In South Korea, mastery of American English is a status symbol. Families send their kids to academies chosen for their American instructors. We hear from an English teacher from Ireland who was told by a Korean recruiter, "You don't speak English."

There are mysteries aplenty in David Bowie's song lyrics, Jennifer Tseng's story of love and Noam Chomsky's theory about language. But do we really need to solve these mysteries?

Cheesesteaks, Peanut Chews, Tasty Cakes, oh yeah, the Liberty Bell – there’s so much to love about Philadelphia but one of the best things about the city of Brotherly Love is the accent. This week on the podcast we learn about the Philadelphia accent in American Sign Language. What is an accent in ASL? ASL speaker and researcher Jami Fisher explains it all. She is part of the team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania who is working on the study to document this “weird” as she calls it way of signing. Plus, we hear from the actors of the Broadway musical, “Spring Awakening.” This new production features 8 deaf actors. John Hockenberry from our friends at The Takeaway got the chance to interview some of the actors.

Israeli linguist Arik Sadan is an authority on the Arabic language. Palestinian Sobhi Bahloul is Gaza's best-known Hebrew teacher. The two have never met.

In the wake of the Paris Attack French President François Hollande was quick to denounce the alleged attackers, 'Daesh.' Many people call this same jihadist group ISIS. Alternatively they've been called ISIL and even the Islamic State. But many in the Arab speaking world and increasingly Western leaders have taken to calling the group 'Daesh.' This week in the podcast we explore the meaning of the term 'Daesh.'

Many Lebanese speak a full-on mix of Arabic, French and English. Calling this linguistic melange a "mother tongue" started out as a joke, but now it's become a part of Lebanon's national identity — even if it means that sometimes people don't understand what they are saying. Also, to be a Lakota Indian how much of the language do you need to speak?

Adele, the Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj, The Killers, Snow – what do these artists all have in common? Their accent. That is, the fact that they sometimes put on an accent other than their own when they sing. This week’s edition of The World in Words podcast we tackle the complicated questions that arise when artists sing in an accent that’s not their own. We’ll hear from linguists Bill Beeman and Jane Setter and ethnomusicologist Langston Wilkins as we explore what it means to fake the funk and “how” and “why” we do it. It’s a wild musical ride from the Rolling Stones to Cliff Richard and the Shadows to Iggy Azalea. Plus, Marco Werman, host of PRI’s The World and the newsroom’s resident music nerd makes a special appearance on the podcast to take a musical accent quiz.

On a recent road trip reporter Dan Nosowitz and his girlfriend found themselves belting out the lyrics to a Blink-182 song in the highly affected style of lead singer Tom DeLonge. Singing in DeLonge’s nasal, Southern California surfer twang, is a hilarious way to pass the long hours on the road says Dan. But that road trip serenade got him thinking, what the heck was going on with DeLonge’s strange pop punk voice? He enlisted a linguist's help to find out. This week’s podcast we explore the strange vocal stylings of the lead singer of Blink-182, Tom DeLonge. We’ll learn about elongated vowels and rhotacism. Plus, we will talk about how the punk accent has evolved from New York City to London and in California. Come listen and sing along!

What is it about Texas that sparks the global imagination? Persian and Turkish both have an expression that means, "This is not Texas." The Norwegian adjective, 'Texas' means out of control.

Pope Francis has switched the official language of Vatican doctrine from Latin to Italian. He's also democratized his meetings with bishops. So why do some conservative bishops believe that contentious reforms are being deliberately lost in translation?