Multilingualism
A Zine Piece Written in Hawaiian Pidgin
Pages 12-13. Written by a native Hawaiian in [Published on 03-01-2022]
No Béarla
Play videoThis miniseries follows an Irish filmmaker who tries to go about daily life in Ireland without speaking English. Despite Irish being one of the official languages of the Republic of Ireland, a minority of people in Ireland are competent in it. I found it interesting that most people he interacted with seemed very confused as to why he would not just converse in English, especially when he was interacting with someone who didn't speak Irish. People in Ireland clearly do not expect there to be people who speak Irish who don't also speak English. I also find it interesting how Irish people refer to the language's situation. They talk about being competent in Irish as "having Irish", as in "I don't have any Irish".
Mutual Intelligibility between Chinese Dialects
@lisatalk_ talking about intelligibility between Chinese dialects on TikTok [Published on 02-28-2022]
Life of Brian - Latin Lesson - Romans Go Home!
Play video1979's "Life of Brian" comedically depicts the titular main character, played by Graham Chapman, defacing, in Latin, a Roman monument. A Roman centurion, played by John Cleese, stops him and punishes him for his "bad" grammar. The scene is largely a parody of the relationship between English schoolchildren and their teachers. Linguistically, it's interesting as a demonstration of prescriptive norms as well as the representation of different dialects. Cleese's dialect is meant to sound more elevated while Graham Chapman's, who is from Melton Mowbray, north of London, is meant to sound less elevated, which is supposed to add to the comedy. Funnily enough, I think some of Brian's usages correlate with changes that would end up occurring in Latin before it changed into the various Romance languages.
How to learn any language in six months
Play videoThis video told us how to learn a new language in six months. There are five steps to learn a new language. You need to focus on language content that is relevant to you. Then you need to use new language as a tool to communicate with others on the first day. In addition, when you start to understand some message, you will unconsciously acquire the language. Furthermore, you should learn it in happy and relax the situation. In the end, he provides seven actions to help you learn the new language.
Culcha Candela- I like it
Play videoThis is a German band that sings in various codes, this song is an example of code switching between Spanish, German and English. [Published on 03-19-2015]
Barack Obama: Your Children Should Learn To Speak Spanish
Play videoThis is a short clip of a speech by Obama in which he talks about the importance of raising children that speak multiple languages.
9 Languages
Play videoMatthew tells his story about the languages he speaks. He speaks several different languages throughout the clip.
How to learn any language in six months
Play videoThis video tells viewers how to learn a new language in six months. There are five steps to learn a new language. You need to focus on language content that is relevant to you. Then you need to use new language as a tool to communicate with others on the first day. Furthermore, your language learning environment should be a happy and relaxing place. In the end, he provides seven actions to help you learn the new language.
Code-switching in the song "Exotic"
Play videoThis artifact is the song “Exotic” by Priyanka Chopra ft. Pitbull, and this is an example of code-switching because they sing in Hindi and English, which is because of Priyanka Chopra and her Indian roots and her attempt to add some of her culture and language to this song. The song also mentions various cities/countries around the world. Thus, the song’s use of Hindi and English expresses code-switching and shows her reaching out to a larger and more diverse audience.
Code switching
Play videoThis is a video showing a young boy and his sister speaking to each other in Korean. Their father asks the boy some questions in English, and the boy responds to him in English. This is a perfect example of code-switching between the English and Korean languages.
New Yiddish Course on Duolingo
This article touches on the challenges of creating the Yiddish course on the popular language-learning app Duolingo, as well as its importance in exposing more people from the U.S. to Yiddish as a full language instead of a punchline or handful of loan-words. [Published on 04-05-2021]
Black American Sign Language Gains New Interest Thanks to TikTok App
This article (and corresponding video) underscore the recent resurgence of Black American Sign Language. One part that stood out to me was Hill's note on code switching, and the historical context that contributed to some Black deaf people's preference of only using BASL in private settings. [Published on 02-25-2021]
Joe Wong: Building A Wall Didn't Work For China
Play videoThis video describes a linguistic practice from a Chinese comedian called Joe Wong. I think it is very impressive since he does comedy in his second language. This could be categorized into Hong Kong English since his first language is Chinese.
Encounter between two polyglots in 21 languages
Play videoJust a fun video where two people spontaneously meet on the street and discover that they can fluently communicate with each other in 21 languages.
South Africa's University of Pretoria dropped Afrikaans in favor of English as its official language
South Africa's University of Pretoria dropped Afrikaans in favor of English as its official language. A majority of the classes have been taught in Afrikaans, making it very difficult for students, specifically black students, who do not speak the language, to learn and succeed at the university. As a result, all classes will now be taught in English. The hope is that more students will feel welcomed and supported at one of the nations top Universities.
Don Omar - Danza Kuduro ft. Lucenzo
Play videoThe song Danza Kuduro is an example of the effect globalization has had on language. It is sung in both Portuguese and Spanish, with the music video also utilizing English, by Don Omar, a Latin American pop star, and Lucenzo, a French-Portuguese artist. Borrowing from African culture, the kuduro itself is a type of dance that originated in Africa becoming popular in Angola, a Portuguese colony. The song was number one on the charts in Argentina, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, showcasing how the song transcended language barriers and how globalization has impacted language use.
Your Personality Changes When You Change Language
This video talks about those individuals that are multilingual change personalities when they change languages. This video shows in great detail how personalities all around the world are effected by changing languages. The video also talks about how only when a speaker matches their linguistic personality with their new language are they likely to be considered truly multilingual.
Sorry to Bother You and Code Switching
In this article AT McWilliams observes the light the movie _Sorry to Bother You_ brought to code switching. He also observes what code switching really means for African Americans and highlights the importance of more people learning about code switching [Published on 07-25-2018]
The Revival of Ancient Babylonian Language
This article discusses how Dr Martin Worthington, a fellow of St John’s College, has created the world’s first film in the ancient Babylonian language with his Babylonian-speaking students dramatising a folk tale from a clay tablet from 701BC. Since 2000, he has been teaching himself to speak Babylonian and is currently creating a campaign to revive it as a spoken language. Babylonian has "extremely regular structures" and is semitic like the languages that replaced it; Hebrew and Arabic.
Stand By Me - Prince Royce
Play videoReleased in 2010, this version of 'Stand By Me' sung by Prince Royce utilizes code-switching between Spanish and English.
Palabra Mi Amor - A French song that’s mostly English and Spanish!
Play videoThe French band Shaka Ponk is known for their multilingual lyrics, as they code switch in Spanish, French, English, and Esperanto. This song is semi-exceptional as they use more French than in their other songs. (For a song with Esperanto, listen to Eh La Mala Lama Laico). They use a non standard variety of English while singing (copula deletion), and you can also see adoption of English loanwords into their French vernacular.
Tant Que J'ai Soleil (Staring at the Sun - French Version) - MIKA
Play videoA song by French-speaking British artist MIKA, who is known for releasing songs in English, French, and occasionally both, as this example demonstrates. It features examples of inter- and intra-sentential codeswitching and has an all-English counterpart against which it can be compared.
English Conundrums
Play videoThis is a clip from an "I Love Lucy" episode in which a foreign man is having troubles with some English words. It is interesting, because it points out the several different ways one can say -ough. In my opinion, this is a great example why English is considered one of the more difficult languages to learn as a second language.
Hip Hop Artists in China Add American Rap Language and Culture in Their Rap music
Play video“Made in China” is a Chinese rap music. The lyrics contain Chinese and English, and the singers add rhymes of both languages in some words and sentences. Meanwhile, the artists mix Chinese and American hiphop culture together. This song also represents a group of Chinese rappers try to break some traditional “rules” in mainstream culture.
Learning Language Out of Comfort Level
Play videoThis is a clip from an Indian movie 'English Vinglish'. The protagonist, a small snack entrepreneur, secretly enrolls in an English speaking course to stop her husband and daughter mocking her lack of English skills. She goes out of her comfort level and tries to learn new language. This clip shows her newly gained self-confidence and self-respect when she gives a speech in English during a relative's wedding.
How to speak Japanese properly
Play videoThis is a Canadian YouTuber who enjoy learning Japanese. Although this video only 2 minutes long, it shows proper language usage in Japan and see the cultural difference. This video can help people to understand the asian culture, especially how Asian show their etiquette in a formal way. Specifically, in the use of language, the video shows a very complicated sentence to express gratitude, but the expression in English is very simple, just simply say thank you.
The linguistic genius of babies
Play videoThe video basically introduces some of the factors that are important to babies when they are first exposed to languages. And also, it shows us how critical period and puberty play a role in babies language acquisitions.
Diglossia- How Pope Francis Relates
Play videoPope Francis’ native language is Spanish; however, he primarily speaks Italian when he is around other members of the Vatican and in smaller public appearances. The Pope uses High Code of Diglossia while speaking to the public during mass announcements and church mass service; he does this by speaking traditional Latin (as well as Hebrew and Greek) as did those before him. This diglossia of language will remain until further notice, as this has been stated as a stable tradition of the Vatican and Catholic Church. Diversity of language allows Pope Francis the ability to be broadened with those of whom he is addressing at the moment of speaking publicly and in private.
The monolingual mindset: Felicity Meakins at TEDxSouthBankWomen
Play videoThis is a Tedx talk about how linguistics can better inform teaching practices, using the relationship between multi-lingual indigenous children and monolingual English teachers in Australia as an example. While the solutions proposed are quite simple (such as providing teachers with resources about the at-home languages of these children), it just shows how under-informed these teachers can be about where these children are coming from. The talk also briefly addresses the issue of the monolingual argument "These people need to learn English."
I know you Want Me
Play videoThis artifact is of the Song "I know you want me" by Pitbull and is an example of code switching because he uses Spanish and English to sing the song, Pitbull also tries to incorporate his version of the Spanish heritage into the song by switching between Spanish and English to reach out to his audience of both languages.
Nigerian Pidgin Speakers Struggle to Translate a Phrase Into "Proper English"
Play videoThis video shows speakers of Nigerian Pidgin English struggling to translate the phrase “This Ogbono soup too draw” into “proper English.” The video itself is a good example of how pidgin languages can have a majority of lexical features from one language, but cannot be directly translated due to the uniqueness of the created pidgin. The use of the phrase “proper English” in the title also shows the prescriptive ideology of language that the creator of the video possesses by labeling one way of speaking English as the “proper” way.
Ellen Learns Spanish
Play videoThis video displays Ellen DeGeneres on her show called "Ellen" explaining how she has tried to learn Spanish from multiple outlets like Rosetta Stone, books, classes, etc. Although she learned a little bit, she did not get the whole experience and realized that the Spanish language is a community of people that share a set of norms and regularities for interaction by language. Therefore, she asks a famous actor on "Telemundo" to teach her Spanish, because he is a part of the Spanish "community".
Relationship between linguistic fragmentation and social capital
This article analyzes the experiment that finds the relationship between linguistic fragmentation and social capital. Researchers found that the number of language spoken in a country is significantly negatively correlated with social capital. They have concluded that multilingual countries tend to be poorer than those dominated by a single big language. They also concluded that countries with high levels of social capital tends to be richer and tend to proper. They have examined some countries have many languages and relatively high social capital which include America and Canada as immigration destinations that also host to many indigenous languages. The article created a relationship between the results from the experiment and the immigration in which immigrants and their children must master the language of their new countries whether or not they keep their old languages.
Why don't Chinese students speak English
Play videoThe video Why don't Chinese students speak English statements the reasons why Chinese students don’t speak English from the youtubers’ perspective. The video starts with a daily scenario of a few Chinese students speaking Chinese in the elevator. It makes the three American guys feeling awkward because what the Chinese people are talking about. I agree with the claim that that it is easier to solve problems in native language. It ends with a scenario that two Americans try to speak Chinese in an elevator when some Chinese people is present but they finally give up and speak their native language English. This video is related with code-switching and language globalization.
Jacqueline Kennedy's political speech Nov. 21, 1963
Play videoThis film clip showed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy speaking to a Texas Latino audience on November 21, 1963. Three years earlier in the 1960 Presidential campaign, a young Jack Kennedy and his political team recognized the potential of the Latino voters in the Republican held state of Texas. They decided to utilize Jacqueline Kennedy’s fluency in Spanish and a few months before the vote, she spoke to a Texas Latino crowd, persuading them to support her husband. It worked and Kennedy won the race by carrying Texas. Returning to Texas in 1963, President Kennedy allowed his wife to once again take the stage and speak Spanish, the first time a sitting United States President had honored a Hispanic group. The next day, JFK was assassinated in Dallas Texas.
My name is Jose Jimenez
Play video“My name is Jose Jimenez” became a popular catch phrase in America after Hungarian-Jewish descent Bill Dana performed this skit dressed as Santa Claus. Bill Dana utilized humor to soften the racializing stereotypes seen in most portrayals of Latin American men. Using Mock Spanish, the naïve character of Jose Jimenez was seen playing a variety of professions, including a United States astronaut. So popular was the character that Mercury astronaut Alan Shepherd adopted “Jose” as his official code name, and astronaut Jose Jimenez made a “guest appearance” at the 1961 Kennedy Inaugural Gala. In the 1960’s Bill Dana was honored by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for his work as an activist. In 1970 with changing sensitivities concerning Mock Spanish and racial stereotypes, Bill Dana had an “official funeral” to declare Jose Jimenez dead.
Moana - How Far I'll Go
Play videoThis version of the song “How Far I’ll Go” in the 2016 Disney movie, Moana, features a combination of 24 various languages. The clip details code-switching which can be described as the practice of alternating between two or more languages. Typically, code-switching is done in conversation but this example offers a better understanding for monolingual persons as adaptations of this song can be found in nearly any language.
Meet The British Woman Who Sings In Yoruba (Nigerian Language)
Play videoA British woman sings in Yoruba, a language that might shock or surprise other people.
Why Don't We All Speak the Same Language?
A part of Freakonomics' radio series "Earth 2.0" in which they discuss why humans have language and the costs and benefits of people speaking different languages. They also discuss what we should change if we were to "create" Earth again. [Published on 09-13-2017]
Vladimir Putin Speaks English for the International Expositions Bureau
Play videoThis artifact shows Russia´s president Vladimir Putin welcoming the members of the 2013 International Exhibitions Bureau while speaking entirely in English. Putin usually avoids speaking in English even though he is known for knowing enough English to even correct his translators. Speaking English in this welcome video shows his appreciation and respect to the members and guests of the exhibition.
Vin Diesel Says I Am Groot in Multiple Languages
Play videoIn this clip from The Tonight Show, Vin Diesel says the same phrase in multiple languages, as he learned to do for his role in Guardians of the Galaxy. Interestingly enough, the language spoken by his character Groot is one that uses only those three words, with variation in tone that indicates different meanings and emotions.
Mark Zuckerberg speaks fluent Mandarin during Q&A in Beijing
Play videoMark Zuckerberg, the creator and owner of Facebook, speaking fluent Mandarin in a Question and Answer forum. This clip shows how the ability to communicate with people from other parts of the world, in their native tongue can go along way and make a powerful connection.
Multilingual Gibberish
Play videoThis video example is of a woman who grew up speaking different languages. She is multilingual and shows ellen how she can use Gibberish in several different languages. Being able to grow up speaking different languages could be looked at as a huge advantage toward linguistics.
Mexican Slang with Salma Hayek
Play videoThis video is of Mexican, multilingual actress Salma Hayek describing and translating Spanish slang terms into English. She attempts to translate words and phrases literally, but then provides more nuanced and accurate translations. She employs some code-switching in her commentary, and the video helps illustrate elements of Spanish-speaking Mexican identities and speech communities.
4 Reasons to Learn A New Language
There is a video which linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four reasons to learn a new language. Nowadays, increasingly people focus on learning English, the diversity of languages is slowly disappearing. The first reason is culture which language is always associated with it. Also, multilingual people less likely to have dementia than people who only use one language. Moreover, it is interesting for us to learn diverse language. The last but not least, we live such a convenient age which it is easier to learn any languages than before.
Differenze Linguistiche Meme
This meme features the translation of the same word in many different languages. All but one of the translations are usually the same. By comparing the words that sound similar with one that sounds different, the meme promotes the language ideology that the language with the different translation is incorrect. The faces beside the translations are also indexical to ideologies that already exist about the languages in the meme. In the linked image, all of the faces are calm except the one beside the German translation, which is angry. This indexes the common ideology that German is a harsh, angry language.
Die Antwoord's Evil Boy: A Dynamic Crossroad of Language, Culture, and Rap in South Africa
Play videoDie Antwoord is a controversial rap group from Cape Town, South Africa fronted by Ninja Yolandi Vi$$er. Speaking from a post-apartheid perspective, this group offers an underrepresented view of young, lower-middle class, white Afrikaans - a subculture known as "Zef." Historically, Zef has been considered a derogatory term describing someone who was white, poor, and "trashy." However, Die Antwoord and others have looked to transform this into a self-reflective, somewhat satirical, parody that Ninja described as being "apocalyptic debris that we’ve stuck together." In this music video, they display their unique code-switching between Afrikaans and English, as well as Xhosa - the Bantu language of the Xhosa people. Adding to their mixed-bag controversial nature, is the relationship of the Afrikaans languages’ association with apartheid.
Through dynamic language and visual use, this video reflects the complex sociocultural and sociolinguistic interactions that occur in this region. The lyrical narrative told is a statement on the clash between traditional tribal circumcision rituals, and the modern subcultures that seem to offer an alternative path to "manhood." This can be heard in the verse by the guest rapper Wanga, sung in his native tongue:
"Mamelapa umnqunduwakho! (listen here, you fucking asshole)
Andifuni ukuyaehlatini! (I don't want to go to the bush with you)
Sukubammba incanca yam! (don't touch my penis)
Andi so stabani! (I’m not a gay)
Incanca yam yeyamantobi! (this penis is for the girls)
Incanca yam iclean! (my penis is clean)
Incanca yam inamandla! (my penis is strong)
Ndiyinkwekwe enkulu! (I am a big boy)
Angi funi ukuba yeendota! (don't want to be a man)
Evil boy 4 life! yebo! (yes)
Evil boy 4 life!"
Through the use of polyglossic code-switching, performativity, sociocultural and racial integration, and a revamping of contextual meanings, Die Antwoord is doing its part to redefine what it means to be young and Zef in South Africa, and what a socioculturally- and sociolinguistically-complex rebellion sounds like.
Disney's Frozen: Let It Go - 25 Languages
Play videoOne special version of the Song “Let it go”, featured in Disney’s Frozen, is the multilingual version, which incorporates 25 languages. Different language versions show the song gains global popularity. This song in 25 languages embodies the linguistic concept of “code switching”. But it doesn’t mean the stratification of language. Instead, such a successful fusion of 25 languages in one song reflects communication among different language. Different languages are mutual related and inclusive, because this fusion is so harmonious with 25 languages cooperating to achieve one theme of the song. The original version is English, but the song is widely adapted in different language, which is against the idea of centralizing or decentralizing force in language as well.
How to Sound Cooler in French
Play videoThis is a (humorous) tutorial for people who are learning French and want to sound more like a native speaker. It speaks to the French tendency to rely on sounds (like ouf, bof, etc) to convey subtle meaning in phrases.
Ed Sheeran's "Bibia Be Ye Ye"
Play video“Bibia Be Ye Ye” is the title of a track on Ed Sheeran’s new album. In the song, the verses are sung in English while the chorus is in Twi, a dialect of the Akan language. Akan is a major native language of Ghana. While Sheeran was writing his new album, he vacationed in Ghana for a few weeks and linked up with a popular musician (Fuse ODG) while there. His time there inspired him to add part of their culture and language to his album. As most of his fame comes from American and European entertainment cultures, the mixing in of an African language adds more multicultural and multilingual recognition on a global superstar scale. The language borrowing could also be viewed as a form of language appropriation though, where Sheeran is using only a few chosen words of Twi to liven up his song, which he still translates back to English in the video’s lyrics description.
Paraguay: Two Co-Official Languages – Guarani’ and Spanish
Paraguay is the only country in the American continents where 90% of the population speaks an indigenous language, Guarani', although only 5% of the population is indigenous. Spanish was the only official language for many years but now, both languages are co-official languages. The addition of Guarani’ as a co-official language resulted from the majority of Paraguayans, including the political class, feeling Guarani’ reflects who they are, their culture, even though people frequently switch between the two languages. [Published on 03-12-2012]
At UMass lecture, Stanford professor tackles prejudice against African-American English in courtrooms
A woman’s testimony in court is accused of being “unintelligible” because she speaks a different dialect of English, specifically African American English. The slang terms or speech patterns that she uses do not sound grammatically correct to the courtroom, but back home, it is normal speech. Rickford interestingly notes in the article that since interpreters for foreign languages are used in the courtroom, we should also use those resources of dialects of English that are not as easily interpreted by conventional speakers of the language.
Tim Kaine Speech in Spanish
Play videoTim Kaine made a campaign speech done entirely in Spanish. The speech was done in Phoenix, AZ and was given to invited Latino groups. This is the first time a vice presidential candidate has given a speech entirely in Spanish.
The Great Language Game Assumptions
Play videoPeople impose their own attitudes of what a culture is like onto their language. For example, many Americans assume that British people are sophisticated, and as a result, the 'a' as in father is viewed as a more posh pronunciation in other words. In this video, someone plays The Great Language Game; as he guesses what language the sound sample is, he makes some assumptions, such as that he feels that Chinese sounds 'harsher' than Japanese, and that's how he separates them. He uses his concept of standards of how each language sounds to guess which it is. Here's a link to the game itself: https://greatlanguagegame.com/
Bailando-Enrique Iglesias Lyrics
These lyrics contain the lyrics from the song Bailando by Enrique Iglesias where he uses Spanish and English throughout the entire song.
African Children Punished for Speaking Vernacular (Luganda in Uganda)
This brief web article exposes punishment of children for speaking their native languages in Africa and debunks the myths for why English is "needed." [Published on 12-31-1969]
Language and culture
Play videoThis video shows the experience of three young people who have traveled to different places around the world. Their experiences show us how language shapes the perception and understanding of people. It is also shown that language is under major influence of culture and the ideology of different regions.
Stunning animated game helps teach endangered Aboriginal language
In recent times there has been a resurgence for Australians to get in touch with their families native languages, possibly noticing that once their family members die off, there is no one left to speak it. With this game being released, it's hopes are to draw enough attention to Merra, by interactively engaging players with words, and icons to keep the language alive. There are only a handful of people in the world that speak Merra, and the creator related with his own native Indigenous language being almost lost within his family as well. Hopefully this game takes off and is successful enough to spur other similar games that bring attention to Indigenous Australian languages globally. [Published on 10-06-2016]
Why I love living in a multilingual town
This article is about a young woman who studied abroad in South Tyrol, a German speaking province in Northern Italy. She speaks about her experiences living in a town that speaks both German and Italian. She says that using both languages every day while she was there gave her confidence.
The Man Of Many Languages
Play videoA polyglot man who can speak at least 15 languages and he wants to learn all languages in the world. He explains why and how speaking another language can give you a different perspective on life.
Code-Switching Baby
Play videoThis video shows a young child speaking in German with his father for most of the video until he looks up and sees his mother, with him immediately switching to Japanese upon seeing her. This shows how code-switching is prevalent even in younger multilingual speakers and is used as a way to communicate with different people. Although the child in this video is very young, he still is aware enough to know that his father understands German best and that his mother responds best to Japanese.
Five Reasons Why People Code Switch
This article explains what code-switching is and gives five common reasons why people use code-switching. Some of the reasons explained are because the speaker wanted to fit in, use their other language to get something, say something secretively, or because code-switching can help explain certain concepts better than in a single language. In order to emphasize these reasons, the author provides several stories from different people explaining situations where they used code-switching. [Published on 04-13-2013]
I 'don't code- switch' to hide my identity. I 'code-switch' to celebrate it.
This article is about an Indian American man who uses code switching to celebrate his many identities. His prides himself on being able to use the certain languages in appropriate settings. For example he says at any given time his family speaks in at least three languages- Marathi, Hindi, and English.
Spanglish with George Lopez
Play videoI have included a link to a video of Comedian George Lopez doing stand up comedy and talking about how Spanglish will always be used in America. This is interesting to me not only because of doing research paper on mock Spanish but also because I am Hispanic and have heard my relatives talk just how he does in the video.
Why Linguists are Fascinated by the American Jewish Accent
In this article, the various features of what are commonly associated with the American Jewish accent are detailed. This accent is often associated with comedians such as Mel Brooks, Larry David, and Don Rickles. The accent, while not as widespread as it used to be, is still recognizable to listeners by the word order and intonation it borrows from Yiddish, Hebrew, and other languages of prominent Jewish communities.
[Published on 09-26-2016]
The Spanish-Language Anthem
Brief history of Spanish speakers with the national anthem followed by a more current thought of bilingualism. Notes how a Neil Diamond song is more appropriate than the Anthem. [Published on 05-18-2006]
Could your language affect your ability to save money?
Amazing Ted Talk by Keith Chen illustrating how "language" can help a person's ability to save money! EVERYONE should see this. It also gives a really good illustration on how different languages force you to say different things. [Published on 06-01-2012]
Guatemala: Speaking in K'iche language to describe how to make food
Play videoJuliana is speaking to the camera in K'iche. She is describing how to make pepian and other food in Guatemala. She is mixing her Spanish with her dialect, which according to the poster of the video she is speaking two different dialects: K'iche and Uspanteco.
Expanding Past English May Lead to Great Discoveries in Other Languages
Patricia Ryan stresses the importance of language globalization and how we must expand our linguistic abilities and knowledge past English in order to advance our society as a whole. She discusses how the limitation of acquiring only one language may be causing us to miss out on discovering incredible ideas that are stuck in a different language, which enforces the necessity of multilingualism and shines a light on the rapidly increasing rate of dying languages. [Published on 12-01-2010]
Pidgin English from Nigeria
Play videoA video of two Nigerian Men who explain and give example of language divergence and Pidgin English.
Language Learning and Transitions
Play videoTrevor Noah explains how his native language and his father's native language collide and how he tries to learn the tones, pitches and language of German and how each sound in each word can come across differently.
Bilingual children switching between English and Spanish
Play videoThis video includes children in a one on one setting switching between spanish and english, during various exercise. It features bilingual children in an office setting. The focus is on literacy and acquisition of bilingual children.
Professional Educator: Grades, Showing Up On Time Are A Form Of White Supremacy
This education consultant takes issue with values that are taught in schools as beneficial for success but which she says are selected to favor white people, including language-related expectations of students. She suggests some unusual methods to "move away from all these aspects of white privilege in education." [Published on 04-16-2016]
7 Year Old Polyglot
Play videoThis is a girl who is half-Japanese and half-Spanish, and she is currently (as of 2015) living in Spain. In this video she shows us how many languages she has at her disposal, highlighting the fact that speakers can have many different repertoires to index their identities.
Bilingual Talks
YouTuber Hyunwoo Sun's segment Bilingual Talks, where two speakers of two languages have a conversation either with each speaker using a different language, or with the speakers switching back and forth between languages.
Language, Race, and White Public Space
This article talks about the use of language in comparison to race. It talks about the negative stereotypes that are directed to Chicanos and Latinos by talking about "Mock Spanish".
Don't Stop the Party - Pitbull lyrics
These lyrics contain the lyrics from the song Don't Stop the Party by artist Pitbull, where he uses Spanish and English throughout the song.
Cinco de Mayo at the White House
Play videoIn this video President Barack Obama describes the history of Cinco de Mayo and the United States stance on the day and the celebration that occurs.
Hawaiian Pidgin Recognized As A Language (In Pidgin w/ Subtitles)
Play videoThis video is of a man speaking Hawaiian Pidgin English. He establishes that Hawaiian Pidgin English is not the Hawaiian language.
Pardon my Spanglish
Play videoA comedian joins Spanish CNN to talk about his new book about Spanglish. The comedian and the anchor switch between English and Spanish throughout the video, talking in Spanglish. While there's a good deal more Spanish being spoken in the video, there's also English, just not as much as Spanish. The intro of the video is a great example of Spanglish, as is the whole interview for the most part.
The 5 Big Advantages to Learning Multiple Languages
This website gives you the 5 biggest reasons why learning a another language besides your own is definitely in your best interest. From the brain power to, the language structure of each language, all reasons are perfectly applicable.
Code-switching
Play videoThis video explains some of the main reasons why people engage in code switching. Code switching can be used in many different ways, but the primary function of this practice is to switch between two languages in a single conversation.
Luis Von Ahn- Massive Online Scale
Play videoThis video explains how one company plans to make learning a second language free. By setting a goal of translating the web into every major language for free, these researchers created the website Duolingo. Students are presented with sentences that vary in difficulty depending on their level of understanding. This program has found that students translating material are as proficient as paid translators. This could be a glance into the future of affordable bilingual education.
Why these UK school kids love learning languages
Play videoThis group of students talk about why they feel it is important to learn a different language.These students are amazing in the sense that they seem so grown up and ready to take on the world, and language is one very powerful tool to help them do just that!
Language equality in post-apartheid South Africa
Play videoCollege students demonstrate for language equality in Pretoria, South Africa. Students are currently taught in Afrikaans, the language of apartheid-era oppression. This is an example of how language can be used to signify either oppression or equality.
Meet the Man Who Speaks 15 Languages
Play videoAlex Rawlings speaks 15 different languages, and he explains how speaking another language can provide a different perspective on life. "Languages open doors that you never knew were there."
5th Grade Class Starts American Sign Language Club to Better Communicate with Deaf Classmate
Students at an elementary school in Illinois have started learning ASL signs to communicate with a hearing-impaired student in their class. [Published on 02-25-2016]
How Culture Effects Learning a language
Play videoThis shows how learning a language can be very difficult, but if you know some of the background of the culture and deep meaning of the culture, it can make learning it that much easier and enjoyable.
Mock spanish
This is an interesting article touching on the use of mock spanish in children's books.
code-switching and hispandering
This site has a good audio clip that really delves into the hispandering issue and the code-switching.
Multilingualism Probs
Play videoIn this short video the she provides us with common problems with being multilingual at times. Although it is generally more advantageous to be multilingual it can get you into a fluster at times.
Pera Code Mixing
Play videoA little girl explains why she combines the Turkish and English language in her speech. She explains that she combines the two languages because she uses both languages, but at times it is hard for her to think of the words in English so she reverts to the Turkish term. It gives great examples of specific terms that she tends to revert to the Turkish term and the reason why she does.
Linguistic- Code Switching
Play videoThis video gives the breakdown of code-switching in America. It talks about all the different types of English that exist in US. It also addresses why and individual partitakes in this linguistic practice; a word translation doesn't come to mind so they revert to the word in another language, or they are purposely excluding others from understanding. Code Switching if referred to different terms depending on the language mixture; Spanglish, Chinglish, etc.
Multilingualism on cognitive development
This article talks about how children who are bilingual gain an advantage at problem solving versus a child who is monolingual. [Published on 02-11-2016]
Youth codeswitching
Play videoThis is an example of a child having a conversation with both his parents in 3 different languages.
The bitter fight over the benefits of bilingualism
An Atlantic article describing a controversy in bilingualism research concerning the cognitive benefits to executive function that were established in early research but have been difficult to replicate. [Published on 02-11-2016]
Quebec’s War on English: Language Politics Intensify in Canadian Province
An interesting insight to the French language regulation in 2013 in Quebec, Canada, and how there is a whole framework in place to try and regulate how business interact with the bilingualism that exists in the community. [Published on 04-08-2013]
Sign Language Exchange Between Starbucks Barista and Customer Inspires Others
A Starbucks Barista initially trying to take an order in English then code-switching to ASL to communicate. This video also includes specific language used only in Starbucks, for example the sizes of the orders. [Published on 11-04-2015]
I Say Arabi
Play videoThis video demonstrates the variation in the pronunciation of foreign (a) in Arabic words that are frequently used in English. The difference in the pronunciation of the word 'falafel' is particularly interesting in the context of the Hall-Lew article on the pronunciation of 'Iraq' because here, /ɑ:/ and not /æ/ is the nativized variant.
Montreal, a francophone, anglophone and multilingual city
Bilingualism/multilingualism of Montreal; Sociolinguistic Symposium;
LANGUAGE CHALLENGE ITALIAN VS POLISH WITH MY GIRLFRIEND
Play videoA boyfriend and girlfriend challenge each other in translating English works in to either Italian or Polish words.
Arizona news anchor is drawn into debate on her accent and use of Spanish
A Spanish/English bilingual newscaster on an Arizona TV station is criticized for her pronunciation and use of Spanish. She wonderfully says, "change can be hard, but it's normal." [Published on 09-03-2015]
How Language Seems To Shape One's View Of The World
This article talks about the connection between a language and one's way of viewing the world. It also suggests a change in the way we teach language--providing activities which help students view this new language threw the lens of the world to which it's connected. [Published on 01-02-2014]
Listen: There's no such thing as a Brooklyn accent, exhibit says
A recent exhibit at NYC organization CityLore played New York voices for listeners, arguing that race/ethnicity and not borough is what distinguishes New York voices from each other. [Published on 01-28-2015]
Linguistic Maps
A great collection of maps relating to linguistics, from the Indo-European family tree to a map of the NCS!
SEEED - Dickes B (Code Switching and Jamaican Creole English)
Play videoA reggae/dancehall song from German band SEEED, with code switching from German to English and a verse in Jamaican Creole. Submitted for Contact Languages music assignment.
Language Log: A bilingual, biscriptal product designation in Taiwan
An ad on a food label in Taiwan can be read as either Mandarin or Taiwanese, and speakers' competency in each language influences their reading. [Published on 02-07-2014]
Is Learning a Foreign Language Really Worth It?
This is a Freakonomics podcast on the economic worth of learning a foreign language, addressing the "return on investment" of language learning (or, will all of those hours you spent in Spanish class really help you financially in the future?). Of particular interest are sections from 0:58-4:00, which poses the question to be addressed in the podcast, and has a few nice examples of ideologies about language learning and bilingualism from (probably wealthy, upperclass) kids, and 13:10-18:23, which reveals the actual monetary value of language learning. It is important to note that this podcast is mainly from the perspective of a native English speaker learning a foreign language, although native speakers of other languages learning English are mentioned towards the end.
What Language Does your State Speak?
Slate published a map showing the most commonly spoken languages by state when English and Spanish are removed. [Published on 05-13-2014]
Why this bilingual education ban should have been repealed long ago
Sociolinguist Phillip M. Carter makes the case for repealing Proposition 227 in California, which essentially banned bilingual education in the state in 1998.
Sociolinguist debunks Miami English misconceptions
An article including a video with Phillip Carter on his research on Miami English
Miami Accents: How 'Miamah' Turned Into A Different Sort Of Twang
A 2013 segment on radio station WLRN about Miami English, including an interview with Phillip Carter, a clip of "Shit Miami girls say," and a discussion of features of Miami English that are the result of contact with Spanish.
Linguist finds a language in its infancy
A 2013 podcast about Light Warlpiri, a new language created by children living in Northern Australia.
"We're sinking!"
Play videoA commercial for Berlitz in which a German coast guard trainee misunderstands a call for help from a sinking American ship.
Gingrich links bilingual education and "ghetto"
An NBC news article covering the 2007 remarks made by Newt Gingrich that bilingual speakers in the U.S. need to learn standard English and not the language of the "ghetto."
Language and Politics in Belgium
A 2010 article about the continuing linguistic divide in Belgium (between French and Flemish) that reflects and reinforces a political divide.
Eddie Izzard on Being Bilingual
Play videoEddie Izzard stand-up about British English vs. American English and the tendency of monolingualism in native English speakers.