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Globish

How the English Language Became the World's Language

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
It seems impossible: a small island in the North Atlantic, colonized by Rome, then pillaged for hundreds of years by marauding neighbors, becomes the dominant world power in the nineteenth century. Equally unlikely, a colony of that island nation across the Atlantic grows into the military and cultural colossus of the twentieth century. How? By the sword, of course; by trade and industrial ingenuity; but principally, and most surprisingly, by the power of their common language.


In this provocative and compelling new look at the course of empire, Robert McCrum, coauthor of the bestselling book and television series The Story of English, shows how the language of the Anglo-American imperium has become the world's lingua franca. In fascinating detail he describes the ever-accelerating changes wrought on the language by the far-flung cultures claiming citizenship in the new hegemony. In the twenty-first century, writes the author, English + Microsoft = Globish.
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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The word "globish" refers to the spread of English around the world as an evolving language of business and pop culture. Before listeners learn about how English has been transformed in contemporary China, India, and Singapore, among other places, McCrum provides a history lesson on the language itself. James Langton makes the lesson interesting, even doing believable voices for key figures such as Winston Churchill. Still, there are points when the book slows down, and it takes a long time for it to get to the contemporary era, when the word "globish" was coined. While the history is important, some listeners may be disappointed by the lack of focus on the central topic, the spread of English since the Cold War. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 26, 2010
      McCrum explores why English has become dominant in the modern world, and, more significantly, how English is manipulated, reconceived, and negotiated by different cultures—and why. (according to the author) native English speakers no longer control the language. James Langton projects his crisp English accent with rhythm and command that keep listeners engaged, shifting dialects, accents, and vocal manipulations with ease. Listening to Langton's performance allows for a fuller understanding of the verbal differences analyzed in the book. A Norton hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 15).

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 15, 2010
      Britannia may not rule, but it still presides over the world's discourse, according to this sketchy, triumphalist chronicle of the English language. McCrum (The Story of English
      ), associate editor of Britain's Observer,
      surveys the latter-day apotheosis of English as the international language, observing Chinese English-language boot camps, Bangalore call centers, and the takeover of Britain's Man Booker prize by non-British novelists. But most of the book is a historical pageant of the English-speaking peoples as they assimilated, conquered, or enslaved foreigners and expropriated words and dialects under the leadership of statesmen/wordsmiths from King Alfred to Churchill and literary geniuses like Shakespeare and Twain. McCrum makes a pragmatic, happenstance case for the international popularity of English: the British Empire and American hegemony spread it around the planet, making it the obvious choice for a globalizing world's lingua franca. But he also advances a grander and less coherent brief for English as the language of individual freedom, democracy, and capitalism, contrasting its “contagious, adaptable, populist and subversive” spirit with the snobby elitism of French. That's a bit of language chauvinism that no linguistic analysis, especially one as cursory as McCrum's, can sustain.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1290
  • Text Difficulty:10-12

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