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Series · 12 articles

The Science of Speaking

Forty years of research on how people actually learn to talk — told through the experiments themselves. One article every five days, from October 2 to November 26.

  • Every number is sourced. No figure appears without the study it comes from, linked at the end.
  • Every article says what critics said. A 1980s hypothesis is not a settled fact, and we write it that way.
  • Three things you can do. Each piece closes with what the research changes for you on Monday.

Out now

Coming next

One every five days. Titles are final; dates are the plan.

  1. 02 October 7, 2026 The Canadian Kids Who Understood Everything and Said It Wrong Output · Merrill Swain
  2. 03 October 12, 2026 "Sorry, What?" Why Misunderstandings Teach You More Than Lessons Interaction · Michael Long
  3. 04 October 17, 2026 The Linguist Who Kept a Diary in Rio Attention · Richard Schmidt
  4. 05 October 22, 2026 The Babies Who Learned Mandarin From a Person, Not a Screen Live interaction · Patricia Kuhl
  5. 06 October 27, 2026 669,498 People Took a Grammar Quiz. Here Is What They Revealed About Age Age · Johnson & Newport; Hartshorne et al.
  6. 07 November 1, 2026 How Many Words Do You Really Need? Vocabulary · Hu & Nation; Paul Nation
  7. 08 November 6, 2026 The 33 Questions That Measure Your Fear of Speaking Anxiety · Horwitz; Teimouri et al.
  8. 09 November 11, 2026 So Is Grammar Useless? What 49 Studies Say Grammar · Norris & Ortega; Spada & Tomita
  9. 10 November 16, 2026 The Correction Teachers Use Most Works the Least Feedback · Lyster & Ranta; Shaofeng Li
  10. 11 November 21, 2026 How Long Does It Take to Learn French or Spanish? Diplomats Know Time · US Foreign Service Institute
  11. 12 November 26, 2026 Seven Languages, Eight Countries, One Classroom: A Founder's Notes Founder's notes · Sophie Savchenko

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