*podcast for people interested in languages and linguistics* I have studied a lot of languages. But there’s a big catch. They’re all Indo-European. In this video, I reflect on my experience of learning languages, the often-overlooked advantages of linguistic familiarity, and why some languages can feel so much more accessible than others. Drawing on examples from vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and even the metaphors we use to understand the world, I explore how the languages we already speak can influence the way we approach new ones. I also discuss why I've found learning Mandarin so different from learning languages like Greek or Russian, despite some aspects of Mandarin being remarkably logical and straightforward. Ultimately, I question what it really means for a language to be difficult, whether our perceptions of difficulty are shaped by familiarity, and how learning languages from entirely different linguistic backgrounds might challenge the assumptions we've developed along the way. As I prepare to take my Mandarin studies much more seriously, I'm excited to explore a completely different linguistic world. I'd love to hear your experiences. Have you ever learned a language very different from those you already speak? What did you find most surprising or challenging? Sources: The Open University. Discovering Ancient Greek and Latin: Family Resemblances (https://www.open.edu/o.... Accessible discussion of Indo-European ancestry and William Jones's 1786 argument. Calvert Watkins (2000). The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots (https://books.google.c.... A useful reference for inherited vocabulary and reconstructed Proto-Indo-European roots. Y.-H. Audrey Li (2016). Verbs and Verb Phrases (https://www.cambridge...., in A Reference Grammar of Chinese, Cambridge University Press. Covers Chinese verb morphology and grammatical structure. Xiao, Zhao and Chen (2018). Both Earlier Times and the Future Are 'Front' (https://doi.org/10.111..., Cognitive Science. Useful for explaining Chinese temporal metaphors accurately. Poppy Siahaan (2008). Did He Break Your Heart or Your Liver? (https://doi.org/10.151..., in Culture, Body, and Language, pp. 45–74. The source for the Indonesian metaphor. Theraphan L-Thongkum and Chommanad Intajamornrak (2008). Tonal Evolution Induced by Language Contact (https://sealang.net/sa..., Mon-Khmer Studies, 38, pp. 57–68. Documents the development of tones in Mal. Nicholas Evans (2018). Acoustics of Tone in Indian Punjabi (https://doi.org/10.111..., Transactions of the Philological Society, 116(3), pp. 509–528. An example of lexical tone in an Indo-European language. Interagency Language Roundtable. ILR Theory and Practice (https://govtilr.org/Pu.... Contains Foreign Service Institute estimates of learning time for different languages, based on native English-speaking learners. Stephen Krashen (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. The foundational statement of his distinction between conscious learning and acquisition through comprehensible input. Lydia White (1987). Against Comprehensible Input: The Input Hypothesis and the Development of Second-language Competence (https://doi.org/10.109..., Applied Linguistics, 8(2), pp. 95–110. A useful critical counterpoint to Krashen. Music: @DjQuadsOfficial - Birds and The Bees https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfiSLmZcFmaHpWfbVVYouSA Thank you so much for watching :) Don’t forget to follow me on instagram @reubenlingo or watch this podcast in video form @reubenlingo on YouTube!
