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Moorish grafitti and texting in Yiddish
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The Alhambra in Grenada, the crowning glory of Moorish Spain, has more than 10,000 prayers and poems in Arabic inscribed on its walls. We hear about an effort to 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 a musician a novelist who are re-interpreting the old language of Eastern Europe’s shtetls for new generations. Download MP3
The BBC’s Koneksyon Ayiti + Yiddish forever
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In the latest World in Words podcast: 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. Download MP3
Packing flashcards, Pandas and Polyglotty Olympics
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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.Download MP3
New York’s polyglot cops, Arabic online, and the planet’s most difficult language
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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.Download MP3
Weird words like whiffling, and the elusive meaning of peace
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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. 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”. Download MP3
Spanish prayers, Hebrew planet names and a Danish hangover
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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
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Paging Dr. Esperanto, and what not to say in Ireland’s parliament
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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.
British English as it is, was, and could have been
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In the latest podcast, an audio archive of British World War One POWs recorded by a German linguist. That’s followed by the story of how British convenience store chain Spar is re-writing wine labels in Scottish, Liverpudlian and other UK dialects. Then, how English might have sounded had the Saxons won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Then, back to the the present day, as an ATM company uses cockney rhyming slang to dispense cash. Finally, American anglophiles on lorries, cricket bats and other linguistic oddities.
Windows 7 in African languages, unfortunate baby names, and the new Klingon
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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.
Understanding Chinese, birds and Glaswegians
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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; 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.
Your brain on language
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, 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.Download MP3
Rosetta Stone: the method behind the hype, a spelling bee with a twist, and Hillary’s Congo adventure
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In this week’s World in Words podcast, 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. Download MP3
Global spellers gather in NYC
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Today in New York City, teenagers from seven non-English-speaking countries competed to become the best speller in English. It was the First Annual Global SpellEvent Championship, organized by Franklin Electronic Publishers. The winner received a scholarship worth $10,000. >>>Click here for more information on the event.
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
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