iPhone App Helps With Incomprehensible Dialect

The Geo Quiz visits a town only about 30 miles from Manchester, yet the local dialect can be pretty incomprehensible to the folks in Manchester.

The Bilingual Brain

I have always considered myself a linguistic mutt. I grew up speaking Bengali (my mother tongue), Hindi (India’s national language), and English (a legacy of India’s colonial past). So I was thrilled to learn that the 2011 annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) had a session on bilingualism. It was titled “Crossing Borders in Language Science: What Bilinguals Are Telling Us About Mind and Brain.”

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.
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Genders, 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

Grammar 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

Northern exposure

We meet a linguistic anthropologist on his way to a remote northern Inuit community on the shore of a huge island that’s almost completely covered in ice.

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

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

Turkish, Stalin, and just say non!

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

Language adoption, and the future of spelling

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, an attempt to get Belgians to adopt families online from across that country’s language divide. Also, in Montenegro, the government is promoting what it calls the Montenegrin language, formerly considered a dialect of Serbo-Croatian. Plus, a discussion on what happens to spelling in the age of Spell Check and Google.
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In every word, a microhistory

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In this week’s World in Words podcast, Anamika Veeramani won the National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word “stromuhr”. It’s one of many English words in the contest that sound decidedly unEnglish. After a report on that, we speak with David Wolman, whose book “Righting the Mother Tongue” traces the anarchic evolution of English spelling. English is barely policed: foreign words, often with foreign spelling intact, migrate unhindered into the language. Download MP3

Hard to say

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For today’s Geo Quiz let’s shift from “hard to spell” words to “hard to say” geographic names. We’re looking for candidates for the world’s longest place names…. Download MP3

Bilingual tots and the language of smell

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We hear from a Jerusalem-based journalist who is sending his kid to Arabic/Hebrew bilingual preschool. Also, a Seattle rabbi visits the Cairo Genizah, and explains why so many sacred Jewish texts were written in Arabic. 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. Download MP3

Tribal tradition, an oral language and the Bible

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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.
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Ach, du liebe Zeit!

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Writer Jen Percy is dating a German-speaking man. She’s found that the language of love is not, as advertized, universal: expressing her love in German is fraught with linguistic confusion. Download MP3

• The World in Words
• Mark Twain’s ‘The Awful German Language’
• From the BBC: Cool German