Language forms the backbone of communal existence. It doesn't take long to discover this if you've ever traveled to a place where you don't speak the language. "Where is the nearest bathroom?", "How ...

“All three dialects, sir.” –Lt. Uhura, Star Trek, 2009. Somewhere out in space, in the Beta quadrant of the Star Trek Universe, there’s a planet called Romulus. It’s a planet a bit bigger than Earth, ...

This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. My mother used to ...

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. After devoting his life to understanding the mechanics and music of languages, ...

There are several reasons why you may want to embark on a journey to learn a new language. Maybe you have an international trip on the horizon. It could be because you have non-English speaking family ...

Some may remember taking foreign language classes during school or in preparation for a new job or some travel. There are over 7,100 spoken languages in the world, according to Ethnologue. While it’s ...

Explore the Smithsonian Folklife Festival's "One World, Many Voices" program. Nearly half of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world are expected to vanish in the next 100 years. One of them is ...