Subtitle

Istanbul's Gezi Park protests have produced a new word, funny chants and songs with daringly rewritten lyrics. Even though they are being pushed out of public places, the protesters want to maintain the spirit of inventiveness and irony.

The World in Words is a podcast about languages and the people who speak them. What happens to the brain on bilingualism? Does it matter that so many languages are dying out? Should we fear the rise of global English? Is the United States losing its linguistic cohesion? Why are Chinese tech words so inventive? Why does Icelandic have so many cool swearwords? Patrick Cox and Nina Porzucki bring you stories from the world’s linguistic frontlines. Also at pri.org/language

If an immigration bill in the Senate becomes law, millions of people will need to learn English to become permanent US residents. That can be hard, but in California there's a program that gives immigrant janitors an opportunity to learn English at work.

Germany has done away with what is arguably the longest word in the German language, a barely pronounceable word relating to a former law on the origin of beef.

There's a newly emboldened group in Pakistan. They're westernized, relatively elite members of society who are often referred to as "burgers." Reporter Fahad Desmukh explains from Karachi.

Tuesday is the 24th anniversary of the brutal crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Chinese censors have banned all online mentions of the incident. And? "Big Yellow Duck." Rachel Lu of Tea Leaf Nation, explains to host Marco Werman.

Chinese teen Ding Jinhao etched onto a 3500 relic in Egypt and caused a global uproar but 3500 years ago he might've been applauded. Anchor, Marco Werman speaks with Egyptologist, Chloe Ragazzoli about the significance of graffiti in ancient times.

English spelling is getting worse in India. But India is not the United States, where Indian-Americans clean up year after year at the National Spelling Bee

For decades, Brits have complained about American contamination of British English. More recently, the reverse has been taking place: British expressions are elbowing their way into American speech. So far, Americans don't seem to mind.

The World in Words is a podcast about languages and the people who speak them. What happens to the brain on bilingualism? Does it matter that so many languages are dying out? Should we fear the rise of global English? Is the United States losing its linguistic cohesion? Why are Chinese tech words so inventive? Why does Icelandic have so many cool swearwords? Patrick Cox and Nina Porzucki bring you stories from the world’s linguistic frontlines. Also at pri.org/language