Best age to learn a language? The unexpected answer of research

As I seek to become a better English teacher, I am reading a book called Teaching English to Young Learners.  While my primary purpose in reading it is to improve as a teacher, some of the information on language learning is fascinating for me personally, having spoken two languages since childhood and currently working on a third.

Citing multiple studies, Nunan writes in his book:

Ellis's conclusion (that in foreign language situations, if all other factors such as amount of exposure and instruction are constant, teenagers do better than young children and adults) is borne out by other research. [Emphasis mine.]  

He goes on to quote research saying that teenagers scored higher in early testing in every area except pronunciation, where adults scored highest.  That goes against virtually everything I was ever told about language learning.

A-Rod, the Astros, and a bit of perspective

  Outside of reading, my favorite form relaxation is following baseball, especially the Atlanta Braves; but since I like baseball in general, this is a great time of year.  Opening day is nearly here, and there was some news earlier in the day which I believe was supposed to seem outrageous; in actuality it makes perfect sense.  Alex Rodriguez is expected to make more money this year than the entire opening day line-up of the Houston Astros!  He is expected to miss up to half of the season while making that money!!

  Certainly there may be room for outrage at the Astros owner's for not putting a Major-League team on the field (this year), but let's let that slide.  The larger issue might simply be the fact that A-Rod deserves more than the Astros' entire active roster combined, based simply on statistics.  Consider that the combined home run totals for the Astros position players is less than one eighth* of A-Rod's individual total!  Second, notice that A-Rod has played more than **twice as many games as the Astros' pitching and position players combined!

  If my basic survey of MLB's data is reasonably accurate (I only counted once, so I may be a bit off), then not only based on his experience (twice as many games) but also based on his past production (eight times as many HR's), A-Rod deserves all $29 million of his check, even if he does only play half a season.  So, while I certainly don't root for A-Rod and I suspect he will have a hard time defending his statistics in the steroid era, it seems to me that according to baseball statistics, he is either generally underpaid or the Astros may be a bit generous with their prospective players...

*76 Astros HR's to 647 A-Rod HR's, by my count.
**1259 games experienced by Astros' players to 2524 games experienced by A-Rod (not including 75 additional postseason games).  The Astros' position players have played 943 MLB games; their pitchers have pitched in 316.

Bell Peppers...

Somehow I never thought of this as a fruit... till chopping them for dinner the other night.

But, I suppose those things which carry the seeds of a plant are usually considered fruits... like tomatoes, for instance.  Imagine your next jalapeno as fruit!

(The truth is that I've cooked or helped cook more in the last couple weeks than I have since I was in high school.  In fact, I finally let my secret out, "It's not that I can't cook; I simply don't like to, but I actually am halfway decent at it when needed.")