Cross Talk: World Language Edition

Cross Talk is a regular feature, highlighting three to seven items on some discipline taught at the college. We should all know more about what our colleagues know, teach, and love. Lifelong learning, blah, blah, blah, and all that jazz.

~You, too, could learn a language. Apparently it only takes 22 hours or so, though it should be noted that they guy who said that is a memorization expert, so mileage may vary, but still, it’s possible–especially if you learn his memory tricks and then use nifty tools like this. Who knows? You might start “Dreaming in Chinese,” which would be cool.

~A really good writer and thinker writes about the experience of learning a foreign (to him) language.

~Another one explains why he’s studying Sanskrit.

~Want to say it in a way that is “Better Than English”? Go here.

~Weirdness of languages, ranked.

~Unspeakableness is a project investigating words for emotions that are (possibly) untranslateable (more about it here).

~Naughty words mean things can be interesting, too.

~And if you don’t believe it, you should check out the history of swearing.

~Coded talk is fascinating, too. And useful.