Can animals use language?
Some Animals Do have Language
Irene Pepperberg spent 30 years teaching language to a parrot. It learned about 100 words and could recognise some objects. Not much else. There has been work done with Dolphins, too. Unsurprisingly most of the research teaching language to animals has been done with apes -- in particular, the bonobo, a very intelligent species.The Most Famous Example
Probably the most famous example of an animal that has learned "language" is Kanzi, the Bonobo. Researchers at Georgia State University taught him language using a special keyboard with symbols on it. They managed to teach him some words and even some simple grammatical patterns. He learned to use very basic language productively -- he could ask for things, and respond when he got them. But even then ... this does not come even close to what human beings can do.Human Beings are Not Special...
As a species, human beings are not special. We're just another type of animal. We eat, sleep, shit and reproduce. Some of us do some things in between. But we're still just animals when it comes down to it. But our cognitive ability... ... now that is special. And a big part of that ability is language. Nothing else on earth comes even close to using language like we do. And our language is so complicated that even the worlds top researchers still have no idea how it works. Language is amazing. And we are amazing because we use language. Cheers, Julian Northbrook Language Punk P.S. Wanna speak English better than Irene's parrot? If the answer is yes ... ... Click here to get the first chapter of my book absolutely free.Subscribe to Dr Julian Northbrook's Daily Emails for Speaking Better English & get FREE access to the Doing English App, packed with free lessons:
More Shizzle on the Blog:
What pilots can teach you about fixing your mistakes in English
Here’s a random Airline fact for you: The number of plane crashes are constantly going down. Compare 41 crashes in 1972 with just 3 in 2015. Bearing in mind that around 100,000 flights go out every day now (far more than 46 years ago). That’s a tiny number. Why are they going down? Because every
Read MoreYour English Grammar and Spoken Skills: A Beginner’s Guide
Do you struggle with English grammar while speaking? This beginner’s guide will help you improve your spoken English skills with ease. Understand Your Challenges: Improving grammar in spoken English starts by understanding your specific difficulties and reasons behind them (and they’re not normally what you think). Focus on Spoken English: To speak fluently, shift your
Read More