Patrick Cox
Consciousness, Poetry, and Bilingual Babies
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, we take a trip inside the mind. Rhitu Chatterjee takes us through some of the recent research into the bilingual brain. Also, theoretical psychologist Nicholas Humphrey gives us his take on consciousness, and why language may be only a small part of it. Then we consider poetry, which offers a bridge between consciousness and language.Download MP3
Language-learning in Europe, and free speech in Tunisia
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: The French government is proposing that children start learning English at age three. Good idea, say some French intellectuals, but why English? In Ireland, the incoming government wants to end mandatory Irish learning in schools. And Anglo-Middle Eastern singer Natacha Atlas is singing about free speech in Egypt and beyond. Download MP3
Pharaohs, Cantonese and the Gang of Four
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: why did British band Gang of Four name themselves after China’s notorious cultural revolutionaries? Also, was Hosni Mubarak Egypt’s last pharaoh? Or is that just a cute turn of phrase? And is Cantonese, once the lingua franca of Chinatowns around the world., imperiled by the steady march of Mandarin?Download MP3
The staying power of English, and Shakespeare in Shona
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: a new book sparks a debate about how long English will rule the world. Also, Shakespeare’s plays will be performed in 38 languages next year in London, plus efforts to eradicate a Colonial-era pidgin still used by South African mineworkers, and to eradicate English words from Russian and Chinese.Download MP3
Beautiful code, ugly fonts, and the architecture of diplomacy
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, new research suggests that hard-to-read typographical fonts may help us remember the ideas they spell out. Also, an exhibit in Silicon Valley traces the origins of the language of computer programming. And the architectural grammar of the U.N. Security Council: the design layout of the council’s chamber and adjourning rooms is considered so important that replicas have been constructed during refurbishment.
Political language before and after Tucson
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: 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?
Teach yourself Ancient Babylonian
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, the man behind a Teach Yourself book on ancient Babylonian. Also, lost medieval songs sung by Louisiana-based descendents of immigrants from the Canary Islands. Plus, the Squamish for a Vancouver park…and the Ashes: a story of cricket, Twitter, and babysitting.
Tuareg tales and the R word
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In this week’s World in Words 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. which among some Americans 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. Download MP3English sources, Italian renaissance, Spanish rebellion
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: With budgets tight at American schools and colleges, and with a growing interest in Chinese, what happens to a language like Italian? 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 and sources.Download MP3
The events of English and the future of Tibetan
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, Tibetans protest over the potential loss of their language in some schools. Also, Spain re-orders its family names (under the new rules General Franco might have been General Bahamonde). Plus, historical events that have shaped the development of the English language. And how do you know when you can speak a language?Download MP3
Supermarket French, Chanson French, and Lyrical Arabic
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, 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 one of the UN Security Council’s most famous resolutions. And we hear from the founders of Meena, an Arabic-English bilingual poetry journal.Download MP3
Voting, vowing and singing in a foreign language
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, we explore when it’s helpful to understand a foreign language, and when it’s essential. 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.Download MP3
The English-only movement in America
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, 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.Download MP3
Aussie English and proper English
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, author Simon Heffer visits a school in his quest to have people speak good English. Also, poet Les Murray describes some delightfully improper expressions used by Australians. And we check in on a language school in India where the teachers have a strong sense of what constitutes proper English. Download MP3Genders, geniuses, and Tamil onomatopoeia
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In the latest World in Words podcast: a new line of Tamil pulp fiction translated into English keeps the magnificent onomatopoeia of the original. Also, new research shows that no matter you much some Germans try, they can’t make their language gender-neutral; and Carol Hill’s adventures with Swedish. Download MP3
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