English

How do te reo Maori words find their way in to children's speech in New Zealand and what context do they signify? In a With a new Marsden research grant, two linguists plan to investigate this.  Audio

In Dr Arika Okrent's latest book, Highly Irregular: Why Tough, Through, and Dough Don't Rhyme - and Other Oddities of the English Language, the linguist examines the weirdness of the English language… Audio

Exams can be stressful at the best of times, but imagine how it feels when you pit yourself against students around the globe and come out on top.

But top of the world is exactly where Justin Yang… Video, Audio

Sam Schoeller is based near Klosters  in Switzerland. He initially arrived in Switzerland 40 years ago in what was meant to be a short excursion to learn more about the country his father came from… Audio

Wellingtonian Ron Hanson has strong ties to Taiwan, having lived there on and off since the turn of the century.  He's Calling Home from the Nantun District of Taichung City, where he lives in a… Audio

Beau Jessup is not your typical British teen. The 19-year-old is making hundreds of thousands of dollars and funding her way through a B.Sc. Social Anthropology  by coming up with 'culturally… Audio

Roslyn Petelin is a staunch defender of proper grammar and style, and doesn't mind copping flak for being a language pedant. Roslyn joins the show to discuss mispronunciations, malapropisms, and some… Audio

Award-winning Chinese-born British author, filmmaker and Booker Prize judge Xiaolu Guo tells Kathryn Ryan about her new book A Lover's Discourse. A 'documentary novel' about love, language, and the… Audio

Steve and Jacqui Clark had to bunker down in Himatangi Beach Holiday Park after coming to New Zealand for a holiday and getting caught up in lockdown. However, they are about to leave the park and… Audio

Steve and Jacqui Clark have lived in Brunei for the last four years, but returned to NZ for a holiday just before the country's Covid-19 restrictions kicked into gear. The couple are now holed up in a… Audio

Victoria Hoult has been living and teaching in Porto Alegre for the past two and a half years. She and partner Ben have immersed themselves in the local community and culture and both love the… Audio

Decimate originally came from a term for taxation, then became a word for killing one in ten people. That meaning has changed, but some people don't want to let go. Audio

Dr. Hannes Gissurarson is a professor of political science at the University of Iceland, and he argues there is a systemic reason for the huge growth of smaller countries that are generally both… Audio

Existential has been chosen as word of the year 2019. What would be your word of the year and why? Audio

Joe Gillard has put together a handy guide of old timey linguistic gems that once gave colourful expression to the English language. Words like honeyfuggle (to flatter someone), ninnyhammer (fool) and… Audio

Mike Insley began learning Mandarin when he and his wife moved to China to work in a winery in the remote region of Ningxia in 2015. He's brushing up on his Mandarin skills as part of the NZ Chinese… Audio

Self-confessed language nerd, Ellen Jovin set up Grammar Table outside her Upper West Side apartment in New York and started answering questions about grammar. Audio

Wordsmith Paul Anthony Jones discusses his new book, Around the World in 80 Words, A Journey through the English language, which offers an insight into how 80 different place names are part of the… Audio