Haruki Murakami’s fans, confessions of a kanji-holic, and kwassa kwassa

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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. Also, 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.

Banning Hungarian, swearing for pain relief, and dog barks translated

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In the latest World in Words podcast, 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! Download MP3

David Crystal’s life in language, Moominmania and Nowheristan

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In this week’s The World in Words podcast, 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. Download MP3

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. Listen

More linguist soldiers, selling beer in North Korea, and 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. Listen

Pentagon still kicking out linguists, Ukraine’s Soviet names, and a banquet of foreign idioms

In the lastest podcast, 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. Listen to The World in Words Podcast

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.Listen

Bilingual romance in Paris, “whatever” in Mexico, and the fog of Pentagon acronyms in Afghanistan

Novelist Vanina Marsot’s new novel “Foreign Tongue” is about French, English, being bilingual, and translation. If you’re a fan of false cognates, this one is for you. Also, a Spanish expression beloved by Mexicans, and the Pentagon latest acronyms. Listen

Linguists Trash English Word Count, and Steady Lah! The Delights of Singlish

The delights of Singlish, Singapore’s popular unofficial language. Also, linguists trash a claim that English has gained its millionth word. And does anyone in Bermuda speak Uighur? Listen

Obama dubbed, microblogging in China, bilingual politics in Belgium, and Bangla hip hop in NYC

Obama’s official and unofficial translators, political tweeting in China, a bilingual political party seeks votes in Belgium, and Bangladeshi hip hoppers rediscover their Bengali voices in New York City. Listen

The language of Guadeloupe and Martinique, Spanish unity and disunity, and teaching English in France part 2

This week, the language of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Also, more from an American in Paris and her attempts to teach English there. And Spaniards are divided over which song captures the nation’s spirit. Listen