What does our use of language say about us?

What does our use of language say about us? I have just watched this fascinating TED talk by Vera Regan about language.

Language evolves over time, and research shows that often young women are the innovators. However, not everything about language changes. Word order is invariant. In English, the order is subject, verb, object.

The choice of language we use represents our social status, so listening to language can tell us a lot about the speaker and listener.

Vera chose to study how people use the word “like”, and also how migrants use local language variation patterns. It was fascinating to see how this related to the identity that they were starting to build, as well as whether they felt language should be formal or informal.

It has certainly given me a lot of food for thought, and I will pay more attention to people’s speech patterns in future!

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 210 days to go!