Is English broken? Do bad grammar, slang, and illogical constructions signal a decline in standards of usage? Do e-mail and text messages corrupt the art of writing? In short, is our language going to the dogs?
Far from being a language in decline, English is the product of surprisingly varied linguistic forces, some of which have only recently come to light. And these forces continue to push English in new directions.
Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage, by linguist and Professor John McWhorter of Columbia University, dispels the cloud of confusion that clings to English, giving you a crystal-clear view of why we use it the way we do and where it fits into the diverse languages of the world. After completing these 24 lectures, you will think about how you use English in a new way and take joy in speaking such a wonderfully idiosyncratic tongue. As you discover in Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths of Language Usage, the evidence is all around you: in the speech you hear in public places and on television, in the always-innovative slang of the young, on the printed page and Internet, and in your own mouth. "Part of being a healthy society is being proud of one's language," says Professor McWhorter. In this exciting course, he gives you every reason to be a proud, informed, and more self-aware speaker of English.
All Lectures:
1. Alarm over the Decay of English
2. Surprises in the Ancestry of Old English
3. Not Exactly Anglo-Saxon
4. Don't Forget the Celtic Connection
5. From Insider Language to Lingua Franca
6. English as Easy German
7. The Viking Conquest of English
8. How the Words of Modern English Emerged
9. Black English - The Streamlining Continues
10. Honored Conceits of Blackboard Grammar
11. Pronoun Fashions Come and Go
12. Wrong Then, Proper Now - and Vice Versa
13. A Procession of Accidents and Fossils
14. The Pursuit of Logic in Language
15. Clarity as the Logic of Language
16. 20th-Century Fashions from Strunk & White
17. The Kinds of Grammar You Don't Hear About
18. Linguists Uncovering Grammar We All Use
19. Speech versus Writing - Different Languages
20. Speechmaking - From Oratory to Plain Speaking
21. The Old and New Styles of Writing
22. Got Poetry? Language with Spice
23. Why Texting Is Misunderstood
24. The Living Past and Future of English
