foreign language, n.Trivia

James Joyce was said to have been able to speak 17 languages (but it was probably less than that)

Nüshu, a woman-only Chinese script, used it to write letters, poetry, and even autobiographies. Woman who knew Nüshu arguably had far more intellectual freedom because men could not read it.

More han 50% of the world's population can speak two languages

The native tribe of Tierra del Fuego has a language so guttural it cannot have an alphabet.

New York is the most linguistically-diverse city in the world, with over 800 languages represented

Babies brought up in a bilingual environment have stronger working memories than those brought up with only one language.

Papua New Guinea (population 8 million) is home to 820 different spoken languages (complete languages, not dialects)

Nicaraguan sign language developed spontaneously in the 1970s and 1980s by deaf children who attended newly built schools for the deaf.

An estimated 31,000 languages have existed.

Herbert Hoover and his wife spoke Mandarin in the White House to avoid eavesdroppers.

New York is a diverse city --- New York taxi drivers collectively speak about 60 languages.

There are over 2,000 recognized languages spoken in Africa. Africa is the most language-rich continent on the planet.

American sign language and British sign language are completely different languages.

Leaving without telling anyone is called a "French Exit" in English and an "English Exit" in French.

People have been shown to think more rationally in their second language and make better choices.

Twins are often linguistically inventive --- 40% of twins invent their own language.

Killer whales have been known to learn to speak dolphin in captivity

Joseph Conrad did not speak English until he was in his twenties.