Foreign Language

Actors Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in a scene from Marriage Story. The award-winning 2019 film can be watched with audio description that conveys scenes to viewers who are visually impaired. But Parasite, another popular award-winner, has not inclu

There's A Better Way To 'Dub' Movie Audio For Visually Impaired Fans

8:57am August 19, 2020

by Jason Strother

Most non-English films made outside the U.S. are inaccessible to many of the 26.9 million visually impaired Americans. "Dubbing just tells us the dialogue," one disability rights activist explains.

In this 2011 photo, Hu Jintao, then China's president, visits the Confucius Institute at the Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago. China established more than 100 Confucius Institutes, which provide language and culture programs, at U.

As Scrutiny Of China Grows, Some U.S. Schools Drop A Language Program

12:31pm July 17, 2019

by Greg Myre

At least 13 U.S. universities have shut down their Confucius Institutes, which are funded by China's government. Critics say the program could be used to recruit spies or steal university research.

Abbas' family has invested heavily in his education, hoping that eventual fluency in Mandarin will lead to a good job that will allow him to help finance the education of his younger siblings.

In Pakistan, Learning Chinese Is Cool — And Seen As A Path To Prosperity

4:38pm October 09, 2018

China's billions in infrastructure investment have led to growing number of Pakistanis eager to learn Mandarin and study in China. Beijing is giving thousands of scholarships to Pakistanis.

Queue Listen Now

Having volunteers who are learning German answer questions about grammar and semantics of the language while inside an MRI machine might show particular patterns in brain changes, researchers say. They hope their study could offer clues to how the brain b

Learning German In The Name Of Science And Cross-Cultural Collaboration

5:21pm January 03, 2017

by Joe Palca

Ninety young Syrian refugees are teaming up with neuroscientists in Leipzig to figure out the quickest and best way to teach German as a second language. Vocabulary first, or grammar early on, too?

Siatta Scott Johnson (at right), who has guided NPR journalists through Liberia and its lingo, advises two girls on how best to carry bananas and bread.

World News

From 'Big Jues' To 'Tay-Tay Water,' A Quick Guide To Liberian English

3:12pm November 07, 2014

by Michaeleen Doucleff

An NPR reporter found that Liberian English is ... kind of like English and kind of like nothing you've heard before. Just stick an "o" at the end of a phrase if you're happy, and you're on your way.