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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Keilan Senior Member Canada Joined 5087 days ago 125 posts - 241 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 1 of 8 14 May 2011 at 10:13am | IP Logged |
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Hey all,
I'm looking for some books to read in my free time, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for books on language. I would range from language in general to specific languages but I don't want something that reads like a formal grammar or textbook. I would love a book on Arabic or Russian or something that would just give me a few general ideas without really pushing for fluency (I am not interested in learning those languages, at least not relative to my other languages, but would love to know about them). The kind of thing where after I'd read it I could say things like "Did you know that Arabic does <some cool thing> with it's verbs" but not be able to speak more than few words of Arabic. So essentially, this is a pretty broad topic, if you have a language-nerd kind of book that you would recommend for light reading, please let me know! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5670 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 2 of 8 14 May 2011 at 10:17am | IP Logged |
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If you want an easy to read book on languages, packed with interesting facts, then you
can't go wrong with The Loom of Language 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5321 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 3 of 8 14 May 2011 at 10:24am | IP Logged |
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For Arabic I can definitely recommend All the Arabic You Never Learned the First Time Around. See also this HTLAL thread.
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| Keilan Senior Member Canada Joined 5087 days ago 125 posts - 241 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 4 of 8 14 May 2011 at 10:31am | IP Logged |
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Thanks! I now have Splog's book on hold at the library and will be printing the Arabic one shortly. Much appreciated! :)
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| wv girl Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5240 days ago 174 posts - 330 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 8 14 May 2011 at 1:32pm | IP Logged |
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I'm a fan of John McWhorter's Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English. He's really very funny
and although it sounds like an academic book, it's easy to read. There are interesting facts that you could drop about English and its relatives. It's nerdy to admit this, but this was the first book on my summer reading list 2-3 years ago! I got it and headed happily to the beach! He also wrote The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language, which I glanced through. Again, lots of interesting information, but written in a very entertaining style. I also really enjoyed some chapters of Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages. There were sections about Yiddish and Provencal, if I remember correctly. Interesting! Happy reading! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 budonoseito Pro Member United States budobeyondtechnRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5806 days ago 261 posts - 344 votes Studies: French, Japanese Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 8 14 May 2011 at 2:28pm | IP Logged |
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The Language Instinct by Seven Pinker is very good too.
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| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5131 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 8 of 8 14 May 2011 at 3:02pm | IP Logged |
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If you can read Italian, I can recommend "Lingue d'Europa" by Fiorenzo Toso.
It's a fairly large book at just over 600 pages, but it's not heavy reading. About a third of the book is devoted to languages in the Italian peninsula, but the book also goes into good detail of all European (and extra European) languages, including regional and minority languages. It covers the the progression of the languages and all their influences. Published in 2006, Baldini Castoldi Dalai publishing. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 14 May 2011 at 3:03pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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