Learn · TED

Talk10 min

4 reasons to learn a new language

John McWhorter · TED

Watch At TED

About

English is fast becoming the world's universal language, and instant translation technology is improving every year. So why bother learning a foreign language? Linguist and Columbia professor John McWhorter shares four alluring benefits of learning an unfamiliar tongue.

The talk

  1. 4 reasons to learn a new language 10 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED2016
Speaker
John McWhorter
Year
2016
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Society and politics, Literature and writing, Languages and linguistics, Teaching and learning
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed