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Why Do You Speak As You Do?: A Guide to World Languages
An introduction to the ever-evolving study of language teaches about the roots of language, how it has traveled, and how linguists track the history of words.
66 pages, Library Binding
Published July 1, 1992
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August 30, 2016Why Do You Speak As You Do provides introductory information on language and accent acquisition, the way languages are related (or not), and describes many of the languages around the world.
As a brief introduction to linguistics, Kay Cooper's book comes through. Focusing mainly on the German and Romance languages that mainly impact English, she also dedicates space to other languages from around the world. Providing historical context to why people have the accents they do helps personalize the information for the reader.
Cooper, who has won the "Outstanding Science Trade Book Award" multiple times, has created a text heavy volume that works for middle school and up. This book contains good reference material and could be used in a number of language classes and remains at a level accessible to middle schoolers doing research for a project. Brandon Kruse provides entertaining cartoons at the chapter breaks, but the illustrations are probably not going to stand out to students.
This is not likely to be a "fun" read for students, as it is text heavy non-fiction with very few illustrations, but the text is relatively lively and packs in quite a few "fun facts". This is an essential purchase for larger public libraries, while remaining a supplemental purchase for most middle or high school libraries, unless they have linguistics as part of the curriculum.
As a brief introduction to linguistics, Kay Cooper's book comes through. Focusing mainly on the German and Romance languages that mainly impact English, she also dedicates space to other languages from around the world. Providing historical context to why people have the accents they do helps personalize the information for the reader.
Cooper, who has won the "Outstanding Science Trade Book Award" multiple times, has created a text heavy volume that works for middle school and up. This book contains good reference material and could be used in a number of language classes and remains at a level accessible to middle schoolers doing research for a project. Brandon Kruse provides entertaining cartoons at the chapter breaks, but the illustrations are probably not going to stand out to students.
This is not likely to be a "fun" read for students, as it is text heavy non-fiction with very few illustrations, but the text is relatively lively and packs in quite a few "fun facts". This is an essential purchase for larger public libraries, while remaining a supplemental purchase for most middle or high school libraries, unless they have linguistics as part of the curriculum.
February 22, 2014
This is a well written book for children who are preparing to learn a second language. It covers all of the basics regarding linguistics and shows how the world's languages are related. Target audience: 6th grade+
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews