Teacher: Megan

Hello everyone! I’m Lucy, and welcome to Science News World Winter Special. Today we have two interesting news topics about the speed of learning a language and the healthiest way to prepare vegetables.

Are you interested in learning a foreign language this winter? Who do you think learns a foreign language faster, adults or children? Linguists are discussing how age is related to the speed of learning. Some linguists say that children learn faster than adults. Children tend to speak simply without thinking so much, while adults try to understand before they speak. Linguists also found out that children’s minds are so flexible that kid’s brains are often described as sponges. The scientists' opinion is that when people pass a certain age, they lose the ability to learn certain skills.

Other linguists think adults learn faster than children. They say children’s levels are lower than adults and are expected to learn less than adults. It just looks like children learn faster, but adults in fact learn more in the same time period. These linguists claim that some research has disproved that children have flexible minds. This means that adults are better language learners than children, because they learn a higher-level-language.

Next up, we are fighting illnesses in winter, so we have to prepare vegetables in a healthy way. Scientists are talking about how the cooking process affects the nutrients. Some scientists say that eating raw vegetables is better for you. They say that if you boil vegetables, the water drains the vitamins from them, and when you dispose of the water, the vitamins are lost. They also say that raw vegetables are easier to digest. They think it’s because raw ones naturally contain chemicals that help you digest, these chemicals are called enzymes, and when you cook the vegetables, the heat destroys the enzymes.

Other scientists say that the cooked vegetables are actually healthier. They say that it is true that the hot water can drain the vitamins from the vegetables, but they also found that if you boil them carefully for the right amount of time, most vitamins will not be lost. In winter, we recommend a hot vegetable soup, which allows us to take in vitamins and water, which is good for digestion.

Before we go, we want to hear your comments about today’s topics. Are you going to learn a language this winter break? How do you cook your vegetable when it’s cold outside? You can comment on our website. I hope you enjoyed our show! Have a nice day!

Discussion Questions:

Retell the facts from the article. 

1. What are the two topics of the news show?

2. What are the two opinions about language learning?

3. One group says that children learn a foreign language faster than adults. What are the reasons? Another group disagrees. What do they say?

4. What is your opinion about language learning?

6. How should you cook vegetables in a healthy way? Discuss both theories and explain which one you think is correct and why. 

7. What kind of news stories are you interested in?