As a semi-professional dog walker in Paris, expat Kate Gavino has found a comfortable way to learn French.
language
Posted inEditor's Pick
Our Words Will Save Us and Set Us Free
In the wake of having his writing career belittled, Jackson Bliss becomes an interpreter for a refugee and comes to see words, translations, and storytelling as important acts of resistance.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Coming Home, One Word at a Time
Upon returning to India, a course in Urdu helps Sharanya Deepak embrace the rich and turbulent history of her native country.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Quotes
The Dangerous Beauty of Russian
“A friend had handed down a beautiful book of Daniil Kharms poems for children… One was a song about a man who went into the forest with a club and a bag, and never returned.”
Posted inHistory, Nonfiction, Quotes
To Be a Lexicographer Is to Surrender to Folly
On the never-ending, unattainable quest to create the perfect English dictionary.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Inside the OED: Can the World’s Biggest Dictionary Survive the Internet?
On the centuries-long quest to create the perfect, all-encompassing English dictionary.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Shallowness of Google Translate
Despite advances in machine learning and ever-bigger datasets, rumors of human translators’ imminent demise are greatly exaggerated.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Will Podcasts and Video Journalism Make Our Syntax Less Rich?
The days of the long, sinuous, multi-clause sentence might be numbered.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Rise and Fall of the English Sentence
Writing has made our syntax richer and more complex — and also increasingly distinct from spoken language.
Posted inNonfiction
Language Acquisition
Diana Spechler recalls fleeing her life in New York City for a new one with a painter in his village in central Mexico.