Latest news with #German.
Gulf Insider
6 days ago
- Business
- Gulf Insider
Germany Sets Record For Naturalizations In 2024, Syrians And Turks Top The Charts
In Germany in 2024, a record number of foreigners were naturalized, with Syrians and Turks gaining citizenship at the highest rate when all nations are factored. The data from 13 German states shows that 249,901 people were given German citizenship, which is more than the population of Chemnitz. However, this data does not include all German states, with results from Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein still pending. Syrians were in first place. For example, in the most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, 24,349 Syrians received German citizenship. 🇩🇪 He received German citizenship, but it doesn't sound like he considers himself German.❓"Are you both German now?"🔺"What does German mean? Yeah, we have a German passport."And serving in the military? Not a chance. — Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 2, 2025 Turks came in second place and saw a big jump over 2023. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of Turks gaining German citizenship jumped 83 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year. Some other outsized growth numbers were seen in other German states. For example, Russians receiving German citizenship jumped 623 percent in the state of Baden-Württemberg. PM Viktor Orbán: 🇭🇺🇩🇪 "Now, Germany is no longer Germany. It's a colorful, changed multicultural world, where migrants coming in are no longer guests in this country… They are not here as guests of the native Germans, but in their own right. It is now their country, too." — Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 25, 2024 During the previous government, the rules for citizenship were relaxed substantially in 2024, including the wait time to receive citizenship in some cases. However, according to Welt, this may have not played such a large role in the uptick in naturalizations, as in many states, those seeking citizenship have already been in Germany for many years. In Baden-Württemberg, the average stay of residence for new citizens was 14.1 years. In some federal states, cases of people receiving accelerated naturalization procedures were not even registered in even a single case. 🇩🇪 NEW: "Uncontrolled immigration" fueled the AfD's "shock" victory in the fact, immigration is now the TOP issue for Germans, according to political analysts. — Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 3, 2024 This citizenship law provision, which critics labeled 'turbo naturalizations,' allowed foreigners to receive citizenship after three or four years if they showed outstanding efforts to integrate. However, the new government is seeking to abolish this rule, even if it is not entirely clear if the coalition can work out an agreement. One aspect of the new law that may have provided an outsized incentive for many long-time German residents to seek out citizenship was relaxation of dual citizenship rules. Previously, new German citizens would have to give up their old passports, but the new law changed this.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
How speaking multiple languages changes your brain
AP file photo Language areas of the brain Learning a new language physically changes the brain Learning languages as a child is an advantage Does learning a language make you smarter? There are many reasons to learn a new language , it might be for work, a love interest, or a personal interest in a region's culture or shows that learning languages benefits your overall brain health a new language is like working out your brain. Just as muscles get stronger with physical training, neural pathways in the brain reshape when you learn a new what neuroscientists mean when they say people who speak multiple languages process information differently than those who speak one language. But what really happens in the brain when you learn a new language, and does it make you smarter?Before we get to those questions, here are some basics about how language requires many different parts of the processing involves two key circuits, one for perceiving and producing sound, which forms the foundation of language, and another for selecting which language's sounds to use, said Arturo Hernandez , a neuroscientist at University of California San Diego , US."These circuits are rewired as we learn and switch between languages. It's about mapping sounds and deciding which language to operate in," Hernandez told need sensory areas like the auditory cortex to process speech sounds, and we need the brain's expansive motor networks to coordinate the muscles involved in speech, such as those for controlling the tongue, lips and vocal is true for all languages, but changes in 'higher processing' areas of the brain are needed to learn a new example, the Broca's area located in the frontal lobe is primarily responsible for syntax — the way we structure sentences. It helps construct grammatically correct sentences and understand sentence Broca's area is also key for speech production and facilitates the motor control needed for articulating brain regions like Wernicke's area play an important role in vocabulary comprehension and word retrieval. It helps in understanding the meaning of words and storing them in long-term memory.A German study in 2024 measured the brain activity of Syrian refugees before, during, and after they learned the German found that people's brains rewired as they became more proficient in German.'Brain rewiring' means that the brain's neuronal structures physically changed. This process — called neuroplasticity — is the mechanism which underlies a new language therefore required new ways for the participants' brains to encode, store, and retrieve new linguistic information."Structurally, [learning a language] increases gray matter structure in areas related to language processing and executive function," said Jennifer Wittmeyer, a cognitive neuroscientist at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, changes in the brain also change the way the brain functions as it physically changes the way neurons communicate. This so-called 'neural plasticity' helps you remember words faster, recognize new sounds better and improve pronunciation by controlling your mouth muscles."Functionally, [language learning] enhances connectivity between brain regions, allowing for more efficient communication between networks involved in attention, memory, and cognitive control," Wittmeyer told show that we use the same brain networks for all languages, but the brain responds differently to our native language. One study found that brain activity in language networks actually decreased when participants listened to their native suggests the first language you acquire is processed differently in the brain with minimal effort, researchers also shows it's much easier for young children to learn new languages than it is for children's brains are still in development and are more adaptable to neural plasticity and learning. Unlike adults, they don't have to translate from their first language, so they pick up sounds, grammar, and words more effortlessly."At an early age there's not as much rigidity in the brain. Adult brains are already structured around their first language, so a second language must adapt to existing knowledge rather than develop independently as it relies on previously established neural networks," said research does show that multilingualism improves cognitive abilities like memory and problem-solving abilities. But does this mean polyglots are smarter?It's complicated, but probably not, said Hernandez."If somebody speaks more than one language, it increases their verbal repertoire. They have more words across all languages, more items, necessarily more concepts," said it's unclear if having a bigger vocabulary is due to a bigger cognitive reserve or just having more words stored in the brain's memory banks. And this isn't the same thing as really test if polyglots are more intelligent, scientists would need to "find a task that's not related to language," said far, the evidence isn't very clear that polyglots perform better in tasks which aren't related to scientists aren't sure if changes in cognitive skills in multilinguals are due to learning languages, or due to other factors like education or the environment they grew up in. There are too many factors involved in cognitive skills to isolate it to one factor like language learning, say regardless of whether better cognitive skills equals smartness, it's clear that learning new languages opens up new cultural experiences in your life.
BBC News
30-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Redknapp says 'joke' about Tuchel 'badly backfired'
Former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp says calling England boss Thomas Tuchel "a German spy" was a "joke" that "badly backfired".Redknapp made the comment about the German manager when speaking at a charity event last month and also appeared to make a Nazi on Saudi Arabia's state-owned Al Arabiya News in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Redknapp was discussing England having a foreign manager in Tuchel when the presenter said: "A German spy as you said.."The ex-Portsmouth, Tottenham and West Ham manager replied: "No, don't go there. Oh my god, it was a joke, you know, that badly backfired. But it was only a joke."Former Chelsea manager Tuchel officially started his England role in January and led them to World Cup qualifying wins over Albania and Latvia in his first two games in 78, was speaking in front of an audience at an event in London before those matches and was asked for his thoughts on the German."I'll be honest with you, I think he's a German spy. I'm telling you," Redknapp is seen saying in a video clip obtained by the Guardian., external"Seriously, he's been sent over to [expletive] us up. He has. I'm telling ya, he's like Lord Haw Haw in the war – 'We have your best soldiers captured' and all that."William Joyce, known as Lord Haw-Haw, broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK during World War also imagined an instruction given to Tuchel to "go over and ruin that team".And he appeared to make a Nazi salute gesture as he made the comments to the audience, who were laughing.
BBC News
28-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Redknapp jokes England boss Tuchel is 'German spy'
Former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp appeared to make a Nazi salute after joking England boss Thomas Tuchel was "a German spy" when speaking at a charity event. Tuchel became England manager in January and led them to World Cup qualifying wins over Albania and Latvia in his first two games in Tottenham and West Ham manager Redknapp, 78, was speaking in front of an audience at an event in London before those matches last week, and was asked for his thoughts on the German."I'll be honest with you, I think he's a German spy. I'm telling you," Redknapp is seen saying in a video clip obtained by the Guardian., external "Seriously, he's been sent over to [expletive] us up. He has. I'm telling ya, he's like Lord Haw Haw in the war – 'We have your best soldiers captured' and all that."William Joyce, known as Lord Haw-Haw, broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK during World War also imagined an instruction given to Tuchel to "go over and ruin that team".And he appeared make a Nazi salute gesture as he made the comments to the audience, who were Sport has approached Redknapp for incident has prompted some criticism of Redknapp on social media, though German comedian Henning Wehn - a regular guest on BBC Radio 5 live's Fighting Talk - said: "What a non-story. Lighten up! If we're not allowed a bit of banter, what's the point of football? Or anything."Tuchel is the third permanent foreign England manager after Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio about that fact in October, he said "sorry I have a German passport". Earlier this month, he said he needed to "earn the right" to sing the national Borussia Dortmund boss Tuchel led Chelsea to the 2020-21 Champions League in his previous spell working in was the last English manager to win a major domestic trophy - the 2008 FA Cup with Portsmouth - before Eddie Howe led Newcastle to victory in this year' Carabao Cup last managerial role was at Birmingham City in 2017. He also had spells with Bournemouth, Southampton, QPR and the Jordan national team.
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Wimmer sure Scotland learning experience will benefit Miller
Lennon Miller will have a learned a huge amount from being in Steve Clarke's squad despite not making his Scotland debut, says Motherwell manager Michael Park midfielder Miller, 18, was an unused substitute in both legs of the Nations League play-off defeat to Greece."For Lennon it was the best thing to work with them for 10 days," said Wimmer."I often hear he didn't play, is he disappointed? This experience, to work with this coach, to work with John McGinn and Andy Robertson, Premier League players, if you sit with them, eat together and see them in the dressing room, see the work ethic, you can learn every day."Miller and his clubmates now turn their attention to Aberdeen on Saturday at a sold-out former Stuttgart assistant Wimmer is hoping to draw on his experience in Austria as the race for the top-six nears a three pre-split games remaining, Motherwell are in seventh spot, a point behind Hearts and three adrift of Dundee United."I had similar situation when I took over at Austria Vienna, we had four games to go (until the split) and on the last day we had a derby with Rapid Vienna, and we won and were in the top six," said the German."The table is so tight, it will be a decision on gameday 33."The game on Saturday will be only the fifth in charge for Wimmer, but he's enjoying Scottish football so far as he looks to make it four matches unbeaten."The challenge is so honest, each game is so honest. You make a foul, you say sorry and the game goes on. This is great. I love every day," he said."I've never had a team before where you don't have to say please run, work. The players do it, and this is great."
