Inventing languages

Every year we see damage, death and destruction caused by hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons - tropical storms. Is climate change making this impact worse? Climate change may be making this destruction worse. Phil is joined by BBC weather presenter and meteorologist Sarah Keith-Lu ... Show More

What is the worst smell in the world? And what is the best smell? Are there any smells that you like, but that your friends or family hate? Smells are all around us all the time, but the English language is often quite general in the way it describes smells, as opposed to other s ... Show More

Imagine crossing a road and turning to see a car heading towards you... without a driver! While this might seem scary, driverless cars are already operating safely in many cities around the world. These autonomous cars contain huge amounts of technology to help them drive alongsi ... Show More

Constructed Languages and New Languages In the first of our two part series on the life cycle of languages, we address how language is born. We’ll dive into the creation of constructed languages – languages made for film or TV (or even just for fun) – and natural languages, and h ... Show More

Where did language come from? Is it possible to know without traveling back in time? And how do babies learn to speak? Plus: We’ll hear how the word “silly” has evolved over the last several hundred years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

This lesson covers asking and saying what languages you speak. 

Discover the history of Spanish in Latin America and how it shapes the language today – perfect for those starting a Spanish language course or beginner Spanish lessons. 

Chat about an interesting new language teaching method.   

Learn language to talk about the coronavirus pandemic. 

How did we get the set of Chinese words we have today? John and Jared talk about how the Chinese language has evolved, adapted, innovated, and borrowed to create the language it is today. 

Game of Thrones’ language creator David Peterson shows how studying, preserving and inventing new languages helps us understand our collective humanity -- and gives a quick lesson on High Valyrian. This talk was filmed at TEDxBerkeley. All TEDx events are organized independently ... Show More