All posts tagged: speaking

Trump says Harry ‘is not speaking for the UK’ after prince’s comments about US role in Ukraine war | World News

Trump says Harry ‘is not speaking for the UK’ after prince’s comments about US role in Ukraine war | World News

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump has hit out at Prince Harry, saying he “is not speaking for the UK” following comments made by the Duke of Sussex about the US administration during a surprise visit to Ukraine.  The US president also claimed he was “speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry” after the King’s son urged Washington to honour its obligations in the Ukrainian conflict. Image: Donald Trump. File pic: AP Speaking at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday, Harry – on his third trip to Ukraine since the war began in 2022 – insisted he was “not here as a politician” but as a “humanitarian” and “a soldier who understands service”. Follow: Ukraine war latest He called on the American leadership to uphold its “international treaty obligations” in what he described as the US’s “enduring role in global security” – although he did not mention Mr Trump by name. You need javascript enabled to view this content Enable javascript to share Share Prince Harry makes surprise visit to Ukraine The Duke of Sussex said: “The United …

Pakistan becomes Iran war peacemaker by speaking Trump’s language

Pakistan becomes Iran war peacemaker by speaking Trump’s language

Published by Sam Flores

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The country hosting talks to end the Iran war was not a likely mediator. Pakistan does not formally recognize Israel, one of the key countries involved. It became a nuclear power in secret, as the U.S. and Israel have accused Iran of seeking to do. And it did not start off on the right foot with President Donald Trump, who in his first term said Pakistan had given Washington “nothing but lies and deceit.” Source link

Women use a higher-pitched voice when speaking to unfamiliar dogs

Women use a higher-pitched voice when speaking to unfamiliar dogs

Published by José Betancourt

When women talk to dogs they do not know, they use a higher-pitched voice than they do when speaking to their own pets. The tone of voice and facial expressions people use also change depending on a dog’s size and the type of activity they are doing together. These results were recently published in the journal Animal Cognition. To understand this research, it helps to look at the concept of prosody. Prosody refers to the rhythm, tone, and pitch of speech, as well as the facial expressions that accompany spoken words. Acoustic prosody includes vocal features like pitch range, while visual prosody relates to the facial movements a person makes while talking. People often use an exaggerated, high-pitched vocal style when speaking to babies, which helps capture a child’s attention and communicate emotion. Research indicates that humans use a very similar style of communication when talking to their pet dogs. However, scientists are still working to understand exactly how the relationship between a person and an animal changes these speech patterns. In human interactions, emotional …

Ms. Rachel aims to help ‘close Dilley’ ICE facility after speaking with kids in detention there

Ms. Rachel aims to help ‘close Dilley’ ICE facility after speaking with kids in detention there

Published by Sam Flores

The boy in the grainy video feed sounded desperate. “I don’t want to be here anymore,” he said. “Nothing is good here.” Since early March, 9-year-old Deiver Henao Jimenez had been held with his parents at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, where children have complained of limited education, lights that never turn off and moldy food. Now he was on a video call with someone who said she wanted to help: Ms. Rachel. Wearing her signature pink headband, the popular children’s entertainer leaned toward the screen, trying to comfort the boy. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said in a warm, high-pitched voice familiar to millions of children and parents. “A lot of people want to try to help.” Deiver told her he missed his friends and that the food at Dilley made his stomach hurt. But that wasn’t what worried him most. Before he was detained, he had won his school spelling bee and placed third at regionals, earning a spot at New Mexico’s state competition in May. “I want to leave …

Turn your next trip into a cultural experience by speaking the language

Turn your next trip into a cultural experience by speaking the language

Published by skeptic

TL;DR: Planning a big trip? Babbel’s lifetime subscription lets you learn 14 languages with bite-sized lessons, conversation practice, and offline access — for a one-time $159 payment. $159 $646.20 Save $487.20   Travel gets a lot more interesting when you can speak the language — even just a little. Ordering dinner, asking for directions, or chatting with a shop owner suddenly feels less stressful and more like a real cultural exchange. This All-Language Lifetime Subscription to Babbel is currently available for $159 (reg. $646.20) with the StackSocial code LEARN. Babbel offers courses in 14 languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, and more. Lessons focus on practical conversation skills, so instead of memorizing random vocabulary, you’re learning phrases you’re more likely to use while traveling. Mashable Deals By signing up, you agree to receive recurring automated SMS marketing messages from Mashable Deals at the number provided. Msg and data rates may apply. Up to 2 messages/day. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our …

Reporter detained for speaking Spanish in Nashville

Reporter detained for speaking Spanish in Nashville

Published by Sam Flores

A Spanish‑language reporter who covers immigration and community news in Nashville was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this week, raising concerns among press freedom advocates and civil liberties groups about due process and enforcement tactics. Estefany Rodriguez Florez, a Colombian journalist with the Tennessee news outlet Nashville Noticias, was taken into custody Wednesday during a traffic stop in Nashville, according to court documents and statements from her attorney. ICE officials say the arrest was part of an enforcement operation tied to alleged visa violations. Rodriguez, who has lived in the United States for about five years, has a valid work permit and has been pursuing legal residency through her marriage to a U.S. citizen. Court records filed by her lawyer say she also sought asylum after previously receiving death threats related to her reporting in Colombia. Her attorney’s emergency court filing contends Rodriguez was not shown a judicial arrest warrant at the time she was detained, and instead only received an immigration notice to appear before ICE. Advocates argue the arrest undermines journalistic …

People Who Take Longer To Answer A Question Seem Dumb But Are Highly Intelligent

People Who Take Longer To Answer A Question Seem Dumb But Are Highly Intelligent

Published by Jenni Sidey

People who always seem to have the right answer at their fingertips might seem smarter than those who think before speaking and answering, but that’s not actually the case.  A 2022 study found that people who pause before answering a question are actually highly intelligent. Out of a room of people, could you pick out the most intelligent one? Likely not, because intelligence isn’t necessarily something you can tell from the surface. In fact, we all know it goes deeper.  Because of someone’s quirks, you may immediately think that person is kind of dumb or annoying, when this quirk actually means they are highly intelligent.  People who take longer to answer a question might seem kind of dumb, but are actually highly intelligent. PeopleImages | Shutterstock One thing that smart people do that may be misunderstood is pause before speaking. According to psychologist Mark Travers, Ph.D., they are not doing this because they don’t know what to say, so much as it is “recognition that the first answer is not always the best.”  This can …

Theory Claims Speaking English Makes People More Negative

Theory Claims Speaking English Makes People More Negative

Published by Jenni Sidey

Words are powerful. Just as certain languages can bring positive energy, one theory claims there’s a specific language more likely to bring negative energy into a person’s life without them even realizing it.  The language that we use in our everyday lives truly does dictate how we think, feel, and process different situations. In a video, a content creator named Quynh explained that speaking English can actually make people more negative, and it all has to do with how the English language describes emotions. A theory claims that speaking English makes people more negative. “What if English makes us more negative? The way that we talk about emotions is how we get stuck in them. In English, we say, I am sad, I am depressed, I am anxious, I am angry. But in other languages, the direct translation correlates to their mental well-being,” Quynh began in her video. @quynhxvan I’ve always loved learning how language chances our perception of reality. There’s studies on how a tribe in Africa didn’t have language to describe th future or …

I improved my speaking skills in a week using these ChatGPT voice mode prompts

I improved my speaking skills in a week using these ChatGPT voice mode prompts

Published by skeptic

Working from home is quietly doing something to my speaking ability. I’m an experienced writer and a fluent English speaker. It’s been my working language my entire life. But after years of a lonely solo writing lifestyle, I noticed something uncomfortable. I’d join a video interview or a team call, open my mouth, and feel a half-second delay between thought and word that wasn’t there before. My fluency had just gone a little rusty from disuse. So I ran an interesting experiment with ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode as a speaking coach. Each ChatGPT prompt was chosen to help me work through the exact gaps I’d noticed, like hesitation, word choice/retrieval, and a few pronunciation slips. My goal was to not let my overthinking derail my speaking fluency. Pronunciation prompts fix bad language habits Target a few difficult words at a time Saikat Basu/MakeUseOf Saikat Basu/MakeUseOf Saikat Basu/MakeUseOf ChatGPT can model any supported language and its vocabulary at any speed, on demand. The real power is in specificity if we want to improve our speaking skills …

In Latest Blow To Free Speech, German Courts Could Issue “Speaking Ban” Against Top AfD Politician

In Latest Blow To Free Speech, German Courts Could Issue “Speaking Ban” Against Top AfD Politician

Published by Jenni Sidey

Via Remix News, German courts are currently deliberating whether leading Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Björn Höcke could be hit with a “speaking ban” during a campaign event in the city of Lindenberg im Allgäu. The move could signal a worsening of free speech in Germany, with Höcke using the legal proceedings to make the case that his fundamental rights are being violated. “Democrats of all countries, look to Germany! Right now, German courts are seriously deliberating whether I should be issued a speaking ban for political events! I am entitled to the fundamental right to exercise freedom of speech. I am a member of a constitutional body. I am the opposition leader of a German parliament,” wrote Höcke. “And then there is also the party privilege: So in the future, a supposedly neutral administration should be allowed to decide with whom a party may conduct election campaigning and with whom not? That is absurd! What we are witnessing here is yet another attack on parliamentary democracy in Germany,” he added. Demokraten aller Länder schaut …