Some of theworld’slanguages aregrammaticallymore complexthan othersLanguagesbecome lessgrammaticalas theychangeIncreasing theamount of datanecessarilymakes an AIsystem morehuman-likeSomelanguagesare morelogical thanothersSomelanguages takelonger thanothers forchildren tolearnAdults’corrections arenecessary forchildren toacquiregrammarSign languagescannot expressabstract orhighly technicalideasEveryexpression canbe translatedword-for-wordinto anotherlanguageLinguisticabilities steadilyincrease as achild growsolderChildren and AIlanguage modelsreceive the samekind of linguisticinput; modelssimply receivemore of itParents andothercaregiversteach youngchildren theirlanguageDoublenegatives areinherentlyillogical (I didn’tsee nobody)Sign languagesare visualrepresentationsof thesurroundingspoken languageCreoles aresimplified or“broken”versions ofotherlanguagesEach countrynaturallycorrespondsto a singlelanguageAI produceshuman-likesentences, so itmust possesshuman-likegrammaticalrepresentationsSomelanguages havenogrammar/syntaxFormal, carefulspeech isgrammaticallymore sophisticatedthan casual,everyday speechA native speakerof a language isnaturally able toexplain the rulesof its ownlanguageAI can correctlydefine and usewords, so itnecessarilyunderstandswords as humansdoChildren cannotproducesentences theyhave neverpreviouslyheardSocietieswithout writingdo not possessfully developedlanguagesTexting andsocial mediaaredestroyinggrammarCultures withgreatertechnologicalsophistication tendto havegrammaticallyricher languages.Some of theworld’slanguages aregrammaticallymore complexthan othersLanguagesbecome lessgrammaticalas theychangeIncreasing theamount of datanecessarilymakes an AIsystem morehuman-likeSomelanguagesare morelogical thanothersSomelanguages takelonger thanothers forchildren tolearnAdults’corrections arenecessary forchildren toacquiregrammarSign languagescannot expressabstract orhighly technicalideasEveryexpression canbe translatedword-for-wordinto anotherlanguageLinguisticabilities steadilyincrease as achild growsolderChildren and AIlanguage modelsreceive the samekind of linguisticinput; modelssimply receivemore of itParents andothercaregiversteach youngchildren theirlanguageDoublenegatives areinherentlyillogical (I didn’tsee nobody)Sign languagesare visualrepresentationsof thesurroundingspoken languageCreoles aresimplified or“broken”versions ofotherlanguagesEach countrynaturallycorrespondsto a singlelanguageAI produceshuman-likesentences, so itmust possesshuman-likegrammaticalrepresentationsSomelanguages havenogrammar/syntaxFormal, carefulspeech isgrammaticallymore sophisticatedthan casual,everyday speechA native speakerof a language isnaturally able toexplain the rulesof its ownlanguageAI can correctlydefine and usewords, so itnecessarilyunderstandswords as humansdoChildren cannotproducesentences theyhave neverpreviouslyheardSocietieswithout writingdo not possessfully developedlanguagesTexting andsocial mediaaredestroyinggrammarCultures withgreatertechnologicalsophistication tendto havegrammaticallyricher languages.

Language Myths: Heard in the Wild Bingo - Call List

(Print) Use this randomly generated list as your call list when playing the game. There is no need to say the BINGO column name. Place some kind of mark (like an X, a checkmark, a dot, tally mark, etc) on each cell as you announce it, to keep track. You can also cut out each item, place them in a bag and pull words from the bag.


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  1. Some of the world’s languages are grammatically more complex than others
  2. Languages become less grammatical as they change
  3. Increasing the amount of data necessarily makes an AI system more human-like
  4. Some languages are more logical than others
  5. Some languages take longer than others for children to learn
  6. Adults’ corrections are necessary for children to acquire grammar
  7. Sign languages cannot express abstract or highly technical ideas
  8. Every expression can be translated word-for-word into another language
  9. Linguistic abilities steadily increase as a child grows older
  10. Children and AI language models receive the same kind of linguistic input; models simply receive more of it
  11. Parents and other caregivers teach young children their language
  12. Double negatives are inherently illogical (I didn’t see nobody)
  13. Sign languages are visual representations of the surrounding spoken language
  14. Creoles are simplified or “broken” versions of other languages
  15. Each country naturally corresponds to a single language
  16. AI produces human-like sentences, so it must possess human-like grammatical representations
  17. Some languages have no grammar/syntax
  18. Formal, careful speech is grammatically more sophisticated than casual, everyday speech
  19. A native speaker of a language is naturally able to explain the rules of its own language
  20. AI can correctly define and use words, so it necessarily understands words as humans do
  21. Children cannot produce sentences they have never previously heard
  22. Societies without writing do not possess fully developed languages
  23. Texting and social media are destroying grammar
  24. Cultures with greater technological sophistication tend to have grammatically richer languages.