Babel No More

Babel No More
Author: Michael Erard
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2012-01-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1451628277

A “fascinating” (The Economist) dive into the world of linguistics that is “part travelogue, part science lesson, part intellectual investigation…an entertaining, informative survey of some of the most fascinating polyglots of our time” (The New York Times Book Review). In Babel No More, Michael Erard, “a monolingual with benefits,” sets out on a quest to meet language superlearners and make sense of their mental powers. On the way he uncovers the secrets of historical figures like the nineteenth-century Italian cardinal Joseph Mezzofanti, who was said to speak seventy-two languages, as well as those of living language-superlearners such as Alexander Arguelles, a modern-day polyglot who knows dozens of languages and shows Erard the tricks of the trade to give him a dark glimpse into the life of obsessive language acquisition. With his ambitious examination of what language is, where it lives in the brain, and the cultural implications of polyglots’ pursuits, Erard explores the upper limits of our ability to learn and use languages and illuminates the intellectual potential in everyone. How do some people escape the curse of Babel—and what might the gods have demanded of them in return?

Polyglot: How I Learn Languages

Polyglot: How I Learn Languages
Author: Kat— Lomb
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2008-01-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1606437062

KAT LOMB (1909-2003) was one of the great polyglots of the 20th century. A translator and one of the first simultaneous interpreters in the world, Lomb worked in 16 languages for state and business concerns in her native Hungary. She achieved further fame by writing books on languages, interpreting, and polyglots. Polyglot: How I Learn Languages, first published in 1970, is a collection of anecdotes and reflections on language learning. Because Dr. Lomb learned her languages as an adult, after getting a PhD in chemistry, the methods she used will be of particular interest to adult learners who want to master a foreign language.

The Many Faces of Multilingualism

The Many Faces of Multilingualism
Author: Piotr Romanowski
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2020-10-12
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1501514512

Multilingualism has become an increasingly common global phenomenon especially in the last two decades. Therefore, multilingual programmes have now been regarded as a cornerstone of education systems in many countries around the world. Learning multiple languages helps us plug into a globalised world and strengthen links with a multitude of speakers from a diversified reality we live in. Thanks to the researched cases described in the chapters, further developments aimed at fostering multilingual practices in the contemporary world will be enhanced. The chapters included in the present volume, provide an overview of current theory, research and practice in the field. They deal with such prominent research topics as multilingual education, language policies, language contact, identity of multilingual speakers, to name only a few. The selected chapters focus on the numerous and heterogeneous relations between languages. They also incorporate a series of contextualized studies with diverse research designs applied in different settings across the globe. This volume constitutes a pivotal reference source for the latest scholarly material on multilingualism from twelve different countries. It is a thought-provoking collection that provides a series of rich insights into the way multilingualism is practised in international contexts. It is ideally designed for academics, upper-level students, educators, professionals and practitioners seeking linguistic and pedagogical guidance on multilingualism.

The Language Hoax

The Language Hoax
Author: John H. McWhorter
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2014-04-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0199361606

Japanese has a term that covers both green and blue. Russian has separate terms for dark and light blue. Does this mean that Russians perceive these colors differently from Japanese people? Does language control and limit the way we think? This short, opinionated book addresses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that the language we speak shapes the way we perceive the world. Linguist John McWhorter argues that while this idea is mesmerizing, it is plainly wrong. It is language that reflects culture and worldview, not the other way around. The fact that a language has only one word for eat, drink, and smoke doesn't mean its speakers don't process the difference between food and beverage, and those who use the same word for blue and green perceive those two colors just as vividly as others do. McWhorter shows not only how the idea of language as a lens fails but also why we want so badly to believe it: we're eager to celebrate diversity by acknowledging the intelligence of peoples who may not think like we do. Though well-intentioned, our belief in this idea poses an obstacle to a better understanding of human nature and even trivializes the people we seek to celebrate. The reality -- that all humans think alike -- provides another, better way for us to acknowledge the intelligence of all peoples.

The Polyglots

The Polyglots
Author: William Alexander Gerhardie
Publisher:
Total Pages: 390
Release: 1925
Genre:
ISBN:

From Amourette to Żal: Bizarre and Beautiful Words from Europe

From Amourette to Żal: Bizarre and Beautiful Words from Europe
Author: Alex Rawlings
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2018-09-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0750989661

Fjaka: the sublime state of aspiring to do absolutely nothing. Warmduscher: a 'warm showerer', meaning a bit of a wimp. Tener mano izquierda: literally 'to have a left hand'; to be skilfully persuasive. For all the richness of the English language there are some nuances that other languages capture much better, whether it's a phrase that beautifully articulates a feeling, a wonderfully understated insult that just hits the spot, or a curious idiom. From the melancholic to the funny to the downright peculiar, From Amourette to Żal takes us on a fascinating journey around Europe in twelve languages, celebrating our cultural similarities and differences along the way.

Logodaedalus

Logodaedalus
Author: Alexander Marr
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2019-02-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0822986302

Before Romantic genius, there was ingenuity. Early modern ingenuity defined every person—not just exceptional individuals—as having their own attributes and talents, stemming from an “inborn nature” that included many qualities, not just intelligence. Through ingenuity and its family of related terms, early moderns sought to understand and appreciate differences between peoples, places, and things in an attempt to classify their ingenuities and assign professions that were best suited to one’s abilities. Logodaedalus, a prehistory of genius, explores the various ways this language of ingenuity was defined, used, and manipulated between 1470 and 1750. By analyzing printed dictionaries and other lexical works across a range of languages—Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, English, German, and Dutch—the authors reveal the ways in which significant words produced meaning in history and found expression in natural philosophy, medicine, natural history, mathematics, mechanics, poetics, and artistic theory.

Fluent in 3 Months

Fluent in 3 Months
Author: Benny Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2014-03-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0062282700

Benny Lewis, who speaks over ten languages—all self-taught—runs the largest language-learning blog in the world, Fluent In 3 Months. Lewis is a full-time "language hacker," someone who devotes all of his time to finding better, faster, and more efficient ways to learn languages. Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World is a new blueprint for fast language learning. Lewis argues that you don't need a great memory or "the language gene" to learn a language quickly, and debunks a number of long-held beliefs, such as adults not being as good of language learners as children.

Life as a Bilingual

Life as a Bilingual
Author: François Grosjean
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2021-06-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1108838642

A book on those who know and use two or more languages: Who are they? How do they do it?