Communication
Guess What? You Already Speak Some French!
French is an important world language. French Professor, Ann Williams shares her love of the French language and insights into the French you already know! […]
Communication
Language
The Story of Hebrew
Professor Michael Carasik discusses how Hebrew has survived the ages as both a language, and an intrinsic part of Jewish culture. […]
Language
Learning Spanish: How to Understand and Speak a New Language
Think you’re too old to start learning Spanish? Don’t think you have a “language brain”? Think again! You may not have had the right method of instruction. Rote memorization and practice, practice, practice works for some, but not everyone learns that way. […]
Foreign Languages
Learning French Manners and Culture
In this full lecture you will explore French manners and culture, and use a beginner’s understanding to build on simple phrases in French. Then reflect on several “word families” that will help you build your vocabulary and make connections across the language. Along the way, you’ll also pick up a few common verb forms, adjectives, and adverbs. […]
Ancient History
Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian civilization is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating chapters in human history. While remnants of the culture like temples, obelisks, and sarcophagi continue to mystify us, you can unlock their true meaning if you know how to read hieroglyphs. […]
Communication
What Did the Ancient Greek Language Sound Like?
The Ancient Greek language is a language like no other. It records an astonishing array of great works in different genres, stretching across a thousand years of history. Watch lecture 1 from the series Greek 101: Learning an Ancient Language, and you’ll learn the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet using the restored classical pronunciation. […]
Communication
Wily Words: How Languages Mix on the Level of Words
There are 6,000 languages. They are always changing, and these changes produce dialects. At the same time, all the world’s languages and dialects mix with each other—that’s a natural process. […]
Communication
What’s Wrong With This Sentence? — A Linguists View On Grammar Usage
I’m going to show you two sentences, and I want you to decide if there are any problems with them. Your decision shouldn’t be about the meaning of the sentence, but rather whether you think there’s anything wrong with the grammar usage. Are you ready? Here we go… […]
Communication
Wonderful Words: How to Describe Liars and the Lies They Tell
Unfortunately, we’ve all encountered someone who’s tried to con, lie, deceive, hoodwink, bamboozle, dupe, scam, bilk, or fleece us at one time or another in our lives. But fortunately, English has some wonderful words to describe these liars and the lies they tell. […]
Communication
The Life of Language: When Does a Word Die?
By Anne Curzan, Ph.D. University of Michigan When does a word die? The most obvious answer to this question is “whenever people stop using it.” But the […]