The World in Words focuses on language. We cover everything from bilingual education to the globalization of English to untranslatable foreign phrases. You’ll learn how to insult someone in Icelandic, among other things. Hosted by The World’s Patrick Cox.
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The World in Words
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
Liberian proverbs, Ajami, and courteous interruptions
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, reporter Jason Margolis judges a competition to determine Liberia’s most inventive proverb. Also, is it a language? No! Is it a dialect? No! It’s Ajami: Arabic script used as a writing system for many African languages. And, language lessons at the United Nations. Download MP3
Speaking in Tongues and Dreaming in Chinese
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, a PBS documentary follows four students and their families at dual immersion schools in San Francisco. 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. Download MP3
Learning in two languages, and new Zulu words
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, a back-to-school edition about learning in a second language. We have stories about English language learning, Arabic language immersion, and the challenges of one Creole-speaking highschooler in New York City. Plus, the first Zulu-English dictionary in 40 years has just been published in South Africa. Download MP3Grammar tips in Brazil, and magic in a second language
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: 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. Download MP3
A Persian insult, an Inuit dialect, and Urdu directions
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, Iran’s leader Mahmoud 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. And getting from Point A to Point B in Urdu, a language that has the same word for “go straight” and “turn right” Download MP3
How do you say refudiate in Belgian?
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: an Israeli-British study shows bilinguals respond differently depending on the language of the questions; Sarah Palin compares her coinage of new English words to Shakespeare’s; and Clark Boyd’s adventures in linguistically confused Belgium. Download MP3
Spy accents, religious signing and not my bad
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In the latest World in Words podcast: 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; and those alleged spies from Russia and their faux Euro/Canadian accents. Download MP3
Spanish, pure and otherwise
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In this week’s World in Words podcast: you can hear Latin America’s clearest, crispest Spanish in Colombia. So, Bogota is now home to everything from call centers to telenovela production houses. Also, what the spread of Spanish in the United States is doing to both the language and 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.Download MP3
Globish, and faux Facebook fans
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, 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 world. Also, health care access for non-English speakers in the United States. Plus, a conversation with Gregory Levey, whose book “Shut Up I’m Talking” has more Facebook fans than Bill Clinton. Download MP3
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