Here's the reason why you've problems with words like 'equipment', 'occurrence' or 'accomodation'

Lingthusiasm Episode 107: Urban Multilingualism When we try to represent languages on a map, it’s common to assign each language a zone or a point which represents some idea of where it’s used or where it comes from. But in reality, people move around, and many cities are host to hundreds of languages that don’t show up on official records. In this episode, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about urban multilingualism! We talk about a recent book we’ve been enjoying called Language City by Ross Perlin, about the over 700 languages spoken in New York City, as well as how we’ve noticed urban multilingualism for ourselves in Melbourne, Montreal, and elsewhere. We also talk about organizations that work with communities interested in reclaiming space for their languages, what linguistic rights are, and how to tell if yours are being taken away from you. Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here. Announcements: In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about linguistic landscapes! We talk about contrasts between the signs in the Chinatowns of Montreal and Melbourne, renaming streets from colonial names to names in First Nations languages, how signs can show the shifting demographics of tourism in an area, and how bi- and multilingual Lost Cat signs show what languages people think their neighbours understand. We also talk about our most absurd sign stories, including the Russell Family Apology Plaque, and creative imaginings of official signage, such as the Latin no-smoking sign in a modern-day British train station. Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 100+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds. Here are the links mentioned in the episode: ‘Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York’ by Ross Perlin on Bookshop and Amazon Wikipedia entry for N'Ko script Endangered Language Alliance The Endangered Languages Project Mentor Program Wikitongues Living Tongues Language Sustainability Toolkit Living Languages The Global Coalition for Language Rights Global Language Advocacy Days The GCLR Statement on Understanding and Defending Language Rights How we Created the GCLR’s Statement on Understanding and Defending Language Rights Say it with Respect: A Journalists’ Guide to Reporting on Indigenous and Minoritized Languages Living Dictionaries Gretchen’s thread on Living Dictionaries Lingthusiasm bonus episode ‘Linguistic Advice - Challenging grammar snobs, finding linguistics community, accents in singing, and more’ You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening. To receive an email whenever a new episode drops, sign up for the Lingthusiasm mailing list. You can help keep Lingthusiasm ad-free, get access to bonus content, and more perks by supporting us on Patreon. Lingthusiasm is on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Mastodon, and Tumblr. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com Gretchen is on Bluesky as @GretchenMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic. Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo. Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk, and our technical editor is Leah Velleman. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles. This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).

Poets gather in west Belfast for Irish language poetry slam competition Slam Filíochta as part of the Liú Lúnasa festival.

An exciting opportunity has come up to join our team as P.A. to the Director / Operations Officer, a key role supporting the smooth and effective running of the organisation’s leadership, governance a

New research indicates that students have issues with the semi-colon and usage in writing down nearly 50% in 20 years

Stephen Lucek, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at UCD, talks about the latest teenage slang terms, where they come from, and what they might reveal about the direction of human language. Listen he...