Why do some Spanish speakers use adaptations of certain English terms when there’s already a perfectly good word for the same thing in Spanish? Sometimes the result is called “Spanglish.” For example, Spanish cuentas means “bills,” but some Spanish...
The new play English by Iranian-American playwright Sanaz Toossi powerfully evokes the challenges and rewards and changes involved in struggling to gain fluency in another language. Reviewing the play in the The New Yorker, Alexandra Schwartz...
What’s the most common street name in the United States? Hint: It’s not Main Street or Third Street. It’s also not First Street. You’ll find the answer, along with lots of other fascinating information, in The Address Book: What Street Addresses...
Imagine trying to tell someone how to get to your home without using the name of your street, or for that matter, the names of any other nearby streets. That challenge makes you realize just how much we take for granted the words we use to tell...
Rosa recalls that when she was growing up in Karnes City, Texas, in the 1960s, she and other Mexican-American children were segregated into a separate classroom and forbidden to speak Spanish at school. Her teachers also replaced her first name...
In the United States alone, there are 15 different pronunciations of the word water! This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Pronunciations of Water” Hello, you have A Way with Words. Oh, hi, this is Toni. I’m from San Diego, California...
