Open Culture » English Language

English and its Evolution

Dan Colman — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:22:37 +0000

A little something for the language buffs among us. The Structure of English Words (iTunes) is another Stanford course. To be exact, it comes out of the Stanford Continuing Studies program (my day job), and we’re opening enrollments for our Fall term next Monday. (If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, give our offering a look. If you live outside the Bay Area, then you may want to check out our popular series of online writing courses.) You can find the course description for The Structure of English Words, taught by Professor Will Leben, directly below. To find hundreds of other free courses, then check out our collection of Free Online University Courses:

Thanks to historical, cultural, and linguistic factors, English has by far the world’s largest vocabulary—leading many of us to have greater than average difficulty with words, and some of us to have greater than average curiosity about words.

Our historical and linguistic study will cover both erudite and everyday English, with special attention to word meaning and word use, to both rules and exceptions. Most words originated with an image. “Reveal” = “pull back the veil,” “depend” = “hang down from.”

Change is constant. “Girl” once meant “a young child of either sex;” an early synonym for “stupid” was “nice.” Despite resistance to change among some experts and some members of the general public, new words are entering at an accelerating rate, from “Frankenfood” to “ungoogleable.” Are there good changes and bad ones? And who gets to decide? Exploring the historical and contemporary richness of English will suggest some answers.

English and its Evolution is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Best Online Language Tools for Word Nerds

Dan Colman — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:37:56 +0000

Lifehacker is running a good piece today that highlights a series of web-based language tools for anyone looking to figure out a word’s definition, translation, pronunciation, synonym, or antonym. Word nerds, this could be your lucky day…

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Best Online Language Tools for Word Nerds is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Top 10 Grammar Myths

Dan Colman — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:02:19 +0000

For National Grammar Day (March 4), The Grammar Girl (MP3 – iTunes – Feed – Web Site) issued another popular podcast that outlines and debunks 10 common grammar myths. If you’re already up to speed on these (preview them here), congrats. If not, give a listen.

Top 10 Grammar Myths is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Learning Foreign Languages the Mango Way

Dan Colman — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:23:07 +0000

What’s an easy way to learn a new language at no cost, whenever and wherever you want? One is to take advantage of our extensive collection of foreign language podcasts. Another is to check out Mango Languages, a web site that offers free online language courses that will teach you the basics in French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and more.

We’d usually outline the pros and cons of learning languages the Mango Way. But there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. So we’re directing your attention to Jon Gordon, the host of Future Tense, whose recent broadcast took a short look at Mango’s offering. You can listen to it here (MP3 – RealAudio – Feed) and read some more here. You can also access Future Tense on iTunes.

NOTE: To get started with Mango Languages, you will need to register with the website.

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Learning Foreign Languages the Mango Way is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

100 Great American Speeches

Dan Colman — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 07:31:40 +0000

American Rhetoric has compiled its list of the top 100 American speeches, all of which can be conveniently accessed as mp3 files. Most of the speeches listed here are known for their eloquence, and many for the pivotal role they played in effecting major political and social change. The compilation lets you listen to F.D.R. leading the US through the Depression ( “There is nothing to fear but fear itself” ) as well as through World War II with his Fireside Chats. Then, there is Truman and Kennedy ( “Ich bin ein Berliner” ) fighting the Cold War, Nixon bolstering support for the Vietnam War with his “Great Silent Majority” speech, and Martin Luther King ( “I Have a Dream” ) and Malcolm X ( “The Ballot or the Bullet” ) pressing for civil rights in their different ways.

The speeches can be heard largely in full, and, while most are political in content, some gems are not. Take for example William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Address, Ursula Le Guin’s “A Left-Handed Commencement Address,” and Elie Wiesel’s “The Perils of Indifference.” Give these speeches some time, and it might be a while before you come back up for air.

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Voices of American Presidents
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100 Great American Speeches is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

The New Grammar Podcast on the Block

Dan Colman — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 07:10:48 +0000

It didn’t seem like an obvious blockbuster at first — at least not to me — but The Grammar Girl (iTunes – Feed – Web Site) has remained one of the most downloaded educational podcasts on iTunes. To be precise, each week, about 100,000 people download these short podcasts that offer “quick and dirty tips” for cleaning up your writing. And thanks to the enduring popularity of her free audio lessons, plus an appearance on Oprah, Mignon Fogarty, the creator of the Grammar Girl, has also managed to spin-off an audiobook ($9.95) that has driven strong sales. Plus she’s got a good, old-fashioned pulp book somewhere still in the pipeline.

It was perhaps, then, only a matter of time before Fogarty faced some friendly competition. The Grammar Grater (iTunes – Feed – Web Site) is a new podcast that approaches language issues from a slightly different angle. It focuses on “English words, grammar and usage for the Information Age,” which is to say that it deals with grammar issues that often arise when we write emails, blog posts, instant messages and beyond. Luke Taylor is the host, and, with him, you get a well-produced, often entertaining, podcast that touches on grammar issues that you’re bound to encounter in your daily electronic writing. Give the Girl and the Grater both a listen and you’ll almost certainly learn small bits that’ll make a big difference.

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The New Grammar Podcast on the Block is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Ten Podcasts to Build Your Vocabulary

Ed Finn — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 17:48:36 +0000

Recently Merriam-Webster announced that they’re adding “ginormous,” “speed dating” and a few other gems to the latest edition of their dictionary. In their honor, we present ten podcasts to help you expand your vocabulary. Enjoy!

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day (Feed, Site)
Podictionary (Feed, iTunes, Site)
The Word Nerds (iTunes, Site)
NPR: On Words with John Ciardi (iTunes, Site)
KPBS: A Way With Words (Feed, iTunes, Site)
Just Vocabulary (iTunes, Site)
WordSmart WordCast (Feed, iTunes, Site)
Learn English: Very Vocabulary (iTunes, Site)
Test Prep Vocabulary (Feed, Site)
The Princeton Review Vocabulary Minute (iTunes, Feed, Site)

Ten Podcasts to Build Your Vocabulary is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com

Learning English with Podcasts (ESL)

Dan Colman — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 07:30:00 +0000

These days, Open Culture has been attracting an international audience. To give you a littlesample, 43% of our readers come from outside the US, and they come chiefly from Taiwan (lots from Taiwan lately), Germany, China, Japan, France, Spain, India, Mexico and Brazil. But if you count them all up over the past week, we have had visitors from 105 countries overall. Very gratifying.

Given this, it seems worth highlighting some podcasts that can help you improve your English. (We’re assuming that you already know some English, or you wouldn’t be here in the first place.)

The most obvious podcast to start with is the aptly titled English as a Second Language Podcast (iTunes – Feed – Web Site). Put together by two former professors, this very rich and deep collection teaches students proper pronunciation, idioms and slang, and it generally gets high marks. These guys seem to have a good corner on the market, and they’re worth your time.

Now, there are other, more focused ways to learn English. If you’re a native Spanish speaker, you may want to give some attention to English for Spanish Speakers, which is otherwise called, Por Fin Aprende Ingles (iTunes – Feed – Web Site).

Or if you’re mainly looking to improve your English for business purposes, you can check out Business English Pod (iTunes – Feed – Web Site), which will teach you to function effectively in an American business environment. Another option is ESL Business News (iTunes – Feed – Web Site), a

weekly podcast that presents international business news in clear, slowly spoken English. As you listen to the podcast, you can also read a transcript at the same time.

Finally, if you’re looking for something less formal and a little more quirky, you can also always spend a little time listening to The Bob and Rob Show: Weekly English Lessons from a Yankee and a Brit (iTunes – Feed – Web Site). This unconventional show often uses humor to teach grammar and idioms to intermediate-to-advanced students, and you’ll get a feel for both American and English accents.

For more foreign language lesson podcasts, click here.

See all of Open Culture’s Podcast Collections:

Arts & Culture – Audio Books – Foreign Language Lessons – News & Information – Science – Technology – University (General) – University (B-School) – Podcast Primer

Learning English with Podcasts (ESL) is a post from: Open Culture. Visit us at www.openculture.com