Inventing languages

The most recent figure from 2024 says that 520 million children are living in conflict zones. That's about one in every five children worldwide. Some of the discussions in this episode will be about death and trauma. Neil and Becca hear from a journalist who has spent some time w ... Show More

Football players are faster than ever before. But in a game where every tiny decision counts, elite clubs are turning to neuroscience to understand how players can think, decide and perform even faster. Neil and Georgie discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary.Get a free wo ... Show More

When did you learn to ride a bike? Perhaps you learnt as a child and have not cycled for a long time. Well don't worry, you can pick it up again quickly – it's just like riding a bike! And if you have never cycled, it's not too late to start. With new cycle tracks and electric bi ... 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