Alina Simone was born in the Soviet Union to Russian-speaking parents. She has given up on passing the language on to her daughter.
This isn’t the spelling bee that you watch on ESPN. This is Concurso nacional de Deletreo en Español, the National Spanish Spelling Bee.
Dutch-born writer Gaston Dorren grew up speaking two languages, fell in love in a third, and added a fourth, fifth and sixth along the way. His book about Europe's many languages is called "Lingo."
Many Lebanese speak a full-on mix of Arabic, French and English. Calling this linguistic melange a "mother tongue" started out as a joke, but now it's become a part of Lebanon's national identity — even if it means that sometimes people don't understand what they are saying.
What is it about Texas that sparks the global imagination? Persian and Turkish both have an expression that means, "This is not Texas." The Norwegian adjective, 'Texas' means out of control.
"Inja Texas nist" means, "It's not Texas here" in Persian. You say it to someone who is flouting the rules or behaving obnoxiously.
When he first arrived in America, Afghan student Ali Shahidy knew his English was ready to tackle the tough language of academia. But he never expected to be tripped up by lunch at a fast food restaurant.
Despite what grammar sticklers think, there was never a golden age of pure English: the language has always been an unruly mishmash of other languages. Just consult the Venerable Bede, a 7th century monk who documented the beginnings of English.
Before it became the predominant language of Israel, Hebrew hadn't been spoken for 1,700 years. That's presenting a challenge for the editors of the "Historical Dictionary of the Hebrew Language."