Social Linguistics

With his trademark humor and flair, bestselling linguist John McWhorter busts the myths and shares the history of the most controversial language topic of our times: pronouns.

"When we are happy, we are always good," says Lord Henry, "but when we are good, we are not always happy." Lord Henry’s lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party. Oxford Bookworms Library reader for learners of English, adapted from the Oscar Wilde original by Jill Nevile.

The time is the American Civil War: Southern plantation-owner Peyton Farquahr has been condemned to death for spying against the Union cause. As he prepares to be hanged from the Owl Creek Bridge, Farquahr morosely contemplates his fate and fondly recalls his loving wife.

"If Shakespeare were alive today, he'd sound like an American." "English accents are the sexiest." "Americans have ruined the English language." "Technology means everyone will have to speak the same English." Such claims about the English language are often repeated but rarely examined. Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In The Prodigal Tongue she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and American English.

A mind-expanding, deeply humane tour of language by the best-selling author of Born on a Blue Day and Thinking in Numbers.

From “one of the most brilliant young psychologists of her generation” (Paul Bloom), a groundbreaking examination of how speech causes some of our deepest social divides—and how it can help us overcome them.

Edgar Rice Burroughs tells us the story of the lost English prince, Richard, whom fate turns into an outlaw preying on the nobility of England. With tons of adventure, cross, and double cross, this tale will keep you engrossed from beginning to end.

Half of all 7,000-plus human languages may disappear over the next century, and when they're gone, it will be forever. Ross Perlin, a linguist and codirector of the Manhattan-based non-profit Endangered Language Alliance, is racing against time to map little-known languages across the most linguistically diverse city in history: contemporary New York.

Most people traditionally train only the conventional aspects of their abilities, they focus on the technical skills of a task. However there is another layer, an emotional and behavioral set of factors which can really make the biggest impact on the results you can achieve. That is where neuro-linguistic programming comes in. NLP techniques are designed to help you tap into those top level mindsets when required. But most people aren't equipped with the right strategies or outlook on NLP to really make it work.

English is the world language, except that most of the world doesn’t speak it - only one in five people does. Dorren calculates that to speak fluently with half of the world’s 7.4 billion people in their mother tongues, you would need to know no fewer than 20 languages. He sets out to explore these top 20 world languages, which range from the familiar (French, Spanish) to the surprising (Malay, Javanese, Bengali).

What if you knew how to sell on the subconscious level? What if you knew the tactics and techniques that allowed you to penetrate through your customer’s conscious faculty and reach them on a deep and influential level? What if you knew exactly how to produce the emotional reaction that would cause them to buy? What if you knew how to read your customer’s body language so well that you could lead them to the decision you wanted, with ease? Listen to find out more.

Like Tom Jones before him, Barry Lyndon is one of the most lively and roguish characters in English literature. He may now be best known through the colorful Stanley Kubrick film released in 1975, but it is Thackeray who, in true 19th-century style, shows him best.

Scientifically proven methods to create connection with anyone you meet. This is your blueprint for social success.

Hailed as the father of the naturalist novel, French author and playwright Honoré de Balzac left a legacy of treasured literary works that include Père Goriot and Cousin Bette. The daughter of a wealthy but miserly man, Eugénie Grandet falls in love with her penniless cousin, Charles. The two plan to marry, but at the behest of her father, Charles must first go overseas to make his fortune. Returning years later, Charles calls off the engagement, leaving Eugénie heartbroken and vengeful.

Leaves of Grass is the written expression of Whitman's view of life and humanity in the form of poetry. The author masterfully connects each poem in some way, while infusing his prose with his own philosophy. This collection is unique for its time due to the emphasis the author puts on pleasures of the flesh, without resorting to symbolism to any great extent.

As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God, gentiles, children, and everything else.

In The Napoleon of Notting Hill, his first novel, G. K. Chesterton creates a witty satire of staid government, set in a London of the future. Auberon Quinn, a common clerk who looks like a cross between a baby and an owl and is often seen standing on his head, is one day told that he has been randomly selected to be His Majesty the King. He decides to turn London into a medieval carnival for his own amusement - with delightful results.

¿Qué pasiones y valores se esconden detrás de una e, una “x” o una “@”? El tema central sobre el lenguaje inclusivo fue desarrollado para reflexionar sobre este fenómeno lingüístico y sus implicaciones sociales. Chilango para todes es un recorrido a través de la historia del lenguaje inclusivo y su presente.

Almost everyone swears, or worries about not swearing, from the two year-old who has just discovered the power of potty mouth to the grandma who wonders why every other word she hears is obscene. Whether they express anger or exhilaration, are meant to insult or to commend, swear words perform a crucial role in language. But swearing is also a uniquely well-suited lens through which to look at history, offering a fascinating record of what people care about on the deepest levels of a culture - what's divine, what's terrifying, and what's taboo.

The survivors of the shipwrecked 18th century vessel Glen Carrig fight for their lives amidst a vast continent of weeds. Mysterious wrecks, horrific monsters, and swashbuckling adventure!