On language, belonging, and embracing the different versions of ourselves.
language
The Foreign Language That Changed My Teenage Son’s Life
“I worried about his ability to fit in. But then he fell in love with Russian — and on a trip to Central Asia, he flourished.”
Lost at Parkland: ‘Peter Was Always My Translator’
For one family, grieving the child they lost in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting is complicated by differences in language and culture.
Can Crosswords Be More Inclusive?
“The puzzles spread from the United States across the globe, but the American crossword today doesn’t always reflect the linguistic changes that immigration brings.”
The Year Mahbuba Found Her Voice
“The young refugee from Afghanistan arrived on the doorstep of a Chicago school. She was deaf and had no previous exposure to formal sign language. What happened next was transformative.”
Who’s Afraid of Spatchcocked Chicken?
“Squeamishness around meat is embedded into the English language — and by extension, Western attitudes towards the realities of meat.”
Can We Talk to Whales?
“Researchers believe that artificial intelligence may allow us to speak to other species.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we are sharing stories from Jessica Wilkerson, Meg Bernhard, Nicholas Hune-Brown, Jiayang Fan, and Alexander Wells.
Beamer, Dressman, Bodybag
“The Berlinglish they speak is informal English, slightly simplified, full of swears, nightlife slang and loan words — mostly adopted from German.”
