Will I ever learn Chinese

Language learning and linguistic fieldwork: the excitement of the puzzle

Jeanette Sakel Season 1 Episode 28

Send us a text

I love puzzles, be it crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles or the puzzle that is learning or analysing another language. My PhD thesis, for example, is a grammatical description of the small Amazonian indigenous language Mosetén. I was working with speakers of the language to record and then analyse the language and its structures. During that process, I learnt to speak Mosetén as well. I realised that I was using many techniques I had learned during my fieldwork in the Amazon when learning Chinese. Should we, perhaps, approach language learning from the perspective of linguistic fieldwork? Should researchers working on languages make an effort to learn those languages? This episode is a celebration of the wonder that is figuring out how a languages works, solving a gigantic puzzle.

Support the show

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

Chicken to Duck Talk / 鸡同鸭讲 Artwork

Chicken to Duck Talk / 鸡同鸭讲

Jeanette Sakel, Xingzhi Zheng