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martin_reading_yay's review against another edition
4.0
There is a lot I really liked about this book, especially the six chapters following people who are current speakers of endangered languages - the book really shines there. My biggest complaint is that the beginning of the book is quite dense and hard to understand. A lot of linguistic terminology is thrown at you and I honestly don’t think it was needed if this was intended for a general audience.
I will say my favorite bit of the book was about the story of immigration and New York, so interesting and so much I had never known.
Would recommend but if the beginning is loosing you skip to the chapters about the language speakers!!
I will say my favorite bit of the book was about the story of immigration and New York, so interesting and so much I had never known.
Would recommend but if the beginning is loosing you skip to the chapters about the language speakers!!
marisaka42's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
This was such an interesting read! I listened to the audiobook and it was so cool to hear recordings of the native speakers!
robochristine's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Really interesting book about lesser known languages in NYC, through the lives and examples of 6 speakers. The audiobook version gives you the opportunity to actually hear these languages (briefly), which is super cool. I loved that there was a section on Lenape; so many of our place names in PA and NJ are from their language.
bookook's review
I had high hopes for this, but I found it dry and uninteresting, despite the subject. Most lists and jargon than I wanted to stomach. Also, it was weird to me that the author doesn't make the case for why we should care about endangered languages until 50 pages in. It's not that I don't know why, or don't believe this is important, but it makes the book feel strangely hollow and dry without this motivation early on.
abookishtype's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
At the time of writing, the current population of New York City is 8.468 million people. In 2018, 3.1 million of these residents were immigrants. These 3.1 million—and the millions of immigrants before them, all the way back to the founding of New Amsterdam in 1624—brought their languages with them. In Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, linguist Ross Perlin talks about New York City as an unexpected repository for the world’s languages, from the most widely spoken to some of the most rarely spoken. He highlights the work of staff and volunteers at the Endangered Languages Alliance to record and preserve languages on the rarer end of things...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
ankteckningar's review
4.0
I wish I had this book back when I was a wee linguistic student! It's filled with interesting descriptions about all kinds of minority languages and the people that try to save them. Although minority languages was never my niche it is nevertheless a fascinating topic, and an important one at that. I belive this book will appeal not only to just students of linguistics but to a wide variety of people interested in the richness of the human experience.
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