What Is Dyslexia and What Causes It?

Dyslexia is a so-called learning disorder. It can be due to heritage or hormonal development in the fetal stage. In some rare cases, it is caused by some sort of brain injury. Both primary (through heritage) and secondary (through hormonal development) dyslexia are more common in boys.

It is caused by an impairment in the brain. Dyslexic people have difficulties to match visual marks (letters) with sounds and meanings.

There are believed to be three subtypes of dyslexia: visual dyslexia, auditory dyslexia and dysgraphia.

• Visual dyslexia means that the dyslexic person has difficulties to bring letters and numbers into the correct order.

• Auditory dyslexia has to do with the perception of sounds. People with auditory dyslexia have difficulties to distinguish the different sounds within a word or sentence and have therefore difficulties to match the sounds to the written words.

• Dysgraphia is the difficulty to control a pencil to make the right written marks. The person knows what it looks like but can't make his hand to write it properly.

Dyslexia has nothing to do with a person's IQ. It is no sign of being dumb, and it has nothing to do with visual or hearing impairment. Dyslexic people can be real geniuses and still struggle with reading and writing. They can have excellent vision and hearing, yet their brain has problems to connect written marks with sounds.

Learn more about the symptoms of dyslexia next Monday!

My Two Cents ... IX

Today's phrase came to me through the blog of a fellow writer, Lindsay Maddox.

"to be in cahoots with someone"

What does this phrase mean?

It means that you are in a conspiracy with someone. You are planning something illegal or some kind of mischief together.

Where does it come from?

I found out that it's a US expression and likely to come from the Spanish word "cohort". It goes back to the 19th century and was formerly used in its singular form.

My two cents:

Ok, so a misunderstanding in Wild West America probably ended in this nice idiom. So no one tell me mistakes can't be positive...hehe. I like this expression and will certainly keep it in mind for future use. Thanks to the cowboy whose Spanish listening comprehension ended in this misunderstanding!

How to Find a Good Dictionary

If you learn a second language, you will come to a point where you will need a dictionary. You might think: Dictionary is dictionary; it doesn't matter which one I choose. And that's where you're wrong. Let me tell you, there's nothing more frustrating than reading a good book and stumbling upon a word without which you don't understand what's going on in that scene. You get out your dictionary to look up the word, only to find out the word in question isn't listed...bummer!

So, how do you find the right dictionary for you?

Online Dictionary

A good online dictionary should have a forum. Why, you ask? It's simple: A German-English dictionary, for example, attracts both German and English native speakers. In a forum, they have the possibility to talk to each other about word meanings, translations, grammar and style questions. A forum makes an online dictionary so much more than a mere dictionary; it changes it into a place where you can learn and improve a language.

The best online dictionary I know is the German site LEO. Its German-English forum is highly frequented and when you are lucky, you get answers to your questions within minutes. Their dictionary is comprehensive and comes along with declination tables and pronunciation. I think it also offers a vocabulary trainer though I've never tried it out.

Offline Dictionary (Computer and Book)

When you look for a dictionary, look at the number of words included. Compare various dictionaries to get a feeling for high or low word numbers.

Rule of thumb: The more you want to do with/in the second language and the better you get, the more words your dictionary should include.

If you need your dictionary for a specific field, for example office work, note down some specific terms and look them up in the dictionary you want to buy. If they are included, it's ok. If not, you should look for a different dictionary instead.

Some dictionaries include information on difficult words, false friends and sometimes even on countries and culture. If you are interested in these things, you might want to look for a dictionary which included this kind of information.

Dyslexia - Too Stupid to Read?

Yes, the heading is provocative. I know. So...which reaction does it provoke in you? Is it a "yes", accompanied by a sneer? Or is it a clear "no"? Are you undecided?

Here is my answer: NO!

Children with dyslexia are not stupid. They are only slower than others when it comes to reading and writing. They need more help when they learn to connect letters and sounds. They need more time when they try to connect written words with their meanings. But they are definitely not stupid. Full stop.

Dyslexia belongs to the so-called learning disorders. Its impact on a person's life varies greatly. It can be as simple as making slightly more mistakes when writing and a slower reading speed than the average people, and it can be as grave as not being able to read and write at all (mostly because it was too difficult so they just stopped trying).

During the next few weeks, we will have a closer look on dyslexia. What causes it? How can you recognise it in your child? What can you as a parent/teacher/friend do to help a dyslexic person?

I want to invite you to share your own experiences with dyslexia or dyslexic people with us to help raise awareness to the fact that dyslexic people are not stupid. You can share here or on the follow-up posts directly via the comment function, or you can send me a guest blog post with your experiences. If you don't want to write your own post, you can simply write me your experiences and allow me to use them for a blog post. Of course, you can remain anonymous.

I am looking forward to your reactions and experiences!

My Two Cents ... VIII

During an editing job, I came across the phrase

"to live it up"

To be honest, I had to look this one up. However, here's what I found out, as well as my two cents:

What does it mean?

To live it up means to enjoy oneself, to live life without worries or remorse. Most of the time, it also means to spend quite some money in order to enjoy oneself.

Where does it come from?

I haven't found out where its origins are, but at least I found out when it was apparently coined: in 1951. This phrase is quite a recent phrase.

My two cents on this one:

It is a handy phrase as it involves more than just "Enjoy yourself!" I will certainly keep it in mind, though I can't predict if it will find its way into my regular vocabulary.

Writing Poems - Painting with Words

Poems are images, paintings and drawings. The only difference is that your brush is a pen, and your lines are letters and words.

Have you ever read a poem that didn't conjure up some image or feeling inside your mind? It's just what poems do, even more so than stories. A poem has to convey its meaning with much fewer words than a story. Thus, each and every word holds meaning; the writing is much denser. It is really like drawing or painting an image. You have only this one chance to strike home. A story, on the other hand, is more like a film. You have a flow of images, none of them carrying so much weight as a single image would have.

I don't write poems regularly. Most of the time, they are just feelings which want to get out of me. I take a pen and the words just pour out of my head, my heart and my soul, right onto the sheet of paper in front of me. Those poems are true soul images. They ban my feelings, my state of soul onto paper.

Other poems just "happen". They are never planned; I just can't plan poetry. Either I'm in the mood to write a poem (or two, or three), or I'm not. Sometimes, my poems get a voice. That's when I write a song. More often than not, words and melody go hand in hand, evolve hand in hand. The last sond I wrote, however, was one of those true soul images. After the poem was banned on paper, this tune kept probing into my head. I knew: This one's gonna be a song; this one wants to be a song.

Of course, there are as many ways to write poetry as there are poets out there. I can only write about my own way and hope that some of you can relate to it. However, I would love to hear about your ways to write poems as well! Feel free to share as a comment.

First Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning

Do you wonder why I use the word "acquisition" with the first language and the word "learning" with a second language? Well, it's simple, actually. See, babies and children learn their first language(s) without effort. They seem to absorb the vocabulary, grammer rules, pronunciation and sentence structures like a sponge. They can even distinguish between several languages if the speakers and/or the situations are clearly separated. That way, babies can learn more than one first language. They become bilingual or even multilingual. I have heard of children who grew up with four different languages and ended up understanding and speaking all four of them like a native language.

First language acquisition is passive.

When children start a new language at the age of three or older, on the other hand, their natural ability to absorb the new language without effort is already gone. From that point on, we need to study hard in order to learn a new language. We need to learn all the new words, the grammar rules and pronunciation. Some sounds may be so difficult to pronounce that we never quite manage to reproduce them. Only few people manage to acquire true fluency in a second language, and even fewer manage this without spending years in a country where they speak that language every day.

Second language learning is active.

How can this great difference be explained? The difference is found within our brains. When children are born, they are able to distinguish between every phoneme which is used in any language. However, as we grow older, our brain loses the ability to hear all the different phonemes; it concentrates on the phonems it needs for its first language(s). That is the reason, for example, why many Asian people can't distinguish between the "r" and "l" sounds. These sounds don't have any difference in meaning and are therefore mingled together by their brains. They don't need to distinguish between them.

My Two Cents ... VII

Today's phrase is:

"to be head over heels in love"

What does it mean?

When someone says he's head over heels in love with a woman, he loves her truly and deeply. In most cases, it is used in the context that someone falls deeply in love with someone quite suddenly.

What are its origins?

The expression "head over heels" was first mentioned in writing in the late 18th century. It originated in Great Britain and meant something along the lines of "upside down", thus referring to something which was not in its usual state.

About 160 years later, the expression was first used as "head over heels in love" by an American writer.

My two cents:

You might wonder why I picked this expression. Let me ask you a question: How long does it take to fall into love with a person? A second? An hour? An evening? Maybe a week? Or rather a month? Longer?

It's different for every person, even for every new relationship. It might happen that you already have strong bonds, like a close friendship, with a person and then, boom, one moment changes everything. Or you meet someone for the first time in your life and know that this person is someone special, someone with whom you could become happy. "Head over heels" was used for a situation which isn't normal any longer. It is the right expression for both situations I described. You find yourself not knowing what happened to your world and wonder what has turned it upside down. Love can grow gradually, or it can happen suddenly, head over heels.

Language Courses: How to Find the Right One for You

There's a whole jungle of language courses out there. If you want to learn a new language, you have to know which kind of course suits you so that you don't end up spending money on courses which don't help you. And believe me, language learning resources can be quite expensive.

On Monday, I posted about how to find out which type of language learner you are. The right language course for you strongly depends on your type of learning, so if you haven't already found out about it, I recommend you should.

Advice for Written Focus Learners

Language learners with a written focus (like myself, btw) like to figure out things on their own. They need a good course book, excercises and grammar explanations, and a dictionary, but not necessarily a teacher.

How to find a good course book and grammar book?

When you look for a good course book, look inside. Have a look at the first chapter to make sure you understand the explanations and the general set-up of the book. Then have a look at a chapter farther into the book to find out if the book is in-depth enough for you, and whether it advances too fast or too slow. Make sure it contains the solutions for any excercises as well.

As for a grammar book, you definitely have to look inside as well. Read the content page to find out if all the topics you need are included. Then have a look at certain topics like verb tenses and prepositions to see how well and comprehensive they are explained. Does the grammar book contain examples? Does it even contain excercises?

Advice for Oral Focus Learners

Language learners with an oral focus often learn best in groups. They need to listen to and to speak the new language. Therefore, a language course at a public school or with a private teacher generally suits those learners best.

How to find a good course or a good teacher?

One rule says: The more students per course, the less teacher time per student. An ideal language course shouldn't have more than five or six students so that the teacher has enough time to focus on each student's problems. Furthermore, the teacher should have experience in teaching. It isn't enough to have a degree in teaching (and some great teachers have no degree at all). Ask for his references concerning his teaching and language skills.

Most language teachers work with a certain course book. Ask in advance which one is used and have a look at it. Does it have group excercises and role plays? Are the texts spoken on a CD? Does it seem interesting and are the chapters well structured?


No matter which learner type you are and which course you choose in the end, you have to feel comfortable with it. Otherwise, you will always associate the language with negative feelings like boredom or frustration.

Language Courses: Which Type of Learner are you?

Before you can choose the right language course for you, you have to know how you learn best. Here are some questions for you to find out what type of learner you are:

1. Do you like being the center of attention?
2. Do you like figuring out difficult problems on your own?
3. Do you rather watch TV than read a book?
4. Do you have problems understanding others when they talk in your second language?

If you have answered questions 1 and 3 with yes, then you seem to be an orally focused learner. If you have answered questions 2 and 4 with yes, then you're probably a learner focused on the written word. Should your positive answers belong to both categories, you are a mixed type.

Oral Focus

Now what does it mean to have an oral focus? Your strengths are listening comprehension and the courage to just talk away even though you know you will most likely make mistakes. You are rather extrovert and like doing group exercises and little role plays when learning a language. You need someone to guide you through language acquisition, someone you can turn to for explanations.

Written Focus

Learners with a focus on the written word tend to be introvert. They are usually well at logical thinking and are able to figure out highly complicated problems if they are interested. If your focus is on the written word, then you don't like role plays very much, and you feel uncomfortable talking in your second language with others because you are afraid of making mistakes.

Of course, there are many people out there who are a mixture of both types. A true written or oral type is rare, yet if you know which one is stronger within you, you can plan your language learning accordingly.

Watch out for Wednesday's post about how to find the right language course for you!

My Two Cents ... VI

As my last one isn't so long ago (New Year's Day to be precise), I wondered where the phrase

"to have a hangover"

might come from ...

What does it mean?

A hangover describes the headache and stomach sickness on the morning after drinking alcohol.

Where does it come from?

The phrase seems to be relatively new. Its first mentioning seems to be dated from 1904 in the above sense. It was coined with the thought in mind that something stays from the evening before, thus "hangs over" to the next morning.

My Two Cents:

Either people knew far better tricks against drinking then we do, or the effects were much worse than a simple headache and stomach queasiness. It seems strange that this phrase is so young, and as far as I have found out, there haven't been many similar expressions before this.

However, here are my personal hangover tricks (as we are already at this topic ...): Drink water in between or at least before going to bed that night. The next morning, my hangover breakfast consists of scrumbled eggs spiced with salt, pepper and paprika, and baked rolls. Normally, my hangover will disappear after that breakfast.

Miros große Stunde - Miro's Big Moment

Ok, today I want to present you (proudly, that is) my first bilingual ebook which has been recently released.

Miros große Stunde - Miro's Big Moment is all about courage and friendship and a tiny little dragon who is afraid of everything. When he meets seven year old Lizzy, she decides that she is going to teach Miro how to fly. Not really what Miro wants, though ...

Read about Lizzy's efforts and Miro's struggles and find out what Kitty, the neighbours' cat, has to do with it all ...

The original story is in German. I have included questions about the content every few paragraphs to help you understand what is going on, thus making the reading and learning experience more fun and less frustration. If you don't feel like starting with the original story, you can as well read the English translation first (which is also included), or read the English version to your kids or grandkids.

Whoever wants to win a copy of this great children's story, read on:

I will give away five copies for free.

How can you qualify?

Now that's easy: Help me promote my ebook. Share on Facebook, Twitter it, write a blog post about it, whatever comes to your mind. Then comment on this article with a link to your promotion.

On 31st January, I will draw five winners and announce them here on Language Love. You have to send me an email then in order to receive your coupon code.

Everyone else who helps me promote my ebook until 31st January will receive a coupon code for a 50% discount!

Reading - Only a Hobby or More?

Your child is sitting in his room, totally absorbed by the book he's reading, while chaos reigns all around him? He is reading although you told him to tidy up his room? He knows more excuses for reading on than for anything else?

Congratulations! You are blessed with a book-loving child. Nowadays, this becomes ever rarer. Many children love their computers, Xboxes, Nintendos and the like. If you give them a book, they might even look for the switch to turn it on.

You might wonder why I congratulate you if your child forgets his duties while reading. Well, that’s simple. Reading is the most precious gift. A child that loves reading will most probably be more creative than other children. He has a great imagination. He can concentrate for hours on one and the same task. Furthermore, his ability for language, for grammar and spelling, and his vocabulary will increase considerably through reading.

Now, do you still wish your child wouldn’t read that much?

The greater problem is how to wake up the love for books in a child that doesn’t have it naturally. There are so many children nowadays who have never read a single book in their whole life. The best way to get your children to read is so easy: Read to them when they are young. Buy them books with topics that interest them and fit their age. Read a lot yourself. Children tend to copy what their parents do.

And then, when you have a book-loving child, don’t lose patience when he forgets his duties over his books. Just think of all the benefits of reading and get yourself a nice book too.

My Two Cents ... V

Today's phrase is

"to kill two birds with one stone"

What does it mean?

This phrase refers to the idea that someone can achieve two goals in one try. Thus single effort, double value.

Where does it come from?

I found sources saying that this phrase was first used in English and French literature at around 1600. Another source said that it originates in a Chinese idiom which literally translates to "one stone two birds". If that is true, the idiom itself may well be much older, although its use in the English language began at the beginning of the 17th century.

My two cents on this:

I can well imagine that the original idiom comes from the Chinese. Chinese philosophers often have used images like this to convey a greater meaning. It just fits that the original meaning was rather negative as it was mainly used to show how unlikely the effort of someone was to prove two arguments with one solution. Over the time, its pejorative connotation has vanished. Nowadays, someone who can kill two birds with one stone is likely to be successful. This attempt to achieve two goals at once can save time and money so it is a skill which is sought after in businesses.

It is interesting how the meaning of such an idiom can change over time.