How Good is Your English?
Ben Yagoda is the author of nine books, including: "Memoir: A History" and "When You Catch an Adjective Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse." You can read more about him at...
View ArticleGood Writing: On the Endangered List?
Ben Yagoda, a professor of English and Journalism at the University of Delaware wrote an article in this week's Chronicle of Education called “The Elements of Clunk” in which he laments some currently...
View ArticleThe Grammar Police on 'You Are What You Speak'
From English teachers to grammar grouches, people have been complaining for generations that the English language is going down the drain. As they see it, our vocabularies are shrinking, our grammar is...
View ArticleThe Bilingual Advantage
Americans have long debated whether the U.S. should have an official state language. The issue has been back in the spotlight in recent days since Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum said,...
View ArticleHow's Your English? A Celebration of Grammatical Sins
Am I disinterested or uninterested? Does this require a that or a which? And when, if ever, should I be using the word "very"?We're not looking to start a mutiny here, but according to former...
View ArticleThe Worst New Words of 2014
Remember those glorious days, back when we didn't say things like "wearables" or know the meaning of "YOLO"?Every year, new words take off and old ones die. Some words are preposterous, and some might...
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Immigrants Rally At City Hall
New York City immigrants outside of City Hall ParkNew York City immigrants want federal stimulus money to be used for job training and English language education. Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of...
View Article#2920: What's New With Joby Talbot?
English composer Joby Talbot joins John Schaefer for this New Sounds program to present excerpts from recent scores for the opera stage, dance, film, and television. Talbot contributed the playful...
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Storytelling as an English Lesson
Story StudioOne child's drawing to illustrate his immigrant experience.Sharing personal stories helps some middle school students learn English as their second -- or third or fourth -- language, even...
View ArticleMothers Create a Grammar Guide for the Text Generation
Geraldine Onorato had noticed that the grammar skills of her son Hunter were beginning to slip while he was in middle school at Junior High School 167 Robert F. Wagner on the Upper East Side. Still,...
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Mad Libs and Dangling Participles
The most seemingly mundane aspects of English teaching tend to provoke the most intense controversies in the classroom. Grammar, the necessary “evil” that we cannot sidestep as English educators, is an...
View ArticleCity Instructs Schools to Expand Common Core Introduction
WNYCScience and social studies classes could look a little different next year as all New York City schools gradually adapt to a new set of curriculum standards.The standards, called the Common Core,...
View ArticleW. Somerset Maugham Contemplates the Future of American Writers
In this 1950 speech given at a Books and Authors Luncheon, W. Somerset Maugham lays out his surprisingly detailed plan for a foreign academy to promote the growth of American literature.Maugham's...
View ArticleAlec Waugh's Martinique, and a Brotherly Deed to the World
In this amusing, time-capsule of a talk, given at a 1956 Books and Authors Luncheon to promote his best-selling novel Island In the Sun, Alec Waugh explains how he came to write about the West...
View ArticleWhen Bad Grammar Happens To (Mostly) Good Music
We each have songs that, to our particular ear, sound like nails on a chalkboard. And some songs should be deconstructed on a chalkboard…for bad grammar. I’m not talking about slang, colloquialisms, or...
View ArticleIt's Idiomatic
Christine Ammer, author of more than three dozen reference books, including The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition, gets to the heart of American English idiomatic phrases and...
View ArticleLie Lady Lie: National Grammar Day and Music
Recently, our regular contributor Faith Salie took to the Soundcheck blog to air her grievances about bad grammar in music. From Paula Cole to Eric Clapton to Leonard Cohen, it turns out that musicians...
View ArticleWord Maven: Patricia T. O'Conner on Mother's Day
Our word maven Patricia T. O'Conner talks about the apostrophe and Mother's Day. She’ll also answer questions about language and grammar. An updated and expanded third edition of her book, Woe is I:...
View ArticleThis is America, Speak English
Radio Rookies Sam and Sydne both grew up in New York City and are used to hearing the polyglot of language that makes up the fabric of this city. The multitude of languages spoken in their communities...
View ArticleLosing Language
Grisel speaks Spanish at home with her mom in NYC, and during the summers with her dad and cousins in Puerto Rico. She never thought it was a gift to be bilingual, but her close friend Aura had a very...
View ArticleHate The Official World Cup Anthem? Try These Instead
The official song of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is called “We Are One,” by Cuban-American rapper Pitbull, featuring Jennifer Lopez and the Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitte. The response to it has...
View ArticleHow Bad English Became Good English
English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard...
View ArticleThe Scandalous History of Proper English
We are re-airing this interview which originally aired on June 30, 2014. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time...
View ArticlePaloma Faith: A British Pop Star Goes Incognito In New York
Paloma Faith is a big-deal pop star in the U.K. -- she's currently got a number one single on the charts there, guesting on the drum and bass duo Sigma's track "Changing." Her brassy, bluesy voice...
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Songs In The Key Of Strife
Teddy Thompson was six years old when his parents, English folk rockers Richard and Linda Thompson, split up. The breakup coincided with the release of the duo's most successful album. They were on...
View ArticleReport: Immigrants Are Fitting in Just Fine
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.Donald Trump, the leading Republican presidential contender, has staked his ground on the dangers posed by immigrants, documented and...
View ArticleMelissa Clark's Guide to Springtime Farmers Markets, the Evolution of the...
Melissa Clark talks about some early season favorites, plus recipes and tips on how to be a smart farmers market shopper! Author Nathaniel Philbrick explores the tragic relationship between George...
View ArticleLearning a Second Language to Speak a First
Apparently, being a native speaker may not have the benefits you’d think. Spencer Hazel explains why ESL is sometimes more useful than plain old English.
View ArticleYou Say 'Pop,' I Say 'Soda'
Josh Katz, New York statistician and the author of Speaking American: How Y'all, Youse , and You Guys Talk: A Visual Guide (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), expanded his popular 2013 interactive...
View ArticleLearning a Second Language to Speak a First
Apparently, being a native speaker may not have the benefits you’d think. Spencer Hazel explains why ESL is sometimes more useful than plain old English.
View ArticleLearning a Second Language to Speak a First
Apparently, being a native speaker may not have the benefits you’d think. Spencer Hazel explains why ESL is sometimes more useful than plain old English.
View ArticleIn Queens Criminal Court, Some Judges Call Out Jurors on Their English
An investigation by the New York Daily News has found that at least four criminal court judges in Queens have repeatedly singled out potential jurors for having limited English skills.Being able to...
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