That said, though their occurrence is rare, we shouldn’t rule out their possibility and do our bit to preserve the environment whenever we can.