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lecture series great course languages mcwhorter listen subject concepts entertaining fascinating lectures engaging linguistics professor sense complete french generally humor interested knowledge
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Jennifer Lynn Thompson
1.0 out of 5 stars Parts 2 and 3 are missing.
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2019
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The description says it is the complete series but I only received 1 book when the cover clearly says part 1of 3. 2/3 of what I was wanting is missing. How can I even order the other 2 parts? I fear that I will never be able to study the entire series.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Parts 2 and 3 are missing.
By Jennifer Lynn Thompson on December 13, 2019
The description says it is the complete series but I only received 1 book when the cover clearly says part 1of 3. 2/3 of what I was wanting is missing. How can I even order the other 2 parts? I fear that I will never be able to study the entire series.
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T&W
1.0 out of 5 stars Worst customer service
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
Customer service is the worst! Very rude & stuck up. If you buy from Nature Reading store please know that you will get a bully on the other side. I paid for what was advertised as a complete set and I only received 1 out of 3 books. No thanks.
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fogi bear
5.0 out of 5 stars Exactly What I Was Seeking And Expecting
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2020
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A fascinating introduction to language as a fundamental human trait and discussion of how and why they have evolved and proliferated. You can sample the author’s subject and presentation style in his Slate podcast “Lexicon Valley “. Some may not enjoy him. I did.
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Roberts P Schafer
5.0 out of 5 stars VERY educational and VERY entertaining!
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Listening to John McWhorter lecturing is an absolute delight. I never imagined I could enjoy linguistics so much.
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Chupa
1.0 out of 5 stars only got part 2 of 3
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
I thought this was the complete set and was disappointed to only receive the 2nd book of 3 in the series
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Kerry
5.0 out of 5 stars very informative and interesting
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2021
Verified Purchase
well written and easy to understand even if you've never study linguistics before
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Virginia
1.0 out of 5 stars Really unfortunate
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2019
I wanted to like this Great Course, because it's full of interesting information, but I just can't with the lecturer's personal asides.

I was dismayed by the assertion in chapter 7 that "no one actually enjoys Shakespeare," because - dude, your opinion is not the same as fact, especially when critiquing a play you claim not to have even read (Tempest).

I was further dismayed by the comment that "you may look at this grammar and think that Chinese speakers are aliens" because that's really freaking racist. I didn't enjoy the comment that Europeans not having ice in their drinks means they drink "warm swill," because cultural narrow-mindedness much?

But when he said that the ancestor of the horse was "knee high, small enough to kick without getting hurt back" - I mean.

I don't want to hear a lecture from someone who's a bad person.
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Joanna D.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Great series of engaging lectures about language
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2020
Having studied two indo-European languages (French and German) and having had to learn a few other languages ad hoc, I was intrigued by this lecture series. What are language families and what IS the Indo-European family? What is Proto-Indo-European and can you talk it? Professor McWhorter is an engaging speaker with wry sense of humor and he's a Philadelphian (haha! only the best come from the City of Brotherly Love.) He is somewhat of a rebel in terms of being quite cavalier about prevailing linguistic theories and is unafraid to voice his own take on the massive subject. He's far from being a stuffy pedant. You'll be entertained, I promise. But there's gold here.

McWhorter's real talent is making a very intricate and deep subject amazingly approachable and memorable. When you listen to each lecture, you learn about language in terms of sounds changing (vowels, consonants, "fragile" H's, T's to D' s and so much more) and you also get a feel for the vast migration of humans from parts of the world to distant regions; how did Austronesians get from (maybe) Borneo to Madagascar in Africa--and retain their language? Fascinating.

You can buy a print book but the audiobook comes with a PDF of slides and text and it's great listening.

I could listen to him all day. There are 35 hours of good stuff here so plenty of enjoyable listening and you will have a fantastic feel for the subject of language when you complete the course. Will you have done Linguistics 101? No indeed. But you will have a wonderful idea of how great our ability to create language and how unique to humans.

Can't recommend enough.
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