Modern Languages

Why It Matters

Katrin Kohl

$72.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Polity Press
18 December 2020

linguistics

Series: Why It Matters

It might seem as if globalization is making the whole world speak English. But spend time in any major city and you are likely to encounter a cornucopia of languages. Even monolingual people have different ways of speaking to their bosses or teachers, their intimate friends or their pets. And if you live in India or Nigeria, you might use five different languages during a typical day.

Katrin Kohl makes a passionate case for why we must embrace languages in all their diversity. When you study a language, you open a unique doorway into the world, immerse yourself in a different way of seeing, and discover new ways of communicating with people from different cultures on their terms. Kohl argues that language diversity is of vital importance to human societies, sustaining the complexity of human nature, culture and technology. We should care about preserving it as much as we care about preserving the diversity of our biological world.

By: Katrin Kohl
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 193mm, Width: 125mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 249g
ISBN: 9781509540532
ISBN 10: 1509540539
Series: Why It Matters
Pages: 140
Publication Date: 18 December 2020
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Katrin Kohl is Professor of German Literature at the University of Oxford.

Reviews for Modern Languages: Why It Matters

'Anyone who thinks English is enough should read this book! It is a well-grounded, elegant and passionate appeal to halt our descent into the fruitless desert of monolingualism.' David Bellos, Princeton University 'A powerful and timely explanation of the discipline of Modern Languages and why it is fundamentally important both to universities and society.' Charles F. Burdett, Durham University 'Modern Languages is a clear and engaging reminder to monolingual first-language English speakers of their responsibility to respect, embrace and promote linguistic diversity.' Times Literary Supplement