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katiescho741's review
5.0
It's difficult to find quality books about language that aren't heavy, academic, and dull. So I'm so glad I read Babel!
Dorren gives us a chapter on each of the 20 most spoken languages in the world and I loved the different approaches he has to them all. He discusses loan words, tenses, writing systems, political history, personal experience...this book is a gold mine for people who love languages, and there is some further reading at the back too.
Dorren's writing style has an informal feel but it's very informative and readable. Of course things get technical at times, but this book is just brilliant for learning a little bit about 20 languages. I found the section on Swahili and multilingualism in Africa to be the most interesting, as well as the points he makes about English vs other languages. I really enjoyed the "the weirdness index" of languages too.
This book is just great. Read it if you're into langauges!
Dorren gives us a chapter on each of the 20 most spoken languages in the world and I loved the different approaches he has to them all. He discusses loan words, tenses, writing systems, political history, personal experience...this book is a gold mine for people who love languages, and there is some further reading at the back too.
Dorren's writing style has an informal feel but it's very informative and readable. Of course things get technical at times, but this book is just brilliant for learning a little bit about 20 languages. I found the section on Swahili and multilingualism in Africa to be the most interesting, as well as the points he makes about English vs other languages. I really enjoyed the "the weirdness index" of languages too.
This book is just great. Read it if you're into langauges!
brookefromearth's review
Interesting at times, but not that gripping. I skimmed or skipped through a lot and read my the chapters about my languages of interest. As a wannabe polyglot, I was hoping for more from this book. Still a cool concept, I learned a few things.
Not rating this one.
Not rating this one.
natgeographic's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
Very interesting, and pretty accessible to the average reader, but sometimes a bit too involved to keep my interest.