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Drawn from both the author's considerable analytical abilities and his fascinating language experiences, Thompson's After Babel: Reflections on Language and Languages is a collection of thirty accessible and entertaining essays on language topics, as well as specific languages.
All over the world, we speak, we write, we even use our hands to sign, and the author celebrates this linguistic diversity. In the process, he describes how languages are similar and different and reflects on how all of us go about learning our own mother tongue as well as those of others.
He marvels at both the complexity of the brain and our limited knowledge of it as a language control center. He is equally fascinated by the way babies learn a native tongue, the variety of whistled languages, and the history of astro-linguistics. Finally he explores the specifics of fourteen different languages including Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Hillbilly English, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
Thompson writes with tenderness, enthusiasm, humor and the exuberant belief that learning other languages is an enriching experience.
Editorial Reviews:
"Thompson's collection of thirty short, very engaging chapters on linguistics and languages from around the world, masterfully balanced between the anecdotal and the incisive, is a genuine prize for scholars and beginners, and will surely whet the appetite of anyone contemplating learning a foreign language or seeking deeper insights into the workings of language."
-Bernard Bergen, Professor Emeritus, American Studies Department, George Washington University
"Provides an engaging and highly readable tour of several of the world's languages, as well as dialects of English. His enthusiasm for learning languages, and his appreciation of their beauty, are contagious."
-Roger Kreuz, Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language
"An incredibly insightful, sweeping, and entertaining book for anyone interested in learning other languages or even how language and the mind work. A delightful read for expert and aficionado alike."
-Charles H. Roberts, freelance interpreter and translator since 1985 (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French)
"Covers a comprehensive range of language-related topics in an engaging and enthusiastic style. If you're curious about languages, this is a good place to start."
- Simon Prentis, Speech! How Language Made Us Human
"Insightful, entertaining. There is much here for any language lover to admire, learn from, reflect upon and laugh about."
- K. David Harrison, The Last Speakers and When Languages Die
"Sparkles. Both smart and funny."
- John Wort, One Hundred Years of Babel
