Whether it is at home or at school, teachers and parents get frustrated about those kids who forget about things. Some statements and questions like “We barely studied that lesson and you have already forgotten it! How is it possible that you do not remember where you put your note? Or you are so forgetful, can you just please focus?” make parents wonder about the future of their kid’s studies and realize what they can do to help boost their child’s memory.

Working memory is a key part of learning. Having a good memory is a useful tool in a child's development and using working memory benefits well in their learning process. Whenever a child works on a new thing like a language or any subject area, they need their memory to be able to acquire and put it into practice. As part of the brain’s executive functions, working memory assists kids in their learning development, reasoning and works as the guidance of their decision-making and behavior.

Working memory often refers to short-time memory, also the capacity for holding, but not manipulating, a small amount of information in mind for a short period of time. Yet, theorists consider the two forms of memory distinct by assuming that working memory allows us to store and manipulate information as long as possible, whereas short-term memory only refers to the short-term storage of information. This way, when talking of working memory in kids, it is said that it helps them hold on to information long enough to use it. On the other hand, the use of the term working memory for human research started with Georg A. Miller, Eugene Galanter, and Karl H. Pribmar. In their book released in 1960, entitled “Plans and the structure of behavior”, they considered working memory as a part of the mind that allows us to operate successfully in life, completing our goals and subgoals by storing the useful information needed to execute these planned actions (Eryn J. Adams, et al., 2018).

When a kid learns something new, this one usually needs concentration, however, a good focus is mainly induced by working memory. So to help children improve their learning memory, these are a few working memory boosters for them:

● Encourage kids to practice visualization and make connections. This consists in making a kid produce a picture in their mind of what they have just read or heard. As a parent, you are up to choose which learning tool you are going to use. An example includes the use of mind maps, when you make them create the connections between words, topics and things.

● Have your kid teach you. This tip is about engaging the kid in the teaching experience that would facilitate their working memory. Allow your child to explain to you what they have learnt so far by making their own examples. Then ask them questions following the explanation.

● Use visual aids to develop their visual memory. There are lots of memory aids that boost kids’ visual skills, and working memory. These may include matching games and exercises. Encourage your child to use visual tools to help them remember information that has been recently acquired. For this one, use flashcards with words and images.

● Use multisensory strategies. With multisensory instruction, kids use more than one sense at a time which would allow any information to stick, hence, resulting in a better memory. Furthermore, using different senses gives all kids various ways to connect with what they have learnt. Instead of just reading and listening, stimulate their multisensory approach by making them, for example, visually explore, touch, smell, and taste things.

Sources: Understood / Oxford Learning/
“Theories of Working Memory: Differences in
Definition, Degree of Modularity, Role of
Attention, and Purpose”, Eryn J. Adams, Anh
T. Nguyen, and Nelson Cowan, 2018.

Netflix has recently released a movie highlighting e-sport games entitled “The kissing booth” – the American teen romantic comedy film starring Joe king and Jacob Elordi. Based on the 2012 novel of Welsh author Beth Reekles, the movie scenes show the boom and the influence of e-sports in young people’s lives, especially those of Americans.

E-sports have astonishingly risen in popularity over years only. Commonly referred to as electronic sports, e-sports are video gaming events engaging amateurs or professional players to compete each other in electronic games for a prize pool. These have seemingly grown as an essential part of popular culture. Global investors, brands, media outlets and consumers are all now seen to pay more attention to this unexpected rise of the games industry.

The industry of e-sports has seen important growth over the years, both in terms of viewership and revenue. Some data provided by Statista shows that in 2021, the global e-sports market was valued at just over 1.08 billion U.S. dollars, an almost 50 percent increase from the previous year. Additionally, the e-sports industry’s global market revenue was forecast to grow to as much as 1.62 billion dollars in 2024. Asia and North America represent the largest e-sports markets in terms of revenue.

According to statistics from eMarketer, American e-sports audiences are estimated to reach 26.6 million this year, up 11.4 percent from 2020 with 23.9 million and 21.1 million as of 2019. The number of viewers is expected to increase up to 29.6 million in 2022 and 31.4 million in 2023.

In terms of e-sports market revenue, it largely comes from sponsorships and advertising. Statistics show that the global e-sports market revenue from this sponsorship and advertising totaled 641 million dollars in 2021. The next highest source of revenue, by contrast, was media rights at just over 192 million dollars (Statista).

E-sports are video gaming events.

Organized competitions have long been a part of video game culture, but played only between amateurs. By the late 2000s, the field of e-sports has taken new shape when live streaming events involving the participation of professional gamers and spectatorship of those events surged in popularity. Since then, e-sports have become an important leverage in the video game industry, pushing many game developers to actively design and fund gaming tournaments and events.

During the competitions, professional players choose their games and try to win a match or a tournament. Some of the common types of e-sports games include Player versus player (PvP), Real time strategy (RTS), First person shooter (FPS) and Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA).

It is not sure if e-sports can compete with other popular sports in America, like basketball and football. Yet, over time, these competitive electronic games have grown so fast in the U.S. that these now rank among popular sports entertainments.

Sources: Insider intelligence/ Statista/ Greek Insider / Forbes.

Long believed to be a forerunner of bad luck and a cursed day, Friday the 13th has somehow inspired many pop culture personalities and consumers.

The so-called “unlucky day” and the superstitious associations that so long surrounded the day have encouraged advertisers, novel and fiction writers, horror film producers and artists to make Friday the 13th one of the successful media franchises in America and today’s inescapable symbol of popular culture.

Besides the story on the origins of Friday the 13th that remains blurry, the day has reached an important milestone when the novel Friday, the Thirteenth written by Thomas William Lawson was released in 1907. Similarly, it gained momentum when came the horror movie Friday the 13th – the American horror franchise that comprises slasher films, TV series or novellas, comic books, video games, tie-in merchandise like Halloween costumes and items – in 1980, featuring the fictional character “Jason Voorhees”, a hockey mask-wearing killer.

The origins of Friday the 13th.

It is still unclear why Friday the 13th is feared. This means that very little is known about the origins of this supposedly doomed day. Falling unto a day that points out Friday the 13th has apparently become like any bearer of bad luck such as walking under a ladder, crossing paths with a black cat, or breaking a mirror.

The day is considered an unlucky day in western superstition, and it is also thought by many to be the unluckiest day in the Gregorian calendar. The 13th day of the month falls on Friday at least once every year like last August, and it can occur up to three times in the same year.

According to mythology, number 13 causes bad luck. Folklore historian Donald Dossey relates that the unlucky nature of the number 13 originated with a Scandinavian myth about the dinner party of 12 gods in Valhalla which was interrupted by the apparition of the 13th guest named Loki. Loki was excluded from the party but dropped in anyways. Loki tricked and drove Hoor – the son of god Odin and the goddess Frigg – to kill his brother named Balder with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. When Balder died, the earth got dark, and since then, the number 13 turned damned.

Friday the 13th is also believed to have Christian associations. According to biblical tradition, instead of 12 individuals present in the Upper room during the Last Supper with Jesus, the night before his death on Good Friday, there were 13 guests who attended it on the 13th of Nisan Maundy Thursday. Another explanation of Friday the 13th as a bad omen is the number 12 which is associated with completeness including the 12 days of Christmas, the 12 months zodiac signs, the 12 labors of Hercules, the 12 gods of Olympus and the 12 tribes of Israel.

Although the real story of the so-called unluckiest day remains ambiguous, some tragic events have truly occurred on a Friday the 13th: the German bombing of Buckingham palace in 1940, a cyclone that struck Bangladesh in 1970, the death of Tupac Shakur in 1996, and the crash of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in 2012.

The fear of the number 13 as well as Friday the 13th has now become very common and affects millions of people. As a result, new scientific terms related to those fears have emerged, called “paraskavedekatriaphobia” and “friggatriskaidekaphobia”.

Sources: HISTORY / Time and Date

New York abounds in countless landmarks and landscapes that keep amazing visitors. One of them is Central Park, a public park in New York City, located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan.

New York’s Central Park is a known world-famous park and one of the most-visited urban parks in the United States, with 42 million visitors a year as of 2020. As New York’s City landscape had grown rapidly, wealthiest New Yorkers had the idea of creating a park in the center of Manhattan in the early 1850s. They were inspired by the admired public facilities of London and Paris and urged to conceive one that could make international reputation too. The main purpose of the park was to create more of a cultural and recreational project, so that fellow New Yorkers could run away from everyday stress of urban life and enjoy a countryside experience. Beyond that, the park aimed to prove Europeans – who assumed Americans lacked a sense of civic duty and appreciation for cultural aesthetic and charm – wrong.

Built in the property of Seneca Village.

The Park was designed during a competition run by the commissioners of Central Park from 1857 to 1858. Having successfully completed the competition’s plan design requirements, out of 33 competitors, the Greensward plan won the first place. The plan’s designers were Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. They were first inspired by the open fields of the English countryside and that is the main reason for the naturalistic design of the park.

The park project spanned more than a decade and 10 million dollars have been at stake to undertake the project. After years of debate over the location, since it was built upon the property of the Seneca Village, the construction of the park finally began in 1857. Historically, the Seneca Village is a community of predominantly African-Americans, many of whom owned property. The village was made up of approximately 225 residents which include African-Americans and immigrants. The Seneca Village once served as a place where residents could live away from downtown Manhattan where unhealthy living conditions and violence persisted.

The construction of park – covering the same surface of 843 acres (341 ha) as today – was completed in 1876. However, the park first opened for public use in the winter of 1859 and by 1865, the park started to receive more than seven million visitors a year. Central Park’s 843 acres include sweeping lawns, picturesque woodlands, meandering streams, and brad lakes. Over time, more extra features were added to the park, such as baseball and soccer fields, a carousel, two skating rinks, a zoo, formal gardens, commemorative monuments, and concert and theatre venues. Thanks to its influence in the development of the world’s urban parks, Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963 and a Scenic Landscape of the City of New York in 1974.

Central Park is still a major tourist destination, but also a place for New Yorkers to get together and to take advantage of the amusement attractions and recreational activities in the park. Since it also accommodated sport facilities, the number of cyclists, joggers, and riders has noticeably increased.

As a sport lover, if you feel the need to run in the park, it is better to do it in the morning, alone or accompanied, for your security.

Sources: Central Park Web / Central Park Conservancy.

Over the last half century, social scientists have noticed dramatic changes in gender equality that they nicknamed “gender revolution”. Men’s participation in household and family care responsibilities increased and more and more women are seen to actively enter the labor force. Things were totally different a century ago.

Women were once housewives and men breadwinners. Women were entitled to less consideration than men and continuously faced discrimination. It was in 1920 that everything turned upside down. That year depicts the unique momentum for women in standing up for their rights and engaging in a long-lasting fight for equality.

Women’s fight for the right to vote as a starting point.

The fierce battle of women for equal rights goes back a long way. A look back at history shows that women have made great accomplishments in the fight for equality, including women’s suffrage and breakthroughs in equal opportunity in the workplace and education. Passed by the Congress on June 4th, 1919, and ratified on August 18th, 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, which was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women’s suffrage in the United States. Recognized at both state and national levels, the amendment paved the way to a worldwide movement towards women’s suffrage and was part of the wider women’s rights movement.

The first women’s suffrage amendment was told to have been introduced in 1878. Yet, no suffrage amendment passed the House of Representatives until May 1st, 1919, which was quickly followed by the Senate, on June 4th, 1919. Shortly after, it was submitted to the states for ratification and went into effect on August 18th, 1919 after achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption. It was, then, on August 26th, 1920, that the 19th Amendment’s adoption was certified and introduced into the U.S. Constitution.

In 1970, following the Women’s Strike for Equality on August 26th, 1970, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment, a resolution was introduced to designate August 26th as Women’s Equality Day. It was in 1972 that President Richard Nixon issued Proclamation 4147, officially declared the date as “Women’s Rights Day”. Since then, August 26th is annually celebrated in the U.S. to commemorate the adoption of the 19th Amendment, and last year marked its centennial anniversary, guaranteeing and protecting women’s constitutional right to vote.

Today’s gender equality in the U.S.

The 21st century turns out to be a watershed era for women. The hard and ongoing fight of women for gender equality over these three centuries led to what searchers called “gender revolution”, pushing women to actively participate in the development of a nation. Contrary to popular beliefs and previous perception on how women were only made for home, the number of women in the workforce has now intriguingly increased. According to the 2015 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women comprised nearly half of the U.S. labor force at 46.8 percent. In 2019, there were 76,852,000 women aged 16 and over in the labor force, representing close to half of the total labor force.

Nevertheless, despite the astounding progress made in the fight for equal rights and opportunity, women still face today violence and discrimination, and gender bias continues to create huge barriers for many women.

Sources: We’re history / American Civil Liberties Union / National Women’s History Alliance.

What pops first into your mind when you hear the word “travel”? Sea, sun and sunglasses, mountains, discoveries? Whatever it may be, travel means escaping routines to embrace the unknown and new challenges.

Every globe-trotter understands how it feels to move from new and different place to another. As an adventurer, travelers keep searching for interesting spots to head to in order to fulfill their respective travel goals. Some travel amateurs may just want to satisfy their challenge and travel experience desire by getting to somewhere new, while others may only look for bettering their life and personal well-being. Having this in mind, traveling presents loads of benefits for health, either physical or mental. It is scientifically proven that going to new other places is good for our health. Some psychologists tout the mental benefits of vacationing elsewhere.

A 2013 survey of 485 in the adults in the U.S. showed that exposure to foreign travel greatly enhances the ability to direct attention, focus and energy, and develop empathy. These help travelers function effectively in diverse situations and become more tolerant when dealing with discomfort. Similarly, other research suggests that visiting more countries and getting immersed into local cultures boost creativity. Studies show that the more you travel, the more creative you become at work. Since travel allows your brain to make new pathways and connections, it, then, can act as a professional experience facilitator.

Research has also recently revealed that even only anticipating a trip and planning for it can be a great mental health booster. The only fact of thinking about the vacation before we even leave home is scientifically proven to be beneficial to our own happiness. A 2014 Cornell University study examined how the anticipation of an experience, like a trip, can increase a person’s sense of happiness. An earlier study about the impact of the expectation of a holiday on an individual’s sense of well-being, published by the University of Surrey, found that people are at their happiest when they have a vacation planned.

Here are three other scientific evidences on the positive impact of traveling on our health:

Travel strengthens antibodies. Studies show that exposure induces the multiplication of T-cells that guard the immune system. When you travel, you get exposed to new different conditions and surroundings. Therefore, you are introduced to new bacteria. You may be faced with dirt and germs when moving from place to place, allowing your body to get adapted and making your immune system stronger.

Travel relieves stress and lowers the chance of depression. This may no longer surprise you! Indeed, it is scientifically demonstrated that vacations can affect your stress levels. In addition, travel helps in building mental health, hence reducing the risk of depression. When you take regular time off, you recharge your batteries that make you keep totally away from the stress and deeply reflect on what is essential.

Travel improves brain health and increases life expectancy. Since travel helps reduce stress and depression levels, it may, thus, increase brain health resulting in a longer and healthier life. Furthermore, talking of brain health, in addition to instilling creativity, studies demonstrate that it also boosts emotional intelligence. Scientists say the more people travel, the more balanced their emotion will be.

There are always cons and pros for all human’s activities. Although traveling is advantageous for health, it may have also negative impact from another standpoint.

Sources: National Geographic / Harvard Business Review / NBC News.

Life seems now easier and easier thanks to machines. The digital transformation of our society has contributed so far to today’s technological advances such as the evolution of AI technologies. Different innovative AI applications and machines are now already seen in much use – from virtual assistants, search engines, speech and face recognition systems to robots, drones and autonomous cars.

A brief history of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Artificial intelligence has already been present in our lives for so long. Some AI technologies have been around for more than 50 years and the seeds of modern AI have been planted by classical philosophers who attempted to describe human thinking as a symbolic system. This culminated in the invention of the computer – the digital machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of models of arithmetic or logical operations automatically – in the 1940s. Such invention led scientists to find possibility to build machines that can mimic human’s cognitive functions, by creating the electronic brain.

It was in 1956 that AI was recognized as an academic discipline. However, investment and interest in AI boomed only several years later when machine learning – the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience and using data – seen as a part of AI was successfully applied to many problems in academia and industry. Today, we can no longer dispense with AI technologies as AI takes a prominent position in the 21st-century society, displaying human-like capabilities.

How AI can solve numerous problems.

Artificial intelligence has enhanced the speed, precision and effectiveness of human efforts via machines and data processing. AI is now highly used in different domains to give insights into user behaviour and give recommendations based on the data. Here are some of the awe-inspiring things that AI has done so far.

• AI has apparently already transformed the way we communicate, given that communication is now seen as today’s most influential factor in idea creation and productivity, within the workplace. Since 2018, 61 percent of businesses have already shifted towards AI use. Thanks to machine learning, AI is gaining intelligence with applications from finance to sales and production. Moreover, AI fosters strong workplace communication by using various analytics. For instance, AI can indicate the success rate of presentations and anticipate the types of interaction that mostly suits the targeted audience.

• AI is everywhere. Different apps are now designed for every type of communication. In reading, there is what is called “SummerizeBot”, an AI and Blockchain-powered app that aims at summarizing various contents and documents. AI intervenes also in computer vision, which is a form of artificial intelligence where computers can “see” the world. Some examples of computer vision include “autonomous vehicles”, “Google Translate app”, and “facial recognition”. AI researchers have also recently developed a model that has the extraordinary ability to detect a variety of illnesses, just by smelling the human breath; and many more.

Thanks to the advancement of technology, artificial intelligence becomes ubiquitous and appears to be the best problem-solving approach. However, despite all of this, AI may also raise different concerns.

Sources : Forbes / NFON / Great Learning.

Language development begins from the very first day after birth. During toddlerhood, young children confront language explosion that enables easy acquisition and development of their first language. Research indicates that even during the last few months of pregnancy, babies listen to their mother’s voice.

Developmental psycholinguistics in children.

Young children’s abilities to understand, process, and produce language are always impressive. During their early childhood, babies reach cognitive developmental milestones in their learning process of memory, language, thinking, and reasoning. As infants grow physically and psychologically, they are able to reach out and explore the world around them in an outstanding way and in greater depth. In year one, for example, babies learn to focus their vision and attention, and mainly learn from things that they see and hear. With this in mind, parents play a vital role in contributing to early children language acquisition and development.

Language acquisition is the process by which language develops in humans. There are two kinds of language acquisition in developmental psycholinguistics: the first language acquisition which refers to the development of language in children; and the second language acquisition once they become adults.

Children’s construction of language emerges from interaction and/or their understanding of communication prior to the language itself, known as “speech”. Toddlers listen carefully to their parents and try to imitate them. They first acquire the sound system of their parents’ utterance –their mother tongue – independently of meaning. Then, they merge it with communicative gestures to eventually form productive speech.

Stages of child language development.

There are four important stages of first language development: the pre-speech stage for first-born babies to 6 months; the babbling stage for infants from 6 to 8 months; the holophrastic stage or the use of a single word when the baby reached the age of 9 to 18 months; and the telegraphic stage – the use of combined words – for 18 – 36 month-children.

Between 2 and 5, young children discover new vocabularies, and they start to expand and refine their ability to use and pronounce different words. Researchers point out that children normally experience a language explosion between the ages of 3 and 6. At age 3, their spoken language consists of roughly 900 words. By age 6, their spoken vocabularies expand between around 8,000 and 14,000 words. Beyond 6 years old, their language use becomes more mature and complicated, as they reach school-age and interact with different persons beside their parents.

Each child has their own way of acquiring language depending on their cognitive and psycholinguistic growth. They learn at their own pace as well. Kids who struggle with language acquisition experience delays in the language learning process whereas other children may develop it quickly and more easily.

Sources: Linguistic Society of America / English finders / gracepoint/ SlideToDoc.

Pinocchio, Bambi, Lion King, Coco and Mulan… Who has not heard of or watched at least one of these Disney classics? These are animated films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios or Disney Animation.

Originally founded in 1923 by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, Disney Animation is an American animation studio that designs animated features and short films for the Walt Disney Company (or simply Disney), which is an American diversified multinational media and entertainment institution headquartered in California.

Walt Disney, the talented man behind Mickey Mouse.

Born Walter Elias Disney, Walt Disney had already been passionate about drawing since his early childhood. He started selling his first sketches to neighbors when he was only seven. At school, he showed real passion for cartoons and photography, and one night, he could attend the Academy of Fine Arts. While growing up, Disney strived to hone his skills for drawing and finally chose to make it a career. He first worked as an advertising cartoonist then later ended up making and marketing his first original animated cartoons along with his brother, Roy O. Disney.

In 1928, Mickey Mouse – that now serves as the brand’s mascot – was created and appeared in the American animated short film “Plane Crazy”. However, Mickey debuted publicly in the short film “Steamboat Willie”, which became one of the first sound cartoons. It was when he left Kansas City – where he spent his childhood – and moved to Hollywood, California, that his career picked up momentum and his reputation began to rise. It is no secret that Walt Disney went through many failures before becoming one of the most influential personalities of the 20th century. His remarkable path has become an inspiration to various motivational contents calling for success and perseverance. In the meantime, all his movies carry life lessons inextricably linked to success, love, courage, and patience.

Walt Disney is viewed as a pioneer and innovator of animated cartoon movies who revolutionized the industry of entertainment. Furthermore, he was an extraordinarily and successfully creative man filled with hopes and imaginations. His drive to perfect the art of animation was endless and he was made famous for having created what is called “the Happiest Place on Earth”.

He later founded the amusement theme parks Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Considering his incredible achievement, he won a total of 22 Academy Awards in his lifetime. As a film producer, Walt holds the record for Oscars earned by an individual. On the other hand, along with members of his staff, he received more than 950 honors, including 48 Academy Awards.

Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Since its creation, the studio has produced 59 feature films from the first full-length animated musical feature – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) – to Raya and the Last Dragon, the computer-animated fantasy and adventure film released in 2021, and other enchanting animated films.

Although Walt Disney passed away in 1966, his legacy in the entertainment industry remains honored. Walt Disney Animation Studios keeps surprising and delighting its audience. Nothing much better than watching a good film that encourages you to dream, to believe in and to stick to that dream!

Sources: Biography / Walt Disney Animation Studios / D23 the Official Disney Fan Club.

Madagascar’s cultural wealth sets the country apart from its African neighbors located only 260 miles away. These differences are found in its traditions and customs, its language, and form of communication. Historically, Madagascar had one and only form of communication and the history of its language stood impressive since it was influenced by various cultures from different places.

Historians relate that Malagasy used to communicate between themselves only in a verbal way, which is usually known as “oral tradition”, or “Malagasy oral literature”. A variety of patterned speeches, highly common and valued in Madagascar, underpins the uniqueness of the Malagasy oral literature. It is important to note that Malagasy language was formerly transcribed from the Sorabe – an alphabet based on Arabic writing dating back to the 15th century. Researchers maintain that the Malagasy society was illiterate before the mid- 19th. Except for a minute collection of magic texts in Arabic script – the Sorabe, the only written documents before then came from Europeans (Alan D. Rogers, 1985). Even the well-established kingdom of the central plateau commonly referred to as Imerina kingdom, had no written records and the history of its founding kings was preserved in formal discourses and folk literature spoken with allusive forms. Some of them include Riddle or Ankamantatra which is generically considered the smallest and simplest dialogue in Malagasy oral literature; Hainteny (art of the word or courting poems), Kabary – a formal public speech – and Ohabolana or Proverbs that all belong to the larger dialogues.

• Ankamantatra, which literally means "what is to be found out", is the Malagasy riddle language is a form of dialogue – the smallest one – with a question and an answer. It can also be called “fampanononana”. The question usually starts with the words “Inona ary izany?”, or “What is it?” in English. Here are some examples of riddle:

What is it? You do not see it with open but with closed eyes. ............. Sleep or dream.
What is it? A bald man who makes noise. …………. A drum.
What is it? A leper on his throne. ………… A pineapple.

• Hainteny. It can be defined as a traditional form of discourse and poetry, which involves heavy use of metaphor and allusion. A Hainteny portrays dialogue and often encompasses many ohabolana or proverbs and kabary (public discourse). A Hainteny may be performed by one or two people.

• Ohabolana or Malagasy proverbs are basically monologic. Yet, they are internally dialogic in a way that they realize a limited number of two-sided structures, Which they share with the riddle and the folktale (Lee Haring, 1992). One speaker seeks to exert authority over others by means of ohabolana.The sayings are in this case monologic because the speaker imposes an authoritative interpretation in a single voice. Proverbs are often used to embellish ceremonial public speeches by the mpikabary. Here are some examples of hainteny and ohabolana:

“Ny alina mitondra fisainana.”           Night brings wisdom.

“Tondro tokana tsy mahao hao.”           You cannot catch a louse with one finger.

Tongolo manga faka           Blue-rooted onion,
fary manga vololona           Blue-leaved sugar cane.
ny tandindon-dambany aza manitra           Even the shadow of her lamba is perfumed,
ka mainka ny lamba tinafiny           How much more, then, the lamba she wears. (An excerpt of the collection of Hainteny with Malagasy text, along with English translation and commentary by Leonard Fox.)

“Aza asesiky ny fitia tanteraka, ka tsy mahalala ny ranonorana ho avy.”
Do not be too much in love that you cannot tell when the rain is coming.

“Aleo enjehin’ny omby masiaka toy izay enjehin’ny eritreritra.”
It is better to have a fierce bull running after you than being haunted by your thoughts.

Sources: “Verbal Arts in Madagascar”, Lee Haring, 1992 / “Human Prudence and Implied Divine Sanctions in Malagasy Proverbial Wisdom”, Alan D.Rogers, 1985 / “Hainteny: The Traditional Poetry of Madagascar”, Leonard Fox, 1990.