Welcome back to episode 62, everybody! It's time to get REAL NERDY and examine some language isolates. Let's go on a trip around the world to learn about Burushaski in Pakistan and India, Mapuche in Chile and Argentina, and -- of course -- Basque in Spain and a bit of France. We'll explore the culture … Continue reading Episode 62: Amazing Language Isolates
Languages change all the time from lots of different forces, and one of those forces is migration! Let's talk about it.
The year of the pig will soon be upon us! This year's Lunar New Year falls on February 5th, and we are helping you to prepare by bringing you traditions from all over Asia. Lunar New Year, otherwise known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday of many cultures that … Continue reading Episode 35: Lunar New Year
Iceland -- is it in North America or Europe? Is it a land, or made of ice? Why doesn't Björk seem to have a last name? These are all questions. Do we answer them? Maybe. But we definitely talk about the Icelandic language: an anomaly among languages, this baby has been consistent for forever (OK, … Continue reading Episode 28: Icelandic
It's time for some heavy nerding-out, y'all. This week is a continuation of one of our most popular episodes (#16), the Evolution of English, Part 1. In Part 2, we look at Shakespearean English: was it really similar to American English? The answer is a bit less straightforward than the rumor-spreaders would have you believe! … Continue reading Episode 25: The Evolution of English, Part 2
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need to go to the hospital while you've been traveling outside of your home country? We certainly have! Join us for a discussion of hospitals abroad and what you can expect in the scary case that you end up needing medical attention. Also, ever wondered … Continue reading Episode 14: Getting Sick While Traveling
In this episode, we really let our inner language nerds shine as we talk about mistranslations! After sharing some personal encounters with bad translations on the metro, in restaurants, and in stores, we go on to talk about why good translation is so difficult to achieve. We even find out that poor translation has actually … Continue reading Episode 12: Translation Fails
Rachel and Patrice asked some friends to give a first-hand account of what it's like to grow up in a city where more than one language is spoken. We take a tour of four different cities around the world, and listen to what they have to say. From Miami in the USA, Marla talks about … Continue reading Episode 7: Bilingual Cities
In this episode, Rachel and Patrice explore various ways in which body language differs from one culture to another, and talk about ways in which we can easily miscommunicate. Also tune in for hand gestures that can get you into trouble and where not to use them! Some hand gestures that may seem positive to … Continue reading Episode 6: Body Language Across Different Cultures
Patrice and Rachel compare the verbal expressions of emotion and onomatopoeia from eleven different languages! It turns out that while there is a wide spectrum of variation, we seem to have an underlying core reaction when we experience different emotions. For sounds to express things we do, like eating, kissing, or crying, we have some noticeable … Continue reading Episode 4: The Sounds of Emotions Around the World