If the past perfect action occurred at a specific time, the simple past can be used instead of the past perfect when ‘before’ or ‘after’ is used in the sentence. ‘before’ or ‘after’ tell you what happened first (so past perfect is optional)

-She had visited her relatives in Japan once in 2015 before she moved in with them in 2016.

past perfect : action in the past not referring to a specific time

Subject + had + past participle +object

-she had replaced the broken desk, before she broke it again

Preposition: word before a noun (in, at, on)

Conjunction: word used to connect clauses or sentence (and, but, if)

Adverb: word before verb (quickly, yesterday)

Since:

used as preposition, conjunction, adverb to refer to time/

Conjunction: to introduce a subordinate clause of reason

Point of time vs Period of time:

I have lived / have been living in Dublin for three years. (period of time)

I have lived / have been living in Dublin since 2017. (point in time)

Ever since he lost his wife twenty years ago, he's been less sociable. (point in time)

Since/ for: preposition/ adverb

present perfect if the situation started in the past and continues up to the present.

-since she was on break, she went to japan for 2 months

Since: conjunction (subordinate clause)

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2 possible tense patterns:

1.) The past in the since clause refers to the point in time when the action or state in the main clause begins:

I have been freezing since we got here. (when did she start freezing: since she got there)

Since the new neighbours moved in next door, we've had nothing but trouble. (when did the trouble begin: since the new got there)

2.) used when the actions or states in both clauses occur over the same period of time, which begins in the past and continues up to the present.

He's been a chain smoker ever since I've known him.

For as long as I've been living here she's been going out with a sailor.

Articles:

2 orcas slaughter 19 sharks in a single day in South Africa, eating their livers and leaving them to rot

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https://www.livescience.com/2-orcas-slaughter-19-sharks-in-a-single-day-in-south-africa-eating-their-livers-and-leaving-them-to-rot⁠

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Teachers kick off strike in Portland, Oregon, over class sizes, pay and resources

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https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/teachers-kick-off-strike-portland-oregon-class-sizes-104543036⁠

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This Florida School District Banned Cellphones. Here’s What Happened

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/31/technology/florida-school-cellphone-tiktok-ban.html⁠

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How many arms do starfish have? If you said ‘five,’ you’re wrong.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/01/starfish-study-evolution-gene-sequencing/⁠

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/orcas-harassing-and-killing-porpoises-without-eating-them⁠

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/orcas-great-whites-sharks-livers-south-africa⁠

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/bedbugs-everywhere-very-good-at-what-they-do⁠

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According to neuroscientist Dr. Mariano Sigman, being bilingual can make your brain more robust. In his book, "The Secret Life of the Mind,” Sigman explains that bilingual children have better cognitive control, which includes the ability to pay attention, plan, and switch between tasks.

Studies have shown that bilinguals tend to switch between tasks faster than monolinguals, and their brain activity reflects the use of the language network in their brain.

Cognitive control is essential for success in society, as it is linked to better academic performance, job prospects, and overall health.

Contrary to the myth that bilingualism can confuse children, babies are actually adept at understanding context and can differentiate between languages based on facial cues. Bilingualism has been associated with various benefits, such as increased empathy, delayed onset of Alzheimer's, different perception of time, and cultural adaptability.

However, being bilingual is just one factor among many that contribute to cognitive health, and it does not guarantee immunity from dementia.

While there is still much to learn about the complexities of the brain, promoting bilingualism is considered a simpler and enduring method of stimulating cognitive development

A neuroscientist explains why being bilingual makes your brain more robust

Learning a second language improves cognitive control, says Dr Mariano Sigman Weforum, 07 Jul 2017 Alex Gray It was once believed that trying to learn more than one language at a time would be too confusing for small children. “Once upon a time, we also believed that the world was flat,” says Dr Mariano Sigman, neuroscientist and author of a new book about the mysteries of the brain, in an interview with the World Economic Forum.

His book, The Secret Life of the Mind, dispenses with this myth and explores, among other things, the enhanced cognitive ability of bilingual children. Sigman claims that babies who grow up bilingual have brain functions that are superior to those of monolingual children, because they have better “cognitive control.”

“Cognitive control has many aspects,” he explains. “Such as the ability to pay attention, the ability to plan and the ability to switch easily between tasks. “One of the things most studied about bilingualism is this task-switching, and bilingual children consistently (outperform) monolingual children in this regard,” he says.

The same is true of adults, and experiments highlighted by Sigman in his book shed light on why this happens. “There have been experiments in adults where their brain activity has been measured during switching between tasks. “In one study, participants saw a sequence of objects flashing rapidly in the centre of a screen. They were asked to respond with a button if the object was red, and with another button if it was blue. Then, suddenly, participants were asked to forget about colour and respond using the same buttons about the shape of the object. “Bilinguals tended to switch between the two responses faster than monolinguals,” says Sigman. “When their brain activity was measured, it showed that they were using the language network in their brain. In other words, their brain’s ability to switch between languages came in useful for other types of tasks.”

Why is cognitive control so important?

“Many studies undertaken on vulnerable children show that the likelihood of them doing well in society from an economic perspective is closely related to cognitive control,” explains Sigman. In many countries, there are government interventions that target cognitive control, things like attention, flexibility and planning. The ability to wait patiently for something, not rushing into immediate satisfaction; being in control of your mind. “People who have good cognitive control do well at school, typically find better jobs and are healthier. They have better social insertion,” he says. Myths about bilingualism WiSe 2023/24 Language Skills I: Grammar, Vocabulary and Phonetics 53 That children might be confused when learning two languages at once is not the only myth, according to Sigman. “One myth of bilingualism is that different people should be consistent in speaking only one language, so for instance, a French mother should only speak French to her child; or the child should only speak Spanish in school and English at home. “But this isn’t true. Babies are very good at picking facial cues to tell them what language people are speaking. What this means is that babies become very good at understanding context.”

Is bilingual better? Countless studies have argued the case for bilingualism. It helps children become more empathetic, because they can see things from a different perspective than their own. For example, in one study, an adult asked a child to pass them a small toy car. There were three toy cars – small, medium and large – but the adult could only see the medium and large ones. Bilingual children were more likely to choose the medium-sized car, because they knew the adult couldn’t see the smallest. This study also found that children didn’t have to be bilingual to perform better in the test: being exposed to another language was enough. Research suggests that being able to speak more than one language could also hold back the onset of Alzheimer’s. Bilinguals even experience time differently, and it can help children become accustomed to diversity and different cultures. “Perhaps we should promote bilingualism,” concludes Sigman. “Amid so many less effective and more costly methods of stimulating cognitive development, this is a much simpler, more beautiful and enduring way to do so.” Sigman adds a note of caution: “Bilingual experiments are hard to do, as it’s hard to control for other variables, such as cultural differences. “While being bilingual seems to be a good way of keeping the mind healthy, it doesn’t automatically mean that you won’t get dementia, or even that you will have good cognitive control. Bilingual is certainly a factor that contributes, but it sits among many other factors.” In other words, the brain is notoriously complex and enigmatic. “We are very far from understanding the full workings of the brain,” he adds. “It’s like the universe: the more we learn, the more we understand that there is so much more to learn.”

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