Multilinguish

Is it possible to tell the whole history of a language in under half an hour? In this episode, we try our best. In the season finale, the whole Multilinguish team gets together to focus on five key moments in English language history, from its start as Proto-Indo-European to its role as a global lingua franca today. We explore how humans changed language, and how language changed us.

Which language should you learn? It can be hard to decide between so many incredible options, but we have a few in particular for you to consider. In this episode, our language experts reveal the top 3 easiest and hardest languages (in their humble opinion) for English speakers to learn. We discuss what makes these languages particularly easy or challenging and why they're worth taking the time to learn regardless. 

Special thanks to Elin Asklöv and Ted Mentele for lending their insight on this episode. 

Most of us are familiar with the folktales of the Brothers Grimm, from Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty to Snow White. But how much do you know about the impressive legacies of the men behind these magic and mysterious stories? In this episode, we dive into the work of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm — not only as collectors of generations of oral tradition but also as linguists and language scholars whose near-lifelong dedication to the German people and their language contributed to the flourishing of the German national spirit from a linguistic lens.

Early education is designed to set you up for success, but it also often sets you up for a certain amount of disillusionment as you get older. The language classroom is no exception. In this episode, we talk about what makes language learning so different as an adult when you're free to self-direct your own process. Then, we deliver a rousing exposé on the biggest lies our language teachers personally told us.

How do babies learn languages? We don't know for sure. One of the leading theories is Universal Grammar, which is the idea that humans are genetically predisposed to acquire languages, but not all linguists agree on this. In this episode, we talk about this theory, its originator Noam Chomsky and why Universal Grammar has become one of the most divisive topics in linguistics. 

Special thanks to Jennifer Dorman for her help and insight on this episode.