PRI's The World: The World in Words
By Public Radio International
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Podcast Description
The World in Words with Patrick Cox focuses on language. We decode diplospeak and lay bare nationalist rants. And as English extends its global reach, we track the blowback from the world's more than 6,000 other languages.
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1 |
A Tourette's superhero, Titanic subplots, and Planet Numa Numa | 1. An Indian boy's life changes forever when he is transported on a train to Bengal, where they don't speak his native tongue, and he can't figure out how to get home. 2. Morse code signals to and from the Titanic in the days and hours before it sank. 3. The Nazi film version of the Titanic. 4. A conversation with self-styled Tourette's Syndrome superhero Jess Thom, who refuses to shy away from the funny, surreal side of her verbal tics. | 4/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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2 |
In Vietnam, a nation learns English | Vietnam has a bad history with China, which is why most Vietnamese refuse to learn Chinese. Vietnam also has a bad history with the United States, but many Vietnamese are crazy about learning English. Reporter Jennifer Pak talks with a diva, an economist and a 10-year-old English-speaking prodigy. | 4/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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3 |
English is no longer top dog in Malaysia and Singapore | On the Malay Peninsula, the linguistic juggernaut that is English has hit a bump in the road. In Malaysia, schools have dropped English as the language of instruction for math and science. In Singapore, the business-minded government is urging its citizens to learn Mandarin. Reporter Jennifer Pak talks with Malaysians and Singaporeans about their attitudes to English. | 3/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Mistaking Welsh for Hebrew, American creoles, and Old Norse with Wilko Johnson | 1. Libyan militiamen mistake Welsh for Hebrew, which is bad news for a couple of arrested journalists. 2. Gullah, Haitian Creole and other creoles spoken in the U.S. with Elizabeth Little. 3. Guitarist Wilko Johnson speaks mainly English but also Old Norse, both with a slayer of an Essex accent. | 3/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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5 |
A trip around America's languages with Elizabeth Little | A conversation with Elizabeth Little, author of "Trip of the Tongue: Cross-country Travels in Search of America's Languages." We talk mainly about Spanish, Navajo, Crow, and a language popularized by the Twilight series, Quileute. | 3/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Hong Kong's war of words, translating jargon, and Adieu Mademoiselle | 1. Hong Kongers and Mainland Chinese clash over language and politics. 2. Native speakers of Russian, Vietnamese and Arabic discuss how they translate English language news jargon. 3. The Sun, and the language of tabloid news. 4. France bids farewell, officially, to the term Mademoiselle. | 2/29/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Chinese names for babies, American names for Asians, and Oscar's foreign language rules | 1. Swivet, upscuddle and other words in the new volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English. 2. Don't bother learning a foreign language. 3. China directs orphanages to give babies common names. 4. Are linguistically stereotypical depictions of Asians making a comeback in the US? 5. The Academy bars a Spanish language movie from its foreign language category. | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Words of love in songs, and acts of love in the Peace Corps | 1.How to construct a love song. 2. The inadequacy of the word love. 3. How love scrambles the message of the Peace Corps. 4. Operas that aren't about love. | 2/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Segregating women in Hebrew, Iranian views in Spanish, and a device to read your mind | 1.Iran launches a Spanish language TV channel. 2. The origins of an oft-used Hebrew expression to describe the segregation of women favored by some ultra-Orthodox Jews. 3. Scientists at UC Berkeley unveil technology that seeks to put words to our thoughts. 4. Why songs get stuck in our heads. | 2/3/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 |
A translator disappears, myths about Chinese, and a new Facebook word | 1. The Iran-based translator of Firoozeh Dumas' "Funny in Farsi" has vanished, probably arrested. 2. Debunking myths about the Chinese language and things Chinese leaders are believed to have said. 3. Suggestions for what to call someone who regularly comments on your friends' Facebook posts. 4. Multilingual Angolan singer Lulendo. | 1/27/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 |
Fear of foreign languages, and a Garifuna musical project | 1. Some US Presidential candidates seem embarrassed by their ability to speak a foreign language. 2. Sounding presidential: a voice coach critiques candidates. 3. A hospital trains foreign nurses in local idioms. 4. A musician sings famous English language songs in Garifuna. | 1/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 |
Michael Erard's Hyperpolyglots Part 2 | More with Michael Erard about his new book "Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners". Erard met with several hyperpolyglots and canvassed the opinions of many more. He talks about their lives and what drives them. | 1/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 |
Michael Erard's Hyperpolyglots Part 1 | A conversation with Michael Erard about his new book "Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners". In describing hyperpolyglots, Erard has coined the term 'the will to plasticity': these speakers of dozens of languages seem to combine a fierce desire to learn with childlike brain plasticity. | 1/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 |
Names and jobs, the many Spanishes of the NBA, and the Hitchens brothers | 1. Usain Bolt bolts, Anna Smashnova was a tennis pro, Bob Flowerdew is a gardening expert. Coincidence? Criminal defense lawyer Frances Cook and vicar Michael Vickers discuss. 2. Clemson Smith Muniz, the play-by-play voice of Los Knicks en espanol on how basketball terms in Spanish vary from country to country. 3. Free speech on the Korean Peninsula. 4. The late Christopher Hitchens discusses the power of argument with his brother Peter Hitchens. | 12/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 |
How languages convey the future, a lost metaphor, and Zahara | A Yale study claims that the language you speak may determine how much money you save. You're in luck if your native tongue doesn't have a future tense. Also, a paint job on Scotland's Forth Bridge is declared complete, and so a metaphor loses out. And South African pop sensation Zahara sings in English and Xhosa. | 12/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 |
Tamil, a Tanglish song, Roma in Romanian, and retweeting etiquette | Tamil has more speakers than Italian or Turkish, but there are fears about its future. A dictionary editor and a singer are trying to popularize the language. Also, Romania's largest minority get a new official name. And a conversation about spelling, grammar and re-tweeting. | 12/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 |
The Bible and the Brain, Hebrew slogans, and Burmese song | The King James Bible gets all the accolades, but what of some lesser-known translations of the Bible? Also, Hebrew slogans at a Tel Aviv protest, and Hebrew classes at a New York charter school. And, the songs of Shakira and others with new lyrics...in Burmese. | 12/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 |
Banned words, words of the year, and snowy words | The Oxford English Dictionary reveals its word of the year. Also, the Pakistan government's problem with rude - and not so rude - words used in text messaging. And Kate Bush, along with collaborator Stephen Fry, has come up with 50 real and invented words that evoke snow. | 11/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 |
Australia through its languages and rhetoric | A conversation with three Australians about language, culture and history. Thomas Keneally, Deborah Cheetham and Kate Grenville discuss the myths and secrets of Aboriginal languages, the rhetoric of official apologies, and the magnificent prose of legendary bush ranger Ned Kelly. | 11/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 |
San Francisco's Chinese press, a new alphabet in Zambia, and OMG! Meiyu | Did San Francisco's Chinese language newspapers help elect a Chinese-American mayor? Also, a linguist creates a writing system for one of Zambia's 73 languages. Plus a conversation with David Brooks about language and emotion. And a 24-year-old American and her slangy online English lessons are a hit in China. | 11/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 |
Translators past, present and future, a new Iliad, and Greek humor | A translation special with the American Translators Association, David Bellos, author of a "Is That a Fish in Your Ear?", and a discussion of just what exactly Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles owes to The Iliad. Plus, a mode of speech that's always tough to translate: humor. And not just any humor. Greek humor. | 11/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 |
Accents, chatbots, and fear of a Chinese-speaking planet | Top five language stories this month with Patrick and Carol: City Sentral, riDQulous, and other nasty corporate spelling experiments...the expanding reach of English means more accents...for Singapore's Chinese, a challenge: speak English in public, Mandarin Chinese at home...a new Italian film explores fears about the global spread of Chinese...in Japan, English-speaking chatbots guarantee embarrassment-free conversations. | 10/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 |
From Boston to Kigali, Chinese goes global | In the past seven years, China has opened almost 300 Confucius Institutes around the world. We visit one such language center in Kigali, Rwanda. Meanwhile in the US, the government-run China Radio International is seeking out new audiences. But as Chinese language and culture expands abroad, it's a different story at home, where mastery of Chinese characters is declining. To combat that, some Shanghai schools require students to take calligraphy classes. | 10/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 |
Fry's Planet Word, Belizean Creole and Steve Jobs' global speech | An interview with writer and actor Stephen Fry, who has made a documentary series on language for BBC TV. Also, 30 years after Belize won independence, Belizean Creole is winning respect alongside English. And how Steve Jobs' Macs and iPods helped globalize local speech and localize global ideas. | 10/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 |
A grammar of cities, a dying Inuit dialect, and Frank Zappa's lyrics | In Tanzania and South Korea, the grammar of urban organization is lacking a few verbs. Also, a Cambridge linguist returns from a year living with an Inuit community. And a visit to a Massachusetts elementary school that's become a model for teaching English to non-native speakers. Plus, Frank Zappa's surreal and profane lyrics as transcribed by a prim English secretary. | 9/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 |
Watch your diplomatic language! Plus, Yang Ying's musical dialects | Should diplomats learn the languages of the countries they're assigned to? Diplomat Sherard Cowper-Coles and translator David Bellos say yes...but try to avoid foreign faux pas. Also, teaching in two languages in a US state where bilingual education is banned. Plus, the children of Pakistan's Sindh province are learning Chinese, while a Chinese classical musician is learning rock and jazz. | 9/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 |
Toilet talk across the pond, and banning bilingual education | Nine years after bilingual education was banned in Massachusetts, educators are still arguing over the effect on students' language abilities. Also, more conversation with American linguist in Britain, Lynne Murphy. This time, we talk "toilets", "excuse me" and other key differences between American English and its British cousin. Plus girl pop from the 1960s, in Spanish. | 9/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 |
Separated by a Common Language with Lynneguist | A conversation with University of Sussex linguist Lynne Murphy aka Lynneguist. An American in Britain, Murphy maintains the Separated by a Common Language blog. Murphy's accent is soft, but that doesn't stop Brits from mocking it, and labeling it twangy. Among the many observations noted in her blog, Murphy has seen British English lose some of its status among Americans. | 8/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 |
In Britain, a new English test and a cuss box, and learning the Koran by heart | Britain now requires an English proficiency test for some visa applicants. There's already a legal challenge from the Indian husband of a British woman. Also, in Britain, a town has starting fining people for swearing in public. In Alaska, some children of Sudanese refugees are learning their parents' native Nuer language. And a conversation with Greg Barker, director of "Koran by Heart". | 8/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 |
The swirling rhetoric around Norway's tragedy, and Blitz the Ambassador | How much we should blame extreme political rhetoric for the actions of Anders Breivik? Did words help pull the trigger so many times? Is it accurate to describe him as a lone madman, existing outside Norway's civilized society? What of Glen Beck who likened Breivik's victims at a political summer camp to the Hitler Youth? And what might the late Stieg Larsson have thought about this? Also, New York-based Ghanaian rapper Blitz the Ambassador. | 7/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 |
Punjabi immersion, Nigerian pidgin radio, and Annoying "Americanisms" | Top five language stories this month with Patrick and Carol: The first Punjabi language public school in the US is about to open...bad translations with bad results...a Lagos radio station broadcast in Pidgin expands to other Nigerian cities...a new book traces the rise and decline of French as an international language...and a British journalist rails against the invasion of what he calls Americanisms into British English. | 7/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 |
Blagging, famine, a metaphor-free language and a ban in Belgium | Among other nefarious acts, journalists caught up in the News International scandal have been accused of something called blagging. Also, why governments and aid agencies avoid using the word famine. Plus, a science fiction novelist dreams up a language without metaphors, and therefore without fabrication. And, if you sing in French, don’t expect airtime in the Brussels metro. | 7/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 |
The Chinese names of American politicians, and South Sudan's anthem | After rumors spread that former Chinese President Jiang Zemin was dead, authorities blocked searches of certain words including river (jiang) and heart attack. Also, California moves to regulate how political candidates names are translated into foreign languages. Plus, a new study confirms that reading fiction is good for you. And the people of South Sudan are learning their new national anthem. | 7/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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34 |
The legacy of the translated Bible | This week, a BBC special on the Bible's influence in translation. We hear how the translated Bible has profoundly affected the English spoken by Jamaicans, and how it may yet affect languages such as Jamaican Creole and Kalenjin. Recent technological advances are speeding up the process of Bible translation, not without controversy. Through it all, Bible translation and linguistic research have marched hand in hand, sometimes producing unintended results. | 6/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 |
Assyrian, Donald Keene's Japanese and Canucks | After a global effort lasting nearly a century, scholars have released an Assyrian dictionary. Also, Donald Keene's love affair with Japanese has culminated with his move from New York to Tokyo at the age of 89. Plus, France prohibits broadcasters from saying Facebook or Twitter on the air. And is the word Canuck offensive? | 6/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 |
Washington's Metaphor Program, new Scrabble slang, and Lingodroids | Top five language stories this month with Patrick and Carol: slangy new entrants in the Collins Scrabble Dictionary include "innit", "grrl" and "thang"...a new study concludes that the Japanese language may have originated on the Korean Peninsula...the US Intelligence Establishment wants to decode foreign languages through their metaphors...new details about Barack Obama's bilingual early years...and an experiment in Australia to get robots to speak to each other in a language of their own invention. | 6/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 |
Re-learning Spanish, super-injunctions, and UK hearts Obama | Thousands of kids from the United States are enrolling in Mexican schools, often after their parents have been deported. These children are struggling to re-learn Spanish. Also, the language and politics of terms like illegal alien and undocumented worker. Plus, British gag orders aren't working, thanks to Twitter. And, does Obama heart Britain as much as Brits heart Obama? We have some takes on the so-called Special Relationship. | 5/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 |
Ai Weiwei's translator, Belgium during linguistic wartime, and Rastamouse | Arrested Chinese artist Ai Weiwei wrote a blog that was, if anything, even more provocative than his art. We hear from the woman who translated Ai's blog posts into English. Also, fellow Big Show podcaster Clark Boyd on the trials, tribulations and silliness of living in Belgium, where most people define themselves not by nationality but by mother tongue. And the latest children's TV hit in the UK features Jamaican-British musical mice, with dialects that offend English purists. | 5/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 |
The battle to own Bin Laden's story, the saddest national anthem, and...to translate, just add water! | Now that Osama bin Laden is dead, a new battle begins: the rhetorical fight to frame his legacy. The White House got off to a bad start, with its initial claims about the circumstances of the killing. Also, we try out a couple of instant translation devices that the Pentagon is considering for field operations. And a quixotic attempt to lighten up the lyrics to Peru's national anthem. | 5/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 |
The Pentagon's linguistic history, fictional job titles, and pink princesses | For more than 200 years, the Pentagon has been trying to gets its personnel to learn the languages spoken by friends and foes alike. For most that time, it's been an uphill struggle. Also, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is not amused at a Colombian telenovela which has named a badly-behaved dog after him. Plus, we learn about a 19th century English reverend who liked to invent the job titles of his parishioners. Finally, the word princess gets a workout, and not all for the good. | 4/29/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 |
English-only in the US, translating tweets in Japan and satire in Egypt | The English Only movement in the United States is always active during times of high immigration. Now it's got a shot in the arm from the Tea Party. Also, a conversation with Aya Watanabe, who has spent much of the past month translating earthquake-related tweets from Japanese to English. And we hear from Egypt about an instantly popular news satire show whose host is being compared to Jon Stewart. | 4/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 |
From Cicero to Lynne Truss with Robert Lane Greene | Robert Lane Greene's new book "You Are What You Speak" examines how language we speak is bound up in our identity. How much does our native language define us? How much does it set our ways of thinking? Can we think a different way in a different language? Why do people get so persnickety about punctuation? Why do grammar sticklers yearn for a golden age of usage that usually coincides with their school days? Do governments overstretch when they lay down alphabet and spelling rules? | 4/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 |
Dictators with dialects, universal Inuit, and finger spelling | Top five language questions this month with Patrick and Carol: Napoleon, Hitler and Gaddafi all grew up speaking a distinct dialect of their native tongue. Coincidence? Does Japanese have a word for looting? Is finger spelling a language? Is the language of cartoons necessarily harsh? And, should the many dialects of Inuit be standardized? | 3/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 |
Explaining the radiation threat to Japan's kids, and Kate the Great. | Japan has a whole lexicon of earthquake-related phrases. But the severity of this quake, and now the radiation threat, is expanding that lexicon. Also, a video explains the nuclear emergency to children with an analogy that kids understand all too well. In France, the government is battling newspapers and online outlets over probes into the practices of some politicians. And American brewers are giving reviving a centuries-old type of beer, Russian Imperial Stout, and plundering Russian history to name the brews. | 3/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 |
The vocoder, the linguistic robot and the dead rabbit | English teachers in South Korea don't come cheap. Schools often have to fly them in, and then house them. One Korean school is trying a cheaper alternative: a robot. Also, writer Dave Tompkins on how the sound-distorting vocoder morphed from a wartime security device into one of Hip Hop's favorite toys. Plus, new limits for foreign reporters in China, and the man who steered Jagermeister out of the forests of Saxony onto campus parties everywhere. | 3/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 |
Bilingual babies, consciousness, and poetry | We take a trip inside the mind in this week's pod. Rhitu Chatterjee takes us through some of the recent research into the bilingual brain, which has focussed on babies. Also, psychologist Nicholas Humphrey gives us his take on consciousness, and why language is only a small part of it. Then we consider poetry, which may be a bridge between consciousness and language. | 3/4/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 |
French learning English, Irish learning Irish, and suddenly: free speech in Tunisia | In France, the Sarkozy government is proposing that children start learning English at age three. Good idea, say some French intellectuals, but why English? In Ireland, mandatory Irish learning in schools has become an election issue. In Tunisia, journalists are getting used to their new freedoms; some are clinging to the old ways. And Anglo-Middle Eastern singer Natacha Atlas is singing about free speech in Egypt and beyond. | 2/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 |
The past and future of pharaohs, Cantonese and the Gang of Four | Was Mubarak Egypt's last pharaoh? Maybe only if Putin is Russia's last Tsar. Names for strong men (and women: the Iron Lady) may say as much about what a nation's people expect as they do about a leader's style. Also, fears for the future of Cantonese, once the lingua franca of Chinatowns around the world. And British cultural revolutionaries Gang of Four talk about their name, their music, and phrases that include the word "farm." | 2/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 |
Eliminating an unwanted language, and Shakespeare in Shona | Top five language stories this month with Patrick and Carol: Shakespeare's plays will be performed in 38 languages next year in London; two new studies on texting focus on grammar acquisition and the habits of Australians; an effort to eradicate a Colonial-era pidgin still used by South African mineworkers; attempts to keep Russian and Chinese free of English words; and a new book by Nicholas Ostler sparks a debate about the staying power of English. | 2/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 |
At the BBC, fewer languages and perhaps less global influence | Huge cuts have been announced at the BBC World Service: five language services to close, seven more cut back from radio to internet only, and six services ceasing short wave transmissions. It means an estimated 30 million fewer BBC listeners worldwide. Will people migrate to the web and to English language news, or will the BBC - and its news values - become less influential? We hear from the director of BBC global news, a former World Service director, the British foreign minister, and the head of the axed Caribbean Service. | 1/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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51 |
Beautiful code, ugly fonts, and the architecture of diplomacy | A new exhibit in Silicon Valley takes the long view in its presentation of the origins of computing and the language of computer programming. Also, new research suggests that hard-to-read typographical fonts may help us remember the ideas they spell out. And, the architectural grammar of the United Nations Security Council: the design layout of the council's chamber and adjourning rooms is considered so important that replicas have been constructed during refurbishment. | 1/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 |
Political language before and after Tucson | After the Tucson shootings, we hear from Dutch and German journalists about political discourse and violence in their countries. Also, Obama's oratory in Tucson gets high marks from commentators on both left and right. Plus, an exploration of the term "blood libel." If Sarah Palin had known exactly what it meant, would she still have used it? | 1/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 |
Teach yourself Babylonian, and teach the Ashes to the Ashes | First, lost medieval songs sung by Louisiana-based descendents of immigrants from the Canary Islands. Then, the man behind a Teach Yourself book on Ancient Babylonian. That's followed by a conversation with a Squamish Nation chief on the original name for Stanley Park in Vancouver. Finally, the Ashes: a story of cricket, Twitter, and babysitting. | 1/7/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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54 |
Tuareg Storytelling, the Most Literary Bible, and the R word | In a decidedly non-festive podcast, we hear about an initiative in Mali to preserve the Tamasheq language, spoken by a dwindling number of the nomadic Tuareg people. Also, a conversation about the literary merits of the King James Bible, which turns 400 in 2011. And, the R word: rationing. Among some Americans, the rationing is R-rated when it comes to health care. But in Britain, rationing is part of the national psyche: it got the country through two world wars, and its collectivist values are at the core of Britain's government-run health service. Now though, the emergence of expensive, new end-of-life drugs are challenging Brits' belief in rationing | 12/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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55 |
The World in Words 111: Studying Italian, rebelling in Spanish, word-searching in English | With budgets tight at American schools and colleges, and with a growing interest in Chinese, what happens to a language like Italian? Once a heritage language, Italian is now more of a lifestyle choice. Also, Latin America is livid with the Royal Spanish Academy, which has decided to remove two letters from the Spanish alphabet. And the relaunched online version of the Oxford English Dictionary: now with detailed word histories! | 12/9/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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56 |
The World in Words 110: How events shaped English, the future of Tibetan, and Spanish alphabet discrimination | Top five language stories this month with Patrick, Carol and Rhitu: Tibetans protest over the potential loss of their language in some schools; Spain re-orders its family names rules; a list of historical events that have shaped the development of the English language; how do you know when you can speak a language?; and new research out of Australia on how the languages we speak may determine how we think. | 11/30/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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57 |
The World in Words 109: Supermarket French, Chanson French, and Arabic in repose | The French of Anna Sam and that of Juliette Greco could hardly be more different. Sam records the mendacious and the mundane that she overhears at the supermarket checkout. The French of Greco is moody and melodramatic, as befits this veteran chanteuse. Also, what got lost in translation in the UN Security Council's most famous resolution, the so-called land-for-peace concept in the Middle East. And we hear from the founders of Meena, an Arabic-English bilingual poetry journal. | 11/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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58 |
The World in Words 108: Voting in a foreign language, Islamic calligraphy, and Chicago in Japanese | There are times when it's helpful to understand a foreign language: during an election campaign, for example, if you're a naturalized citizen. And there are times when it's essential: during a ceremony to renew your wedding vows. We find out in both cases what can happen if you don't have the linguistic tools. Also, an Islamic calligraphy master offers classes in his Arlington, Virginia home. And Broadway star Amra Faye-Wright talks about learning Japanese so she could perform "Chicago" in Tokyo. | 11/5/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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59 |
The World in Words 107: The English-only movement in America | A conversation about making English the only official language in the United States. Tim Schultz, lobbyist of US English makes the case for this, ahead of an English-only vote in Oklahoma. Also, an election ad in Chinese, aimed at Americans who don't speak Chinese. | 10/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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60 |
The World in Words 106: Indian English, Aussie English, and one guy's idea of proper English | English is so widely and variously spoken that it barely can be called a single language. That hasn't stopped grammar stickler Simon Heffer from trying to re-establish order. Also, poet Les Murray describes some of the colorful phrases of Australian English. And we check in on a language school in India where the teachers have a strong sense of what constitutes proper English. | 10/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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61 |
The World in Words 105: Genders, geniuses, and Tamil onomatopoeia | Another top five language stories: A new line of Tamil pulp fiction translated into English keeps the magnificent onomatopoeia of the original; new research shows that no matter you much some Germans try, they can't make their language gender-neutral; a Belgian video pokes fun at the country's linguistic battles; we hear more about two linguists who won MacArthur genius awards; and Carol Hill's adventures among the Swedes. | 10/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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62 |
The World in Words 104: Ajami, Liberian proverbs and learning to interrupt at the UN | Every year, 4,000 staffers at the United Nations in New York sign up for language classes. There they learn not just languages but how to use them diplomatically. Also, reporter Jason Margolis visits Liberia and ends up judging a competition to determine the country's most inventive proverb. And, is it a language? No! Is it a dialect? No! It's Ajami: Arabic script used as a writing system for many African languages. | 9/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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63 |
The World in Words 103: Speaking in Tongues and Dreaming in Chinese | A new PBS documentary follows four students and their families at dual immersion schools in San Francisco. The film offers evidence that the study of math, science and other subjects in more than one language gives students an edge, despite what some disapproving relatives might think. Also, a conversation with Deborah Fallows on living in China and learning Chinese. In Chinese, she says, rude is polite, brusque is intimate. And then there's the lousy Chinese name she was given. | 9/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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64 |
The World in Words 102: Learning in two languages, and Zulu | A back-to-school edition about learning in a second language. We hear from an elementary school teacher in Downey, CA on the challenges of teaching English language learners. Also, a Creole-speaking Haitian girl newly arrived in New York City enrols in a high school. Then it's back to California as an Arabic immersion program gets underway at a charter school in Fremont, CA. Finally, the first Zulu-English dictionary in 40 years has just been published in South Africa. | 9/10/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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65 |
The World in Words 101: A grammar hotline, rapid textspeak, and magic in a second language | Forget their laidback image, Brazilians care about grammar. One city has a long-established grammar hotline staffed by Portuguese language experts. Now the state of Rio de Janeiro is following suit. Also, an interview with the newly-crowned world record holder in speed-texting. And the art of performing magic in a language that's not your own. | 9/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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66 |
The World in Words 100: A Persian insult, the planet's northernmost tongue, and an Urdu sense of direction | Iran's leader Ahmadinejad is known for his fruity prose, and this month he outdid himself with a new anti-American insult. Also, we hear from a linguist who's spending a year in Northwest Greenland, documenting Earth's northernmost dialect. Then, a survey of how foreign language movies in the United States are seeking new ways of finding their audiences. Finally, getting from Point A to Point B in Urdu, a language that has the same word for "go straight" and "turn right". | 8/20/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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67 |
The World in Words 99: Self-censorship over Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Two takes on self-censorship. A child survivor of Hiroshima explains why she kept quiet about her experiences for so long, through the pain and guilt of survival. Late in life, she tells her story, in the presence of her daughter and granddaughters. Then, a Japanese examination of the self-censorship of American newspaper reporters and editors in the weeks after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | 8/10/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 98: Deciphering, refudiating, and Kevin | Another top five language stories: an Israeli study shows bilinguals respond differently depending on the language of the questions; new research points to a possible breakthrough in deciphering ancient scripts; Sarah Palin compares her coinage of new English words to Shakespeare's; a science writer argues that language diversity condemns a society to poverty; and Clark Boyd's adventures in linguistically confused Belgium. | 7/30/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 97: Colombian Spanish, U.S. Spanish, and Dora the Explorer Spanish | In Colombia, you can hear Latin America's clearest, crispest Spanish. As a result, Bogota is home to everything from call centers to telenovela production houses. Also, a conversation with philosopher Oscar Guardiola-Rivera about what the spread of Spanish in the United States is doing to the language, and to the country. Finally, Dora the Explorer and Kai-Lan: two fictional TV characters who introduce American kids to their first words of Spanish and Chinese. In Dora's case, she also introduces Spanish speakers to their first English words. | 7/23/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 96: Russian spy accents, Manute Bol and sign language | Our top five language stories this month: A translator recalls the Nuremberg Trials; sign languages that don't have signs for some Islamic words; the phrase that Manute Bol didn't invent; a controversial move in Southern India to make Tamil more official; those Russian spies and their faux Euro/Canadian accents. | 7/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 95: Globish, health care, and a Facebook misunderstanding | This week, the case for and against Globish. A group of writers and artists debate the proposition that a simplified version of English is uniquely equipped to take over the linguistic world. Also, now that millions more Americans have health insurance, there's pressure on clinics and hospitals to make their services more accessible to non-English speakers. Plus, a check-in on World Cup TV viewing in English and Spanish, and a conversation with Gregory Levey, whose book "Shut Up I'm Talking" has more Facebook fans than Bill Clinton. | 7/9/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 94: Talking Turkish, saluting Stalin, and forgoing French | The newest star of Germany's national soccer team is an ethnic Turk. His popularity is one of the reasons why Turkish has become just a little more accepted in Germany today. Also, the Georgian government pulls down a statue of Joseph Stalin in his hometown, but people there use the language of extreme denial to describe the town's most famous son. And a British politician calls French a "useless" language to learn. He and a German diplomat debate which languages may be more useful. | 7/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 93: Belgian adoption, Montenegrin invention, and the future of spelling | One group of Belgians has had enough of the endless battles between the country's Dutch and French speakers. The group is trying to get people to adopt families from across the language divide. In Montenegro, there's virtually no divide between the Montenegrin and Serbian dialects -- but the government says there is. It is promoting what it calls the Montenegrin language. Finally, a discussion on what happens to spelling in the age of Spell Check and Google. | 6/23/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 92: The language of the beautiful game | At the World Cup in South Africa, it's not just Brazil vs Spain and Argentina vs Everybody Else. It's Bafana Bafana vs Les Elephants, soccer vs football, cleats vs boots and the coach vs the gaffer. We have stories on the new adidas ball and its globally correct corporate name; on the race to rename streets in South African cities; on a few words rooted in South Africa's eleven official languages that may go global after this tournament; and on the US-English confrontation off the field: the linguistic battle over soccer/football terminology. | 6/11/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 91: In every word, a microhistory...English spelling with David Wolman | Anamika Veeramani won this year's National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word "stromuhr". It's one of many English words in the contest that sounded decidedly unEnglish. After a report on some of those words, we speak with David Wolman, whose book "Righting the Mother Tongue" traces the anarchic evolution of English spelling. Unlike some languages, English is barely policed: foreign words -- often with strange foreign spelling intact -- migrate unhindered into English. Also, we remember the man who invented the ATM, among other acronyms. | 6/7/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 90: Bilingual tots in the Middle East, reading in Arabic, and the language of smell | Not many parents in Israel make the choice, but a few send their kids to Arabic-Hebrew bilingual preschools. The World's Jerusalem correspondent Matthew Bell is one of them. Also, a Seattle rabbi visits the Cairo Genizah, and explains why so many sacred Jewish texts were written in Arabic. Plus, a report from Syria on book-publishing and reading in the Arabic-speaking world. And we hear from experts at the New York Public Library on the secrets that a book's smell will reveal to an educated nose. | 5/31/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: Icelandic's new words, teachers with accents, and baaaad translations | Our top five language stories this month: translating Iceland's collapse into English, document by document; magnificently bad translations on Shanghai's streets and at the Eurovision Song Contest; coming up with a language for communication with extraterrestrials; Arizona moves against accented schoolteachers; and Costa Rica's new president Laura Chinchilla is one of millions of people worldwide who are named after animals. | 5/24/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 89: Translators working overtime, renaming Asian carp, and counting in Chinese | Translators are proving their worth twice in this week's podcast: in New York, where they're helping elderly Russian speakers fill out their census forms; and in Louisiana and Mississippi where they're interpreting for Vietnamese-American fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by the big oil spill. Also, which do you think tastes better: Silverfin, Kentucky tuna or Asian carp? They are one and the same fish. And finally, a conversation about counting: some languages are more numerate than others. | 5/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 88: A language speed-dater gets serious, and from Ukraine, a cross-dressing, cross-linguistic singer | A language-learning marathon is over, as the author of a blog called 37 Languages decides which one to learn for real. Also, a new film documents a year in the life of an elementary school in Turkey. The kids speak only Kurdish, their teacher only Turkish. And we profile one of Ukraine's most beloved performers: the cross-dressing Verka Serduchka, who is popularizing a hybrid Ukrainian-Russian dialect. | 5/7/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 87: Census-taking, volcano-pronouncing, and why Thais win at Scrabble | The U.S.Census Bureau is firing on all linguistic cylinders to ensure that non-English speakers are counted in this year's census. Things don't always go smoothly: in Vietnamese, the word "census" got translated into something closer to "investigation". Also, how to pronounce that unpronounceable Icelandic volcano, Scrabble obsession beyond the English-speaking world, and five unique Japanese expressions. | 4/27/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 86: An American family, an Indonesian tribe, an oral language and its first book | In 1973 Sue and Peter Westrum and their baby went to live among an indigenous tribe, the Berik, in Indonesian New Guinea. Their aim was to learn the oral Berik language, develop a script for it, and then translate the Bible into Berik. They spent more than 20 years there. It was a time of great transformation for the Berik people, their beliefs and their language. | 4/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: Google's humanoid translator, accent phobia, and misleading job titles | Our top five language stories this month: Why Google Translate rules, and why human translators shouldn't feel threatened; a weight-loss company advertizes for Product Testing Associates, whose sole task is to eat more food -- not the first time an employer has over-egged the job title pudding; there's evidence that certain accents are less welcome than others in corporate boardrooms; India's economic rise and linguistically mixed marriages mean that fewer young Indians speak the languages of their parents; and French citizens vote on new words for "buzz", "chat", and "newsletter." | 4/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 85: Middle East Street names, Bible translators and locavore language | When it comes to naming a street, you can go with the bland: Bella Vista Ave. Or not: Mugabe St. In the Palestinian city of Ramallah, some recently named streets celebrate "fallen matyrs". Israel too, memorializes its "freedom fighters" from the early 20th century. Also, a conversation with the head of the world's largest Bible translation organization. The group wants to translate the Bible into every language by 2025. Finally, language journalist Michael Erard declares why henceforward he will use only words that are locally grown and sustainably packaged. | 4/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 84: Swearing in Irish, storytelling in Scots, and rapping in Khmer | Two takes on the Irish language: one from Patrick's dad, who was a schoolboy in the early years of Ireland's independence, when studying Irish was an exercise in nation-building. Then, an interview with Manchan Magan who made a TV series about traveling around Ireland speaking only Irish. Next, we hear from Alexander McCall Smith: his latest offering in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is a children's book in the Scots language. Finally, hip-hop artist Boomer Da Sharpshooter who grew up speaking English but now raps in Cambodia's main language, Khmer. | 3/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 83: Arabic grafitti in Moorish Spain and the fall and rise of Yiddish Part 2 | The Alhambra in Grenada, the crowning glory of Moorish Spain, has more than 10,000 prayers and poems in Arabic inscribed on its pillars and walls. We hear about a high-tech effort to decipher and catalog the inscriptions. Then it's the second part of the BBC's documentary on Yiddish. Reporter Dennis Marks takes us to New York, where the language is undergoing a modest revival: among Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, with a family who text message in transliterated Yiddish, and with musician Alicia Svigals and novelist Dara Horn who are re-interpreting the old language of Eastern Europe's shtetls for new generations. | 3/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 82: The BBC broadcasts in Haitian Creole, and the fall and rise of Yiddish | Eleven days after Haiti's earthquake, the BBC began daily radio broadcasts in Haitian Creole. We hear how the broadcasts kept Haitians abreast of the news and put them in touch with loved ones. Also, the past, present and future of Yiddish. Once spoken by millions in Europe, it was nearly wiped out in the Holocaust and through assimilation. Today it survives, and not only as the language that gave English klutz, kosher, kvetch and many other evocative expressions. Some older Jews in New York City and elsewhere still speak Yiddish while many younger Jews are pushing for a full-scale revival of the language. Part one of two. | 3/5/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: Packing flashcards, Pandas and Polyglotty Olympics | Our top five language stories this month: why the disappearance of the Bo language is a big deal; the Olympics are being broadcast for the first time in, among other languages, Cree; when pandas move from the U.S. to China, do they have to learn a new language?; lawsuits concerning Arabic flashcards in hand baggage and speaking Spanish in English-only school; and the Pentagon's latest attempts to equip soldiers with real-time speaking translator-bots. | 2/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 81: A Chinese Valentine's pod | Hundreds of language programs at public schools have become victims of shrinking budgets. Not Chinese. We visit an inner city high school where 400 students are learning Chinese. Also, don't be fooled: the language of love is not universal, not unless you keep you mouth shut. That's the view of an American woman who endlessly misunderstands the amorous words of her German-speaking lover. Plus, bodice-ripping our way out of the recession: romance novels are more popular than ever. | 2/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 80: Obama's new words, Avatar in the Amazon, and a Chinese satirical extravaganza | As Obama enters the second year of his presidency, he's dropped some expressions -- "war on terror", "Af-Pak", even "Middle East". His administration has invented a few too: "remotedly piloted aircraft" (drones) and "overseas contingency operations" (wars). Also, a special screening of Avatar in Ecuador for indigenous groups. What did these Shuar and Achuar speakers think of Avatar's invented language, Na'vi? Finally, a new online satirical movie is all the rage in China. It features a Chinese double-entendre phrase aimed at avoiding government censorship. The movie also includes a fantastic "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" rant. | 2/2/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: New York's polyglot cops, Arabic online, and the planet's most difficult language | Our top five language stories this month: best and worst words of the year and the decade; Georgia launches a Russian language TV channel to counter the Kremlin's message; new ventures and technologies give a boost to Arabic online; just how many cases, genders and moods it takes to make one Amazonian language the world's most difficult; and the New York Police Department, now enforcing the law in nearly a hundred languages. | 1/25/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 79: The wonder of weird words like whiffling, and the elusive meaning of peace | A conversation with Adam Jacot de Boinod, a seeker of obscure but colorful English expressions. If you read his new book, "The Wonder of Whiffling", you'll know whether you prefer to muppet shuffle or dwile flunk. You'll know if you are a pozzy-wallah. Some of expressions are brand new, others long gone. Some are from Britain, but many hail from former colonial outposts where English is re-invented with the help of local languages and customs. Also, the meaning of the word peace. Barack Obama was the latest figure to tweak its definition when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and made the argument for "just war". | 1/15/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 78: Hebrew's revival, Turkey's banned letters, Malaysia's Allah crisis, and Q | Hebrew is most successful attempt ever at language revival. We find out why. Also, Malaysians are rioting after a court rules that a Catholic newspaper can use the word Allah. Then, two reports on alphabet letters: in Sweden, parents win the right to name their newborn Q; and in Turkey, using the Kurdish-associated letters Q, W or X can land you in jail. And, a two-nations-divided-by-one-language examination of the word grit. | 1/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 77: Praying in Spanish, new Hebrew names for planets, and a Danish hangover | We talk to the director and central figure in a PBS documentary about a Catholic church's struggles with language. "Scenes From a Parish" follows the priests and parishioners of St Patrick's in Lawrence, MA. The priests introduce more Spanish masses to cater to Lawrence's predominantly Latino population. Some English-speaking parishioners are less than thrilled. Also, how do you say Neptune and Uranus in Hebrew? The answer used to be: Neptune and Uranus. Now the two planets have Hebrew names. Finally, a New Year's Day hangover courtesy of the good people of Denmark. | 1/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 76: Esperanto's past, present and future, and what not to say in Ireland's parliament | December 15 is the most important day in the calendar for people who speak Esperanto. It is Zamenhof Day, named after the man who dreamed up the idea of a language that the entire planet would one day speak. L.L. Zamenhof was born 150 years ago, and though his dream was never realized, Esperanto is still spoken -- in fact it's undergoing something of a revival in the internet age. We consider the failure and success of Esperanto. Also, why the Irish parliament bans words such as guttersnipe and brat, but permits certain swearwords. Finally, if your name is Mark, expect to be teased in Norway. | 12/17/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 75: British English as it is, was, and could have been | 1. An audio archive of British World War One POWs recorded by a German linguist. 2. A British convenience store chain re-writes wine labels in Scottish, Liverpudlian and other UK dialects. 3. How English might have sounded had the Saxons won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. 4. An ATM company uses cockney rhyming slang to dispense cash. 5. American anglophiles on lorries, cricket bats and other linguistic oddities. | 12/11/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: Windows 7 in African languages, unfortunate name translations, and the new Klingon | Our top five language stories this month: African languages get their versions of Windows; the government of Moldova changes the name of the country's official language; South Korean birthing centers go multilingual; unfortunate foreign meanings of baby names and how you can protect yourself; and Na'vi, invented for the silver screen, hopes to emulate Klingon. | 12/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 74: Words your grandmother taught you in Chinese, Dutch and Yiddish | Many people learned their first foreign words from their grandmothers. Marco Werman learned a Dutch curse. Nina Porzucki learned a Yiddish word that speaks to a certain Jewish mindset. Marilyn Chin learned insults, puns and tongue twisters, many of which later found their way into Chin's poetry and fiction. | 11/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 73: Spelling Obama in Chinese, oratory from Beijing to Washington, and chop suey love | An all-Chinese pod today. First, the contrasting oratorical styles of presidents Hu and Obama. Then something on a type of Chinese idiom known as chengyu. Then to the UK, where Confucian philosophy infuses Chinese language classes in some schools. Finally, poet Marilyn Chin on why she loves the expression chop suey. | 11/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 72: Baby talk, Ukrainian talk, and translated punk talk | First, a study finds that we may begin language acquisition in the womb. Then a report from Ukraine, where Ukrainian is enjoying a government-sponsored revival, at the expense of Russian (with the exception of swear words: people still curse exclusively in Russian). Finally, a conversation with the two French guys behind cover band Nouvelle Vague. Their new album re-imagines punk and new wave classics by The Sex Pistols, Plastic Bertrand and others. | 11/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: Glaswegians, birds, urls and Chinese script | We select our top five language-related stories from the past month. Among them: Some birds develop distinct dialects based on the decibel levels of their habitats; Companies doing business in Glasgow are offered interpreters to translate the local dialect; The French government reforms foreign language teaching; And Chinese expats do battle over which script U.S. schools should use to teach Chinese - traditional characters, favored in Taiwan and Hong Kong, or simplified characters, used in mainland China. | 11/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 71: Twitter and free speech, a Chinese word inspires new art, and a new Lakota immersion school | Question: what happens when a court gags a newspaper? Answer: The gag sags, 140 characters at a time. That's what happened this month when microbloggers tweeted what The Guardian couldn't report. Also, a group of Beijing and expat artists discover a Chinese word that seems to convey the zeitgeist in China; and the near-death - and possible rebirth - of the native American Lakota language, with an assist from a German rock star. | 10/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 70: Bilingual metaphors, the passion of place name changes, and interpreting for the LA Dodgers | Nobel literature prize winner Herta Mueller dreamed up metaphors in a mix of her native German and the Romanian she learned at school. Try translating that into English. Also, a conversation with the author of "Whatever Happened to Tanganika? The Place Names that History Left Behind." And a profile of the man the Los Angeles Dodgers hired to interpret for the team's Japanese players; it helps that he also speaks fluent Spanish. | 10/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words news: Gaddafi's translator, Swedish fury at UNESCO, and Nazi slogans in English | Patrick Cox and Carol Hills select their top five language-related stories from the past month. Among them: the sad tale of Muammar Gaddafi's translator at the United Nations; the quixotic tale of the real estate mogul who is trying to export Korean Hangul script to Indonesia; India's burgeoning number of official languages; a declaration from UNESCO that a southern Swedish dialect is in fact a language under threat; and a German court's decision to permit Nazi hate speech, so long as it's not in German. | 10/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 69: Free speech in the Netherlands, South Africa and Denmark | After Joe Wilson's "you lie!", after Kanye West at the MTV awards, after Serena Williams' outburst at the US Open, you may think, enough already with nasty speech. Well, you ain't heard nothin' yet: this week, a report on offensive - really offensive - Dutch cartoons. Also, a South African gadfly-journalist upsets just about everyone. And the Danish tourist bureau stages a faux one night stand. It was supposed to be a come-on to foreign visitors; instead it had Danish politicians trying to curb the speech of their own government. | 9/29/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 68: Russia's national lyricist, Canada's language laws, and the rehabilitation of a code-breaker | This week, a look back at the career of the late Sergei Mikhalkov. During World War Two, Mikhalkov wrote the lyrics to the Soviet national anthem. Decades later, he composed the words for Russia's national anthem-- to the same piece of music. Also, a conversation with Keith Spicer on Canada's 40-year-old language laws. Spicer was the country's first enforcer of bilingualism. Finally, the British government apologizes for its treatment of Alan Turing, who helped break the Nazis' war codes. | 9/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 67: Israel's street sign vigilantes, learning Hindi, and your brain on language | This week, a mom-and-pop effort to restore Arabic script to street signs in Israel. Also, author Katherine Russell Rich on learning Hindi at a language school in Rajasthan. Her book "Dreaming in Hindi" is also an investigation into what happens to our brains when we learn a learn a language. Plus, a somewhat shameful expression in Spanish. | 9/7/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 66: Rosetta Stone: the method behind the hype, a spelling bee with a twist, and Hillary's Congo adventure | This week, the rise and rise of Rosetta Stone. With big government contracts and a huge advertising campaign, Rosetta Stone is now American's #1 language teacher. If you learn the Rosetta Stone way, you'll absorb a language an infant does. Well, that's the theory. Also, non-native English speakers from around the world take part in an English Spelling Bee in New York. And, Hillary Clinton's not-so-lost-in-translation moment in Kinshasa, Congo. | 8/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 65: New rhetoric on Israeli settlements, an international libary of children's books, and faux French in Fra | This week, Israel's government tries out some new words to describe its West Bank settlement program. We consider those, and take a look at previous rhetorical attempts to justify Israel's expansion into Palestinian territory. Then, a conversation with the University of Arizona's Kathy Short, who runs a collection of children's books from around the world. Finally, an update on Brooklyn's finest fake French band, Les Sans Culottes. After more than a decade together, the band is finally performing in France. | 8/7/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 64: Diplomatic insults, click languages, Harry Potter in France, and cucumber season | This week, the nuanced -- and sometimes not so nuanced -- world of diplomatic insults: we hurl a few your way, courtesy of Hugo Chavez, Hillary Clinton and Winston Churchill. Then, news of languages that include a large amount of tongue clicks: linguists have figured out how to decipher and classify click from clack, as it were. Then, the Norwegian for silly season (it involves cucumbers). Finally, many French fans of Harry Potter novels read the books in English. | 7/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words July 2009 news: Banning Hungarian, swearing for pain relief, and dog barks translated | Patrick Cox and Clark Boyd select their top five language-related stories from July. Among them: Slovakia passes a law banning Hungarian in official communications in some of its Hungarian-speaking regions; new research seeks to show why babies and toddlers are so adept at learning two languages simultaneously; the trangressive nature of swearing helps when it comes to tolerating pain; and Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy has come up with a device that claims to translate dog noises into human language. But do we ready want to know what pooch is saying? Plus, our favorite hated words | 7/29/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 63: David Crystal's life in language, Nowheristan and Moomin mania | This week, the granddaddy of British linguists David Crystal reflects on a life in language. Crystal is an inclusionist: he welcomes slang and textspeak, for example, into the English language. He recalls that as a young academic he was contacted by a shoe company who placed an order with him for several nouns and adjectives. Also this week, the Moomins: they're as popular in their native Finland as Disney is in the United States. But strange things happen to the Moomins when they are translated into Japanese, Cantonese or English. Finally, we hear from a Lebanese man who has proclaimed himself Emperor of Nowheristan. | 7/22/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 62: Esperanto, Klingon, Blissymbolics and 900 others: why we invent languages | This week, a converation with Arika Okrent, author of "In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build a Perfect Language." Okrent, herself a linguist, tells the stories of people who dreamed up languages that would replace our own bastard tongues. She also submerges herself, Orwell-style, into the geeky world of invented language societies. The vast majority of invented languages from Lingua Ignota (c.1150) to Dritok (2007) have completely failed to take off. But they tell us much about how we think, how we do not think, and how we love to blame language for our own shortcomings. | 7/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 61: More linguist soldiers, a North Korean TV ad, foreign thank yous, and what to call a beach in Ghana | This week, why a Pentagon program to recruit more foreign language-speaking soldiers is attracting so many Koreans. Then selling beer North Korean style. After that we give thanks to activist listeners in Gagauz, Tongan, Czech and many other languages. Finally, as Barack Obama heads to Ghana, we head to a beach in Ghana, a beach whose name is hotly debated. | 7/9/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 60: Pentagon still kicking out linguists, Ukraine's Soviet names, and "I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears" | The Obama Administration is moving to boost foreign language speakers at the State Department and the CIA. But at the Pentagon there's a problem: the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy has resulted in early discharge for more than 300 linguists, including 60 Arabic speakers. Also today, Ukraine wants to change the names of cities named after Soviet heroes, many of them Russian. And a conversation with Jag Bhalla, collector of foreign language idioms. | 7/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words June 2009 news: Iran and translation, a search engine is sick in Chinese, and a drug ring's Arabic dialects | Patrick Cox and Carol Hills select the top five language-related stories from June. Among them: Google translation gets to work on the streets of Teheran; Microsoft's choice of Bing as the name for its search engine to rival Google may not go down well in China; a music festival in Quebec runs afoul of language sensitivies; and a drug ring in Pennsylvannia uses Iraqi Arabic dialects in its communications. | 6/25/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 59: Bilingual romance in Paris, "whatever" in Mexico, and the fog of Pentagon acronyms in Afghanistan | First, an interview with Vanina Marsot, whose new novel "Foreign Tongue" is about French, English, being bilingual, and translation. It also includes more false cognates than you can hurl a dictionary at, a racy story within a story, and lots of French attitude. Then, a quick detour to Mexico to learn about a Spanish expression that's favored there. And finally to Afghanistan, where Pentagon acronyms are the lingua franca. | 6/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 58: Linguists trash English word count, speaking Uighur in Bermuda, and steady lah! The delights of Singlish | A nice linguistic fight to start with this week: a Texas organization is claiming that the English language has just gained its millionth word. Linguists say it's a publicity stunt. Then it's on to Singlish, a hybrid tongue that Singaporeans speak among themselves, much to the consternation of their famously fussy government. Finally, as the US releases some Chinese Uighurs from Guantanamo, a look at the Uighur language. | 6/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 57: Obama in Arabic, microblogging in China, bilingual politics in Belgium, and Bangla hip hop in NYC | This week, how President Obama's big speech to the Muslim world was translated, officially by the State Department, and less officially by news outlets. Also, ahead of elections in Belgium, we hear from the leader of Belgium's first and only bilingual political party. Then, Chinese microbloggers battle government censors. Finally, Bangladeshi hip hoppers rediscover their Bengali voices in New York City. | 6/5/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 56: The language of Guadeloupe and Martinique, Spanish unity and disunity, and teaching English in France pa | This week, two takes on language teaching in France. First, a couple of Paris high schools have started teaching Antillean creole. Then, part two of Patrick's conversation with American Laurel Zuckerman who wanted to teach high school English. Zuckerman fought the French education establishment- and guess who won? We then consider an Arabic word beloved by Saudi Arabia's morality police. Finally, Spain unites over a soccer victory, but remains divided over which songs best represent the spirit of the nation. | 5/29/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words May 2009 news: Facebook's new Indian languages, bilingual politics in Belgium, and a new development in lip- | Patrick Cox and Carol Hills select the top five language-related stories from May. Among them: the strongest challenger to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is campaigning in his native Turkish Azeri; you can now update, poke and unfriend on Facebook in six more languages, all spoken in India; and British researchers are developing software that would not only lip-read, but also determine the language being spoken from soundless video images. | 5/28/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 55: Teaching English in France, Sri Lanka's language gap and what constitutes potato-ness | When Laurel Zuckerman tried to become an English teacher in France, she assumed that being a native English speaker would be an advantage. The book she wrote about her experience caused a sensation in France. Also, the linguistic underpinnings of Sri Lanka's just-concluded civil war. Plus, a Sinhala word that succinctly describes how many teeth you still have, and why "potato-ness" may decide a product's tax status. | 5/22/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 54: Two Americans who loved French, Star Trek dubs, and Germans misquote Churchill | We begin with two Americans who fell in love with French. American GI Alan Cope loved the language so much he stayed in France after end of World War Two. He lived there for the rest of his life. Anne Ishii also put in some time in France, and used her prowess with the language to date a succession of French men. Also, Star Trek and how the original Captain Kirk et al sound in several European languages. Plus, the German predilection for making up quotes and attributing them to Winston Churchill. | 5/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 53: The language of food: a food greeting in China, a food fight in Cyprus, and Slovak dumplings | How would you prefer to spend your evening...memorizing Russian declensions and conjugations...or chowing down on some pelmeni and shaslyk? Let's face it, sampling another culture's cuisine is a whole lot easier than learning a foreign language. But food and how it's viewed from one culture to the next is far from simple. Is it to ward off starvation, or to show off sophistication? We take a cooking class in Beijing that draws on recent Chinese history. Then we go to Cyprus, where local Turks and Greeks are claiming sole ownership of the dishes both love. And then, what happens to the simple Eastern European dumpling when capitalism replaces communism? It gets garnished with sprig of parsley and costs ten times as much. | 5/8/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 52: A dingo ate my language, a Latin mystery solved, and Comrade Fatso | The language that gave English the words dingo and boomerang has been extinct for more than a century. But that's not stopping one Australian school from teaching it. A better known language that refuses to die, Latin, lives on in the dummy texts of book and web designers. But who wrote the most famous Latin dummy text? Also, the music and poetry of bilingual Zimbabwean Comrade Fatso. | 4/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 51: The CIA's foreign language deficit, a linguistic fantasy island, and learning Hawaiian in song | Add this to the CIA's troubles: the agency is nowhere near multilingual enough. Despite urging from Congress and the 9/11 Commission, the CIA remains overwhelmingly English-only. Also, what Hollywood might make of one linguist's social experiment: he proposed marooning six families who spoke mutually incomprehensible languages on an uninhabitated island to see if they would create a new language. Finally, Hawaiian language lessons from musician Keali'i Reichel. | 4/24/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 50: Obama's pirate talk, why you shoudn't criticize Thailand's king, and silly British pub names | In Thailand's political chaos, there's one thing that most Thais agree on: their king is untouchable. Now, the Thai government is agressively enforcing a law that prohibits criticism of the monarch. Also this week, recordings of American poets are added to a British archive, British pubs are being given slightly ridiculous new names, and Barack Obama's confusing pirate policy. | 4/17/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 49: A verbless North Korean song, the DMZ linguistic divide, and Obama learns a little Hungarian | Live! From the hermit kingdom! Yes, it's a North Korea special. The Korean language, like everything else on the peninsula has split into two. Our report from inside North Korea features a song whose lyrics fixate on one thing: food. Then we take a look at the linguistic challenges facing North Korean refugees in South Korea. Finally, Barack Obama's adventures in the wonderful world of Hungarian. | 4/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 48: Le Petit Nicolas, how to start a foreign language Wikipedia, and the many meanings of yoga | Stretch, breathe, and connect...or something. Yoga - the word and the practise - carry different meanings in India than in the United States and elsewhere. A new movie, "Enlighten Up!" investigates, at times hilariously. Also this week, the French schoolboy who created a whole language for kids turns 50. And part two of our conversation with Wikipedia historian Andrew Lih. He argues that American politicos write many more manipulative wiki-articles than their Chinese counterparts...and he reveals why there is, shockingly, no Wikipedia in Montenegrin. | 4/2/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 47: Americans learn Spanish in Mexico, Obama speaks Spanish on Univision, Sarkozy's trashy French, and forei | We begin with President Obama's improving Spanish on display on Univision. Then we take a trip to a language school in Mexico to hear about changes in Spanish-language learning. Then it's to France, where traditionalists are horrified at President Sarkozy's gutter talk. Finally a conversation with author and wikipedian Andrew Lih on why foreign language wikipedias are so different from the English version. | 3/27/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 46: Words of comfort in discomforting times, a ban on jargon, and Yiyun Li's exquisite English | In Britain, the economic crisis may be worse than in the United States. Brits are just about keeping their upper lip stiff with the help of a revived World War Two slogan. Also in the UK, an association of local officials wants to ban government jargon; under threat, some of these phrases seem lyrical and worth keeping, not unlike brutalist architecture. Finally, Yiyun Li, a Chinese-born novelist who writes, beautifully, in English. Her first novel, "The Vagrants" has just been published. | 3/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 45: Hillary's Russian lesson, the decline of Pakistan's national language and Canadian English spelling | Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been circling the globe, hitting the reset button on America's foreign relations. But then someone at the State Department tried - and failed - to translate "reset" into Russian. Now the Kremlin is urging more Americans to learn Russian. Also this week, middle class Pakistanis prefer English to Urdu...and the historical roots and enduring appeal of spelling the Canadian English way. | 3/12/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 44: Haruki Murakami's fans, a kanji-holic and kwassa kwassa | This week, we check out a claim that with the aid of a super-computer, it's possible to predict which words will become extinct in a few centuries. We also have a report on the extraordinarily devoted fans of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. That's followed by a conversation with Eve Kushner, a devoted fan of those Japanese characters known as kanji. Finally, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig on his favorite phrase out of Africa: kwassa kwassa. | 3/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 43: Slumdogging in Hindi, Hillary grapples with Indonesian and Arabic America | As Hollywood embraces Hindi, we ask why so many recent Oscar-nominated movies include non-English dialogue. Also, Hillary Clinton grapples with Indonesian, Irish cops grapple with Polish, and UNESCO upsets Cornish speakers by declaring their language extinct. Finally, two items on Arabic in America: the centuries-old roots of Arabic in the United States, and teaching Arabic through song. | 2/26/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 42: UNESCO's language push, Welsh in the workplace, and the inside story of Jamaica's unofficial anthem | We're in the final days of the International Year of Languages (it's also the end of the International Year of the Potato, but that's another story). We find out how the year has been observed and whether minority languages are any better protected as a result. Then we check in on one big success story: Welsh. Once endangered, Welsh is now spoken by more than 600,000 people. Then, a story on how Brazilians in Massachusetts - many of them undocumented - are clamoring to learn English. Finally, the history of Jamaica's unofficial national anthem, Bob Marley's "One Love". | 2/19/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 41: Speed-dating 37 languages, a woman's voice during ovulation and a chant from Cameroon | Forget humans. Why not date a language? That's what Keith Brooks is doing. He's checking out 37 languages with a view to getting serious with one of them -- after he's played the field a bit. Also, strange things happen to the pitch of women's voices during ovulation. Plus, we chow down sideways with a Yiddish word, and hear the tale of the chant from Cameroon that's been popularized by Michael Jackson and Rihanna. | 2/13/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 40: Washington's new tone, Updike's French Africa, and Benicio del Toro's many Spanishes | We begin with reaction from the Arab world to Barack Obama's embrace of a language of "respect" toward Muslims. Then, we accompany a group of Upper Midwest dairy farmers on a trip to Mexico, where they learn the languages and culture - and meet the families of their Mexican employees. After that, we take a tour of Latin America's many Spanish dialects with actor Benicio del Toro ("Che"). And finally we consider one of John Updike's lesser-known books, "The Coup." It's set in a fictional West African state that is obsessed with French language and culture. | 2/4/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 39: Persian news, Persian jokes and Persian spies | This podcast is 100 percent Persian. Consider it a primer for the Obama Administration as it sizes up Iran's leaders. First, a report on the BBC's new Persian language TV station. Then Persian-language radio from the Voice of Israel. After that, a profile of Iranian-American spy novelist Salar Abdoh. We round things off with writers Firoozeh Dumas ("Laughing Without an Accent") and Azar Nafisi ("Reading Lolita in Teheran" and "Things I've Been Silent About"). | 1/28/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 38: Obama's inaugural rhetoric, the end of the "war on terror" and a French-Arabic mashup | We kick off with linguist and blogger Mark Liberman's take on President Obama's inaugural address. Then, a report on whether the disappearance of the term "war on terror" in post-Bush Washington will result in policy changes. Then a little something on language learning: incoming Presidents often try - and fail - to get Americans to learn a second language. Finally an inventive piece of Algerian slang that mixes Arabic and French. | 1/20/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 37: George Bush's Greeneland doppelganger, Bushisms Bollywood-style, and Ghanaian anthems | As George W. Bush becomes a private citizen again, we consider his legacy by means of a name he once cited: Alden Pyle, a fictional CIA officer dreamed up by Graham Greene in "The Quiet American." Also, a new Indian mockumentary focuses on Bush's blunders, verbal and otherwise. Finally, the national anthems of Ghana -- the official one that sounds oh-so-British and the unofficial one that everyone loves. | 1/15/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 36: Braille, the Hebrew word for realignment, France's new language test and a Franglais band | Two hundred years after Louis Braille was born, the writing system he invented for the blind is still going strong. Also, the Israeli government has trouble translating a Hebrew word meant to convey withdrawal without any defeatist connotations. Plus, two French items: a new language test that would-be French citizens must take, and Brooklyn's very own faux French band, Les Sans Culottes. | 1/7/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 35: A loaded word, an overused word and the words that defined 2008 | The word denier usually follows the word Holocaust. Can we re-invent it and speak of global warming deniers? Or will it always be associated with the Nazi genocide? Then there's the term 9-11. After the Mumbai attacks, is it useful or crass to speak of India's 9-11, or Spain's, or Britain's? Finally, the top words of 2008, according to the Global Language Monitor. | 12/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 34: Learning Japanese for the manga and anime | In Japan, the economic bubble may have burst but the pop culture bubble is still expanding. In this week's cast, first a report on how American teens are learning Japanese so they can read manga and watch anime in the original language. Then a brief history of manga, including a visit to the Tezuka studio's vault. Finally, the perils of translating manga - a conversation with translator Anne Ishii. | 12/18/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 33: Does being bilingual give you a split personality? And skirt-and-blouse politics in Ghana | The focus this week is on language and personality. Does Barack Obama's bilingual nominee for Commerce Secretary Bill Richardson have an English-speaking personality and a Spanish-speaking personality? A prominent bilingual scholar says many people develop differently depending on which language they're using. Also, Mexican-American singer Julieta Venegas is bilingual but she sings in only one language, and the strange shorthand of Ghanaian electoral politics. | 12/10/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 32: The Bible in Jamaican patois and Rotten English | First this week, the Bible is being translated into Jamaican patois. For some, it'll bring the scriptures alive; for others it's just not how the word of God ought to sound. Then a longish segment on English that's so bad, it's rotten. Whether spoken by Joe Strummer, Linton Kwesi Johnson or Louise Bennett, this is the language of oppression, rebellion and revenge. It can sound more raw and authentic than the Queen's English, but it's often just as refined. | 11/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 31: Shakespeare's appeal, Milton's linguistic inventions and a Japanese naming ceremony | Which dead old writer coined the words eyeball, premeditated and jaded?Which one came up with embellish, sensuous and intervolve? (OK, so they didn't all catch on.) And which one kept a diary - now online in blog form - whose most popular entry is One Egg? It's part one of our look at writers who have expanded the English language. Also, the Japanese word yokomeshi helps us name our segment on foreign words that defy translation.> | 11/20/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 30: One Bolivian language goes digital, another works in road rage situations, and Zulu hip hop | We kick off with a look at how open source software is helping Bolivia's Aymara language enter the digital age. Then, a nice turn of phrase in another Bolivian language, Quechua, as used by someone's grandmother in moments of road rage. Finally, two South African hits - a proposed pledge of allegiance that has everyone in a tizzy, and a short history of South African hip hop. | 11/13/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 29: Misleading war metaphors, Rwanda rejects French, and the crimes of Franglais | We kick off the Globama era with a discussion of how we micharacterise wars, especially how and when they end. Did the American Civil War end at Appomattox in April 1865 or at the ballot box in November 2008? Also, we examine why Rwanda is switching its language of instruction from French to English. Finally, we discover how French words often lose their original meaning when co-opted by English speakers. Think double entendre. Think en suite. | 11/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 28: Pinata politics, the Chinese-American generation gap and the bilingualism industry | An explanation of pinata politics-- and why that approach won't work on election day. Then the political and linguistic divide between Chinese immigrant voters and their Chinese-American offspring. Then two hits on speaking two languages: Oregon votes on bilingual education, while more American parents chose to raise their children bilingually. We round off the cast with a tough-to-translate French phrase. | 10/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 27: A-Z of the U.S. Presidential election, part dos | This week, it's the second half of our presidential election alphabet. Which means nuclear energy, Spanish language ads, Chinese language ballots, and the Canadian who wishes he were American. Maybe only on election day. | 10/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 26: A-Z of the U.S. Presidential election, part one | This week and next, we're alphabetizing the presidential election campaign. A is for Auma, B is for Bangladesh -- and you'll have to listen to the podcast to hear the rest. Among the issues: Islam, political cliches, and foreign versions of Joe Six-Pack. | 10/21/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 25: Negotiating in Arabic, Arab-American writers and the Arabization of The Simpsons | It's Arabic week at The World in Words. First, how Arabic and Hebrew both help and hinder Middle East negotiations. Then, Arab-American writers and the words they have to use post 9/11. Finally, The Simpsons gets an Arabic language makeover -- and a cultural makeover too. That plus our inauguaral hard-to-define foreign word segment (a title for this please, listeners...). | 10/15/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 24: The Joy of Spanglish, and a Swedish-American spat on insularity | We have two takes on Spanglish this week, along with many fine examples of America's fastest-growing language. First, Ilan Stavans explains why he is translating Don Quixote into Spanglish. Then, Bill Santiago explains why he delivers much of his stand-up comedy in Spanglish. In non-Spanglish news, we consider the charge from a Nobel Lit Prize judge that American writers are too insular...because they don't read enough translated fiction. | 10/7/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 23: Endanger this! Losing and saving languages, plus Tingo | We start with a US-funded attempt to revive a mountain language in Central Asia. Then a conversation with Mr Endangered Languages, Peter Austin. Finally we hear about the meanings of some fantastically original foreign words. Don't you wish that English had a word for an interferer at a card game who gives unwanted advice? | 9/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 22: Teaching your kid to read in Urdu and teaching yourself to sing in Spanish | We get all PC on this week's cast as we ask: did ESPN's Tony Kornheiser offend Spanish speakers on Monday Night Football? Then we chat with Anneke Forzani, founder of Language Lizard, a dual-language book distributor. (And yes, you really can read Hansel and Gretel in Urdu.) Finally, we check in with singer Dan Zanes who learned Spanish so he could sing the songs on his latest album, Nueva York. | 9/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 21: Translating the untranslatable, and Mel Brooks and the Odessa connection | Forget tough love, how about tough translation? We ask a translator of recently-deceased novelist David Foster Wallace how he rendered Infinite Jest into German. Then a segment on translating poetry, and the message seems to be: go ahead and mess with the meaning, but don't rupture the rhythm. Then a take on war zone translators from Dexter Filkins of the New York Times. Finally, a trip to Odessa, alleged spiritual home of Jewish Humor. | 9/16/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 20: Scottish Gaelic, Scots and the Arabic for hockey mom | A celtic cast today, topped with an Arabic primer from the campaign trail. US-based Al Jazeera TV correspondent Abderrahim Foukara talks about the challenges of translating some words and concepts of American presidential politics. Among the toughest: maverick and superdelegate (hockey mom is easy). Then it's Scottish Gaelic: the BBC is launching is launching a new Gaelic TV service this month. We consder that and other efforts to reverse the decline of the language, and we drop in on a Gaelic class at Harvard. Finally we listen in on speakers of Scots, that much-maligned dialect that may or may not be a language. Language or not, it is hugely expressive. | 9/9/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 19: English-only golf, Orwell's blog and writing in a foreign language | Two newsy items top the podcast: Wasilla, Alaska, hometown of John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, and the LGPA's decision to ban profesional female golfers who don't speak English. Then we have a report on George Orwell's "blog" followed by a segment on two Bosnian novelists who write in foreign languages. Finally, we wrap our ears around everyone's favorite Icelandic insult. | 9/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 18: French in the past, present and future, immigrant slang and Rachid Taha | It's an all-gallic lineup this week. First I wax unlyrical on the French language and American politicians. Then we hear why French is growing in global importance, at least according to a couple of Canadians. We stay in Canada after that to check in on the Quebec provincial government's efforts to get immigrants to learn French. Then it's on to the banlieues of Paris, where street talk that mixes several languages has resulted in a new dictionary. And finally we hear from French-Algerian pop star Rachid Taha on the challenges of singing in Arabic. | 8/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 17: global swearology, Georgian polyphony and a nonsense song | For blogger Stephen Dodson (languagehat.com), swearing is liberation. And the more languages you can swear in, the more liberated you'll feel. Dodson is the co-author of a new book on global cursing, and we feature an interview with him. Also this week, the story of YouTube sensation (now that's a 2008 cliche) Peter Nalitch, a Russian who sings nonsense English. And we'll hear from a group of Georgian choral singers. They're part of a revival of Georgian-language hymns and folk songs following decades of Soviet repression. It's some of the most hauntingly beautiful music I've ever heard. | 8/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 16: naming your child, Senegalese scrabble and "um" | Why is Ghana's most famous citizen Kofi Annan so named? Hint: if he'd been born on a different day he might have been called Kwame. Plus, in New Zealand a judge has allowed a 9-year-old girl to change her name from Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii. In parts of Honduras, the name Radiator is popular. Yup, it isn't just in the United States where people are given ridiculous names. Also, in this podcast why the Senegalese love scrabble, and a conversation with Michael Erard, author of "Um," a book about slips, stumbles and verbal blunders. | 8/12/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 15: China's mad about English and everyone's mad about Chinglish | Learning English is all the rage in China right now. We have several items on how the Chinese are struggling to learn English: many struggle more than learn. We ask whether China's emerging English profiency will mean an end to those poor but funny translations known as Chinglish. We also discover that you can commit some seriously juicy Chinglish in reverse form, from English to Chinese. | 8/5/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 14: Chinese script, dialects and patriotic names | With the Olympics just a couple of weeks away, Chinese national pride is peaking. What better way to express that than name your one - and probably only - child Olympic Games? We get the lowdown on that, as well as on China's many languages and dialects. Plus, there's something else we can blame on computers: Chinese people are forgetting how write the script of their own language. | 7/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 13: chants, applause and faux Esperanto | It's non-verbal language this week. The chants, grunts and rhythms of a crowd, and why one refrain in a White Stripes song has become so popular among European soccer fans. Also, the language of applause...and the deeply weird story about the TV ad in Esperanto - except it wasn't Esperanto. | 7/21/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 12: official English, unofficial Spanish, campaign songs and the French word for podcast | We hit the Presidential campaign trail this week. John McCain has an awkward moment with a voter who wants Spanish banned. Barack Obama has to deal with charges that he would force Americans to learn Spanish. Also, from 70s rock to reggaeton: the unofficial campaign songs of the Presidential candidates. And French and English exchange a few words. Some French people now say "boss" and "one-to-one." But English-speaking Quebecers say "cinq-a-sept" and "valoriser." | 7/15/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 11: living dictionaries and a singing ambassador | It's official: "muffin top" now has its own entry in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. This week, we consider several new words, or new meanings of old words, that have found their way into the Concise OED. We also talk with writer Charlotte Brewer about how the OED tries to keep up with the ever-evolving English language. And we hear from two Americans who perform in foreign languages: the first is a singing ambassador, the second is a rapper Y-Love. | 7/8/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 10: free speech special from Singapore, China and the U.S. | With a nod to July 4th, we check in on a quintessential American value: free speech. President Bush says it's a foreign policy priority. Well, actually, it's not when it comes to U.S. ally Singapore. We also take a look at a bill in Congress called the Global Online Freedom Act. And we spend some time with a Pakistani-American family living in Phoenix, AZ, who together have written "The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook." That and a tribute to George Carlin. | 6/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 9: English and Textperanto go global | The English language has been expanding its reach since, well, long before those Mayflower men hit an American rock. Recently, English has made inroads in post-Soviet Russian, much to the consternation of many there. In neighboring Estonia, everyone's so busy learning English that they have forgotten that they are right next to Mother Russia. Then there's Sol Steinmetz, a man of many tongues. Several decades ago, he was a boy of many tongues: he learned Hungarian, then Yiddish, then Spanish, then English. He still speaks all those languages, but he feels most comfortable speaking English. There are, of course, global rivals to English but Esperanto is most assuredly not one of them. Now there's a new Esperanto for the text messaging generation. Someone in our newsroom said it should be called Textperanto. Alas, no: its name is NOL. | 6/23/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 8: words about Iraq, terror and basketball | The evolving language of George W. Bush's foreign policy: we take a look at how his descriptions of Iraq and the "war on terror" have changed over the years. We also hear about a few words the President wishes he hadn't used. And finally, we consider the Boston Celtics' embrace of the Zulu concept of "ubuntu." | 6/17/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 7: jokes from near and far, and how one Finnish word sparked a global movement | The language of humor: is German humor really an oxymoron? Are Soviet jokes still funny? Why does the comedy of say, The Office overcome language barriers while other, sometimes cleverer, humor remain imprisoned within its own language? Also, how two video artists turned an obscure Finnish word meaning "complaints choir" into a worldwide phenomenon. | 6/9/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 6: cluster bombs, bomblets and Arizona's language wars | As 111 nations agree to ban cluster bombs, we consider the meanings of term "cluster bomb." Also, we begin an occasional series on Arizona's noisy battles over language and immigration: English is the official language, but Spanish is washing across the border. We'll hear from from undocumented high schoolers, and from Arizona writer Tom Miller. | 6/2/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 5: Americans' language-learning adventures abroad and the linguistic sensitives of a Eurotrashy song contest | The Bush Administration now offers grants for Americans to study languages such as Arabic. We travel to Cairo where language schools are full of American students. Also, a conversation with self-described language fanatic Elizabeth Little. And a journey through the linguistic politics - and just plain silliness - of the Eurovision Song Contest. | 5/26/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 4: a teenager, two linguists and the US Congress revive dying languages | Languages are dying out faster than ever, and no-one seems to know quite what to do about it. But that's not stopping a Chilean teen from teaching himself Selk'nam, previous considered a dead language. It's not stopping two American linguists whose attempts to document endangered languages is the subject of a new movie. And it's not stopping Gullah-Geechee speakers from the southeastern United States from enlisting federal support in their bid to ensure the suvival of their language. | 5/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 3: creating linguistic history on a desert island, and Israel's Seinfeld connection | In this edition of The World in Words, linguist Derek Bickerton talks about his lifelong love of creoles and his attempt to create a new language on a desert island. Also former speechwriter Gregory Levey on how he nearly got an Israeli prime minister to channel Seinfeld. | 5/12/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 2: Russian names, Putinisms and a diplomatic mistranslation | In this edition of The World in Words: Russian. What names like Putin, Stalin and Medvedev mean. Also, outgoing President Putin likes to quote Russian poetry - as much as seems to enjoy coarse street language. We end with the confessions of a hopelessly unqualified Israeli government speechwriter. | 5/5/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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The World in Words 1: two national anthems and IKEA-speak | On the debut podcast of The World in Words, the power of language: Spain tries, and fails, to set words to its national anthem. South Africa's anthem has words but they're in so many different languages that very few people understand them. And the pseudo-language of Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA sounds harmless, unless you're Danish. | 4/28/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 175 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Highly, highly recommend to anyone
Love this one. It always leaves me with a sense of awe and a feeling of admiration with humanity and all its little cultural quirks. I have a horrid addiction to listening/reading (no longer watching, thank God) the news, and this podcast is the perfect antidote to the overwhelmed/bitter aftertaste left from that. The podcast's host is perfect and I wish he hosted more podcasts, since most tend to talk in a disinterested and humorless way, as though the subject matter bears no relevence to them. This podcast gives the listener a delight for the knowledge gained, like your favorite high school history teacher. Seriously, give it a listen.
A fascinating and enlightening podcast!
As a polyglot and educator, I enjoy "The World in Words" podcast. It is endlessly fascinating, well produced and, dare I say, educational. I'm glad I ran across this podcast by accident; there have been several stories I've used in my classroom to the benefit of my students. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Bravo, Mr. Cox
Simply incredible. The dazzling array of languages and the evolution of the spoken word discussed is enthralling and captivating. A logophile's dream, "The World in Words" encapsulates the spirit of the nature of language as a whole, delving deep into English, foreign languages, and newly invented languages, to probe and dissect idioms, ultimately showcasing the unity AND diversity of our changing world at large. Bravo!
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