<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Elaine Thompson/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Amazon added a new language-learning skill called Cleo to the Echo. </strong></li><li><strong>If you speak a language besides English, you can use the Cleo skill to teach it to Alexa. </strong></li><li><strong>Over time, Alexa will learn from you, eventually helping to expand its foreign language vocabulary. Right now, Alexa can speak three languages. </strong></li><li><strong>Google Assistant can currently speak more languages that Alexa, and Google expects the total to be over 30 by the end of this year. </strong></li></ul><p>Usually, your Amazon Echo is used to answer questions or supply you with fun facts. Now, though, Amazon wants <em>you </em>to teach Echo a thing or two. </p><p>Amazon introduced a new language-learning skill this week called Cleo. Built by Amazon's team of computational linguists and data scientists, Cleo is designed for people who speak a language that the Amazon Alexa smart assistant doesn't already understand.</p><p>In other words, Amazon wants you to teach Alexa new languages. It's a first for Amazon - and it may have something to do with Amazon's competition with Google. </p><h2>Alexa vs. Google Assistant</h2><p>Compared to Google Asisstant, Alexa is behind when it comes to foreign languages. </p><p>When it comes to English, Alexa can understand accents from America, India, the UK, and Canada. It can also speak German and Japanese. </p><p><span>Alexa's support for accents and dialects is an encouraging sign, but it still only speaks three languages. That automatically limits Amazon's reach with Alexa. </span></p><p><span>Alexa's chief rival, Google Assistant, has a few more languages under its belt. The Google Home speaker, powered by the Google Assistant, can speak English, German, Japanese, French, and Italian. And the Google Assistant smartphone apps </span><span> can speak nine languages.</span></p><p><span>Indeed, Google <a href="https://blog.google/products/assistant/google-assistant-going-global/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced last month</a> that it plans to make Assistant available in more than 30 languages by the end of this year. </span><span>Plus, Google Assistant will soon be multilingual, which means it will be able to detect what language you're using to speak to it, and answer accordingly. </span></p><p><span>Adding language abilities not only makes a smart speaker more attractive to foreign language speakers in the US and consumers in other countries, but it also means that developers are able to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-assistant-language-support-advantage-2017-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">create more foreign language voice apps and skills</a> for consumers. The benefit is two-fold. </span></p><p><span>Amazon has already seen that benefit play out in the real world: the company says that since introducing accented English for its Indian customers last fall, <a href="https://blog.aboutamazon.com/innovation/alexas-newest-teacher-is-you" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,000 new skills</a> have been added to Alexa. </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Elaine Thompson/AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>How it works</h2><p>If you're willing to help Amazon out, Cleo is easy to set up and start using.</p><p>Cleo is intended for Echo owners who speak English, but are also fluent in a second language. It's free to enable in the Alexa app - just go into the Alexa skills section, search "Cleo," and hit "enable" - and you can start using it by saying,<span> "Alexa, open Cleo."</span></p><p><span>To get started, you'll have to let Alexa know - in English - which second language you speak. </span>Alexa will then <span>ask you in English to say something in that language. It could be</span> something specific,  like, "Okay, think of a band you listened to growing up. Ask me to play them." Or Alexa may just ask you to say anything you like. </p><p>Cleo works similarly to other gamified language-learning apps like Duolingo. You play in rounds of five questions, and once each round is complete, Alexa will ask if you'd like to do another round. You can stop at any time. </p><p>The more you use the Cleo skill, the more badges you'll earn. Those badges will help you "climb up the ranks," although Amazon hasn't said if or how you'll be rewarded. That data will, in turn, be used by Amazon to improve Alexa's linguistic capabilities. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-home-mini-release-pixel-2-event-2017-10">This is the Google Home Mini - Google's answer to Amazon's Echo Dot</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Amazon wants your help teaching Alexa new languages - and it could help in its fight against Google

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Netflix</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Netflix can be a great tool for learning a new language, as can watching foreign movies and TV shows in general. Comparing the subtitles and the audio can help supersize your vocabulary.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But it's not a perfect system. Let's say you're an English speaker trying to learn Spanish. You can watch a Spanish movie with English subtitles, and compare the two to learn new words. But there are some words you might not immediately be able to translate from sounds to letters, and these can slip by. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You could also watch a Spanish movie with Spanish subtitles, but then you miss the comparison between English and Spanish.</span> </p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="http://lingvo.tv/?ref=producthunt">Lingvo TV</a>, a new Chrome extension, tries to give you the best of both worlds. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The extension connects to Netflix and your phone (through an app), and lets you translate particular words in a subtitle stream into a different language. This means, in the previous example, you could watch a Spanish movie with Spanish subtitles, but translate certain words into English by tapping them on your phone. You can see the subtitle stream either on your computer (in Netflix) or on your phone (through the Lingvo TV app).</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lingvo TV is perfect if you are trying to push yourself for a more immersive language experience, while still building your vocabulary.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here is what that the stream on your phone looks like (this is translating from English to Spanish, as if I were a Spanish speaker learning English):</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To start, all you have to do is install the Lingvo TV extension on your browser, fire up a Netflix movie or show, and then input the code it gives you on your phone (in the web app). Simple. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><a href="http://lingvo.tv/?ref=producthunt"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Check out Lingvo TV at its website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.producthunt.com/tech/lingvo-tv"><span style="font-weight: 400;">or its Product Hunt page</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-parker-movies-streaming-spielberg-jj-abrams-netflix-screening-room-2016-3">Why Sean Parker's plan to stream movies still in theaters for $50 could work</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="syODkzMjE6rx2o13qgLOmWSoHFq7kAQG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This helpful tool makes Netflix an easy way to learn a new language

Storytelling is a standout amongst the most antiquated types of communication. Before there were cameras, computers, or even books, stories held the knowledge of all civilization. Indeed, even today, students’ adoration to peruse and listen to stories as an approach to find out about the world and how it functions. Besides, students to recount stories either orally or in print is an extraordinary approach to help them rehearse grammar, grow their vocabulary, and impart their ideas to others.<br />
<br />
In classroom, a few educators are endeavoring to tackle the force of technology to build literacy rates for battling students; however does utilizing technology truly have any kind of effect?<br />
<br /> For as long as four years, specialists at MIT, Tufts University, and <keyword id="252525" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Georgia-State-University">Georgia State University</keyword> have been leading a study to figure out if tablet computers stacked with literacy applications could enhance the reading preparedness of youngsters living in economically disadvantaged communities.<br />
<br />
In all three cases, study participants’ performance on standardized tests of reading preparedness indicated that the tablet use was effective. The trials examined a range of educational environments. One was set in a pair of rural Ethiopian villages with no schools and no written culture; one was set in a suburban South African school with a student-to-teacher ratio of 60 to 1; and one was set in a rural U.S. school with predominantly low-income students.<br />
<br /> The researchers’ system consists of an inexpensive tablet computer using <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>’s Android operating system. Wolf and <keyword id="3259799" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gottwald">Gottwald</keyword> combed through the literacy and early-childhood apps available for Android devices to identify several hundred that met their quality criteria and addressed a broad enough range of skills to lay a foundation for early reading education.<br />
<br />
As Wolf reflects in her book, “Proust and the Squid”, the capacity to read, unlike the capacity to process spoken language, is not hard-coded into our genes. Consequently, early training is essential to establishing the neurological machinery on which the very capacity for literacy depends.<br />
<br />
<strong>What’s happening in India?</strong><br />
<br /> For sound literate future governance and technology must go hand-in-hand. <keyword id="661072" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kevin-Kelly">Kevin Kelly</keyword> in his recent book clearly states that technology cannot be just stopped, no matter what restrictions the governance makes (slows down the progress though).<br />
<br />
Recently, India launched a digital literacy mission with an investment of over $265 million to provide high quality education in unprivileged areas of the country. Recently that mission was turned to reality when Minister for IT and NRI affairs, KT Rama Rao launched 54 Cyient Digital Centres (CDC) during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the company. The aim of these CDCs is to offer high-quality digital educational resources to the underprivileged children and community members of the block. Currently these centres comprise of three functions including, online supplemental learning portal for students and teachers, CDs and DVDs to access offline content and Learning resources for Science, Mathematics, Social Science and English.<br />
<br />
<strong>Digital Literacy for women</strong><br />
<br /> In a country where one minister believes women wearing short clothes calls for rape and another wants to make the rural women population literate, its ironical the direction we’re heading. Union minister for law and justice and information technology <keyword id="6354886" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ravi-Shankar-Prasad">Ravi Shankar Prasad</keyword> dedicated WiFi services in as many as five villages in the Araziline block of Varanasi and called for ensuring "digital literacy" among women.<br />
<br />
Over the previous years, various studies have indicated benefits from the utilization of technology in education. The part of technology in education is essential, and the question is no more if technology upgrades learning, rather how would we improve our utilization of technology to upgrade learning?

Technology is making
underprivileged communities literate and India is making it possible

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Jaromir Chalabala/EyeEm/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">A 2017 New American Economy report showed that the demand for bilingual workers more than doubled from 2010 to 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>If you're looking to learn a new language fast for a business trip or <keyword id="6354692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword> expedition, it can be done.</li><li>Business Insider tapped six people who did it to learn their tricks to the trade.</li><li>They offered some helpful tools and resources, as well as some advice.</li><li>Their tips include learning the most-used verbs, recording yourself speaking, and finding ways to meet up with or video chat with natural speakers.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories.</a></li></ul><p>If you need to learn a new language in order to take advantage of a career opportunity, be it a business trip or job change, then you're part of a growing contingent of workers trying to boost their language skills. </p><p>A <a href="http://www.newamericaneconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/NAE_Bilingual_V9.pdf">2017 New American Economy</a> (NAE) report showed that the demand for bilingual workers more than doubled from 2010 to 2015, and more companies than ever are seeking employees who speak multiple languages. </p><p>It makes perfect sense why an increasingly global business environment requires people who can rapidly develop new language skills. As Leonardo De Valoes, adjunct faculty at Trinity Washington University, wrote in a <a href="https://discover.trinitydc.edu/continuing-education/2014/02/26/importance-of-language-why-learning-a-second-language-is-important/">2014 blog post</a> on the school's website, "Communicating directly with new clients and companies in their native language is one of the first steps to founding a lasting, stable international business relationship. Being able to do this automatically puts any multilingual person miles ahead of his or her peers in the competition for jobs and high-prestige positions." </p><p>But it's no small feat - especially if you already have your hands full with your current job responsibilities - to pick up a new language <em>muy rápido</em>. According to a <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2480790/Blog%20Media%20and%20Resources/Cerego%202019%20-%20This%20Is%20How%20We%20Learn.pdf">2019 This Is How We Learn Report</a> from the learning software company Cerego, it takes 15.5 hours of study distributed across 56 days to master a course, and 86% of what we read or listen to is gone from our memory in a matter of days. </p><p>Business Insider picked the brains of six people who successfully taught themselves how to speak a different tongue in record time to understand how it can be done. </p><h1>Practice key words and phrases</h1><p>As a PR veteran with more than three decades in the business, Barry M. Schwartz, president of <a href="http://www.schwartzpr.com/">Schwartz Public Relations</a>, often finds himself abroad. </p><p>"Travel is an integral part of the work, as mine has included regular trips to Europe, South America, and Asia," he said. Yet like many people, Schwartz found it very challenging to become fluent in a foreign language for these short stints. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Barry M. Schwartz</span></p><p class="caption">Barry M. Schwartz.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>As a workable alternative to fluency, Schwartz explained that he found it "most advantageous" to at least learn key phrases required on his travels. </p><p>"[This] helps in two ways: just getting around more easily, and equally important, serving to ingratiate yourself with the locals, whether clients, media, or just folks you meet," he said.</p><p>To facilitate this effort, Schwartz used a teaching tool/card game called <a href="https://www.itslingo.com/">Lingo</a>, which, according to the website, provides 54 essential translations "accompanied by intuitive, easy-to-learn pronunciations." </p><p>While he confessed that the card game isn't the way you "really learn a language," he emphasized its value for helping business people take advantage of career opportunities by being able to speak just well enough to communicate while on assignment. </p><p>"Many business travelers have found Lingo to be an invaluable aid in just getting through the day," he said. </p><h1>Learn the most-used verbs and how to conjugate them </h1><p>Studying languages is a major passion for Josh Palmer, who studied French in high school, learned Chinese by living and working in Beijing for two years after college (while earning his MBA from National Taiwan University), and learned Spanish while living and studying full time in Spain.</p><p>Last year, Palmer founded <a href="https://languageposters.com/">LanguagePosters.com</a>, a business designed expressly to help people learn languages more quickly and easily. Palmer's venture initially launched with posters in Spanish, French, and Italian, but now the business sells 10 different posters in eight languages in more than 20 countries. The latest posters come with decoder glasses that obscure the irregular verb conjugations to help you quiz yourself.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Josh Palmer</span></p><p class="caption">Josh Palmer.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The business was born out of his own desire for speedier and more effective language tools. Palmer had just moved to Barcelona to study Spanish, and really wanted resources to help him learn the language faster, but couldn't find anything on the market that "didn't look like it was designed for a second-grade classroom."</p><p>"I knew from high school French class that memorizing the irregular verb conjugations was going to be the trickiest part - even more so with Spanish, where every letter is pronounced - and designed a poster I could keep on display to help with this memorization," he said. "I knew it had to look nice as well, so my roommates would let me keep it up in the living room."</p><p>Palmer explained that as the action words of the sentence, verbs are the key to speaking a language. "You'll naturally learn the names of commonly used things around you, and you can always point and use the words for 'this' or 'that,'" said Palmer. "But unless you're a charades expert, you'll want to learn the most-used verbs. For example, learning to say 'I want this,' [and] 'Do you have that?' will get you pretty far." </p><h1>Build the basics using workbooks and a frequency dictionary</h1><p>Russell Knight, who today is an attorney at the <a href="https://divorceattorneynaplesfl.com/">Law Office of Russell Knight</a>, had the foresight to realize when he was 30 years old that learning Spanish would come in handy in his legal career.</p><p>Back in 2007, as he was starting his law career at a small firm on the west side of Chicago, Knight was under pressure to get up to speed with Spanish quickly. </p><p>"That year the bottom fell out of the legal market," he said. "The only people walking through the door with cash were Spanish speakers. There were no other job openings for fresh attorneys. I needed to learn Spanish and I needed to learn Spanish fast." </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Russell Knight</span></p><p class="caption">Russell Knight.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>To learn the language as quickly as possible, Knight ramped up the "old-fashioned way" with a frequency dictionary. "This is a dictionary that starts with the most common word and goes to the next common word," he said. "Most languages use 500 words for 90% of all conversations. I memorized the first 1,000 words." This was what Knight needed to be able to communicate with his clients.</p><p>"Now … about a third of my clients are Spanish speakers," said Knight.</p><p>Once he had the basics nailed, Knight took more time finessing his Spanish skills by beefing up his grammar. "There is no way around this other than buying grammar workbooks with all of the problems that involve filling in the blanks," he said. "This is not fun and it takes hours ... but it [does] teach you." </p><p>Knight caveats that advancing to the stage where he could speak extemporaneously in a new language took much longer than mastering common words and grammar. "Making a language immediately register in your mind and leap off your tongue [is] like gaining muscle memory, but learning the basics just took a few months," he said. </p><h1>Record yourself speaking</h1><p>Annemarie Fowler, owner and director of the online English fluency training company <a href="https://www.speakconfidentenglish.com/">Speak Confident English</a> and <a href="https://www.speakconfidentenglish.com/fluencyschool/">Fluency School</a>, made recordings of herself speaking French in order to learn it quickly to prepare to accompany her husband for his diplomatic posting in France.  </p><p>"I'm a professional language coach, so I should have known how to learn a language quickly, but it took me years to discover this strategy for myself," Fowler admitted.</p><p>She recommended that after recording yourself speaking in your target language you "listen to it. Analyze it. (Delete it if listening to yourself is uncomfortable.) And do it again."  </p><p>If you're unsure how to get started with this method, Fowler advised beginning with a spoken journal summarizing your day. "You can talk about what's happening at work, practice for conversations you know you'll have, or simply summarize a movie you just saw," she suggested.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Annemarie Fowler</span></p><p class="caption">Annemarie Fowler.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The language coach said that once she put this system in place, she noticed "immediate results" in her fluency, vocabulary, and overall confidence when communicating in French. Fowler still uses this strategy to maintain her language skills and also uses it with her clients for fast, effective language absorption. "It's particularly helpful for shy, anxious second-language speakers," she said.</p><p>She explained that this works in helping you quickly and effectively master a language because you must first practice speaking in order to skillfully gain command over a language.</p><p>"Recording yourself gives you that opportunity [to practice speaking], no matter where you live or what your level might be," she said.</p><p>The other reason that Fowler believes this approach works is that it helps you see your weaknesses. "They say you can't fix what you don't know is broken," said Fowler. "Analyzing your recorded speech highlights gaps in knowledge and ability." </p><p>She added that recording yourself practicing a language multiple times develops muscle memory. "Creating that automaticity with the words and grammar you need to express yourself is how confidence and fluency are built," she stated.</p><p>Fowler reassured that while listening to yourself may feel uncomfortable, "thankfully, you get comfortable with how you sound rather quickly." </p><h1>Meet or video chat with native speakers</h1><p>Digital tools were primarily how Brett Downes, an SEO specialist with link-building service <a href="https://dfylinks.com/">DFY Links</a>, speedily spruced up his Spanish in preparation to work in Guatemala for 11 months in 2014. </p><p>"The [employees at the] hostel I worked at were all Spanish speaking," recalled Downes. "Before flying in, I downloaded the <a href="https://www.duolingo.com/">Duolingo</a> app on my phone and used it for two hours every day for three months before arriving in Guatemala."</p><p>Additionally, Downes signed up for an online Spanish lesson, through which he would speak via Skype with a teacher for three times a week for one-hour sessions. "The app helped me learn words, conjugations, and formal things, while speaking in person [via Skype] allowed me to practice understanding and also interacting with a real person in Spanish."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Brett Downes</span></p><p class="caption">Brett Downes.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Downes boosted his adeptness at the language still further by participating in a home-stay for a month, during which he lived with a Spanish-speaking family before starting his job. </p><p>"I was forced to converse in Spanish only," Downes remembered. "It was here that I really got to grips with the language, and when I actually … could hold lengthy conversations with the staff and guests while being able to read, write, and understand emails and work documents, too."</p><p>The SEO specialist still works remotely for a Spanish school in Guatemala and has continued with his Skype lessons to keep his skills fresh - albeit just once a week now.</p><h1>Listen to language audio guides, and constantly speak it</h1><p>Saurabh Jindal, founder of voice mobile application <a href="https://talktravelapp.com/">Talk Travel</a>, is no stranger to learning new languages. A current resident of Paris, he has been learning French "to help [him] with … daily life as well as in professional settings." He previously lived for a year in Chile, learning Spanish for the same reasons. </p><p>"I travel a lot, and try to learn the basics - a few words, at least - of a new language to break the ice and communicate in the local ecosystem," said Jindal.</p><p>For Jindal, the quickest way to "get around" a new language has been to use audio guides, including Paul Noble's "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Next-Steps-French-Paul-Noble/dp/B07G4F5FCW/">Next Steps in French</a>" and "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Spanish-Paul-Noble-Complete/dp/B01D1VJNQQ">Learn Spanish</a>." "I listen to them a lot during the day - sometimes even as a replacement to music," he said. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Saurabh Jindal</span></p><p class="caption">Saurabh Jindal.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The biggest benefit that Jindal noticed from the audio guides was the ability to understand accents. "In the beginning it was a pain to decipher what was being spoken, but regularly hearing the audio guides enhanced my comprehension of the spoken words," he said.</p><p>He added that it can be extra helpful to immerse yourself in the "actual environment" with foreign language speakers. </p><p>"If you force yourself to converse with them in their language, [it] makes you think and use the words," Jindal said. "Practice makes … perfect, and it couldn't have been more apt for learning languages. I tried to speak, whenever I could, even if it was broken, but gradually got hold of things, and now I am at a decent level."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-net-worth-singer-millionaire-makes-spends-money-wealth-2019-4">Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid celebrity. Here's how she makes and spends her $360 million.</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The best way to teach yourself a new language fast, from 6 people who've done it

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson</span></p><p class="caption">A gender-neutral bathroom is seen at the University of California, Irvine in Irvine, California, September 30, 2014.</p></div><p></p></div></div>In a year that saw "manbun," "dadbod" and "trigger warning" creep into our daily vocabularies, it was a simple pronoun that was deemed the most notable word of them all.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"They" has been named 2015's Word of the Year.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">More than 300 linguists, lexicographers and grammarians voted on the award Friday at the American Dialect Society's annual conference, held this year in Washington, D.C.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The word "they" was selected for the considerable traction it gained in 2015 as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun. </span></p><p>English speakers have used "they" and "their" for centuries to refer to someone of unknown gender, like in the sentence "Everyone does their best." However, more recently, the usage of the pronoun has expanded to include people who choose to identify outside the traditional gender binary.</p><p>"There has been a lot of discussion lately about pronouns and people taking on their own pronouns, making that a matter of choice," said Ben Zimmer, president of the American Dialect Society, in an interview with Business Insider. That's an interesting development that singular 'they' is in the middle of." </p><p>"It does say something about the way people are exploring gender and sexual identity, and perhaps a greater openness to accepting new ways of expressing that identity through language."</p><p>Zimmer pointed to various news outlets that have broadened their linguistic standards in recent months. In November, the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/insider/mx-did-the-times-adopt-a-new-transgender-courtesy-title.html">used the honorific "Mx."</a> as an alternative to "Mr." or "Ms." when a subject "preferred not to be assigned a gender."</p><p>And a week later, the Washington Post added "they" to their style guide to accommodate "<a href="http://www.poynter.org/2015/the-washington-post-will-allow-singular-they/387542/">people who identify as neither male nor female</a>." </p><p>For Zimmer, these changes epitomize the evolution of language. </p><p>"It moves beyond the traditional binary of 'he' and 'she'," Zimmer told Business Insider. "It feels like an opening up of the language, allowing for a greater possibility of what these pronouns can refer to."</p><p>In another Word of the Year category, "manbun" - defined as a man's hairstyle pulled up in a bun - won Most Unnecessary. Meanwhile, the honor of Most Euphemistic went to "Netflix and chill" - "the sexual come-on masked as a suggestion to watch Netflix and relax."</p><p>"Schlong," whose <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/22/donald-trumps-schlonged-a-linguistic-investigation/">dubious history as a verb</a> was invoked by Donald Trump at <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-bathroom-break-2015-12">a December campaign rally</a>, lost to "f---boi" in a runoff for Most Shocking.</p><p></p><p>The American Dialect Society has held the Word of the Year vote since 1991. Previous winners include "occupy" in 2011, "metrosexual" in 2003 and "chad" in 2000. Last year's winner, #blacklivesmatter, was the first time a hashtag won the vote. </p><p>Here's the full list of 2015's winners and nominees (winners in bold):</p><h2>Word of the Year</h2><p>ammosexual: <span>firearm enthusiast</span></p><p>ghost: <span>(verb) abruptly end a relationship by cutting off communication, in person or online</span></p><p>on fleek: <span>excellent, impeccable, "on point"</span></p><p>Thanks, Obama: a sarcastic phrase assigning blame to the President</p><p><strong>*they</strong>: <span>gender-neutral singular pronoun for a known person, as a non-binary identifier</span></p><h2>Most Useful</h2><p>mic drop: definitive end to a discussion after making an impressive point</p><p>microaggression: subtle form of racism or bias</p><p>shade: insult, criticism or disrespect, shown in a subtle or clever manner</p><p><strong>*they</strong>: gender-neutral singular pronoun for a known person, as a non-binary identifier</p><p>zero f---- given, ZFG: indication of supreme indifference</p><h2>Most Creative</h2><p>adult: (verb) behave like a grownup</p><p><strong>*ammosexual</strong>: firearm enthusiast</p><p>squad: one's posse or close circle of friends</p><p>yass, yaass, yaaass, etc.: expression of excitement, approval or strong agreement</p><h2>Most Unnecessary</h2><p>dadbod: flabby physique of a typical dad</p><p><strong>*manbun</strong>: man's hairstyle pulled up in a bun</p><p>or nah: question tag expressing that something may not occur</p><p>trigger warning: alert for potentially distressing material</p><h2>Most Outrageous</h2><p>fish gape: posed expression with cheeks sucked in and lips slightly apart</p><p><strong>*f---boy, f---boi</strong>: derogatory term for a man who behaves objectionably or promiscuously</p><p>schlong: (verb) defeat soundly</p><p>sharewashing: deceptive marketing by companies treating services as "sharing"</p><h2>Most Euphemistic</h2><p>af, asf: intensifier after an adjective ("as f---")</p><p>lit: amazing, exciting or fun</p><p><strong>*Netflix and chill</strong>: sexual come-on masked as a suggestion to watch Netflix and relax</p><p>swipe right/left: accept or reject (based on gestures used on Tinder dating app)</p><h2>Most Likely to Succeed</h2><p>CRISPR: gene-editing technology allowing biologists to alter and control DNA sequences</p><p><strong>*ghost</strong>: (verb) abruptly end a relationship by cutting off communication, in person or online</p><p>mom: admiring term of address for a woman seen by younger women as a mother figure</p><p>on fleek: excellent, impeccable, "on point"</p><h2>Least Likely to Succeed</h2><p>Berniementum: momentum behind the candidacy of Bernie Sanders</p><p>hoverboard: self-balancing motorized skateboard</p><p><strong>*sitbit</strong>: device that rewards sedentary lifestyle (play on Fitbit fitness tracker)</p><p>Uber for X: pitch used by startups seeking to emulate Uber in different tech sectors</p><h2>Most Notable Hashtag</h2><p>#JeSuisParis: expression of solidarity after the Paris terror attacks</p><p>#LoveWins: celebration of Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage</p><p><strong>*#SayHerName</strong>: call to bring attention to police violence against black women</p><p>#StayMadAbby: ridiculing plaintiff in Univ. of Texas affirmative action case</p><p>#StayWoke: exhortation to remain vigilant and informed (used by #BlackLivesMatter movement)</p><h2>Most Notable Emoji</h2><p>heart eyes (romantic, passionate)</p><p>winking face (humorous, flirtatious)</p><p>information desk person (sassy, sarcastic)</p><p><strong>*eggplant</strong> (male genitalia, sexual innuendo)</p><p>100 ("keep it 100," "keep it real")</p><h2> </h2>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/images-holes-patterns-phobias-trypophobia-2015-12">Science explains why this image disgusts some people</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Nmd3BseTqRqLkFEkTfdl4lPnCcrvUxD-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "english vocabulary apps" and got 5 results

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