The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition

De: Seth Lerer, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Seth Lerer

This course offers an overview of the English language that is literary, historical, cultural, political, and scientific in its scope and designed to give you greater insight into the written and spoken word.The lectures provide a thorough understanding of the history of the English language - from its origins as a dialect of the Germanic-speaking peoples through the literary and cultural documents of its 1,500-year span to the state of American speech today.

Professor Lerer defines concepts by illustrating them with copious examples. He often speaks in the dialect appropriate to each lecture - be it Old English, Chaucer’s Middle English, or the colloquial style of Mark Twain’s most unforgettable characters.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses

Overall Good

Overall I enjoyed the course. I didn't care for the professor's voice/accent but still learned from the course.

Excellent Coverage of the History of our Language

I enjoyed listening to this lecture series. It was comprehensive from Old English through modern effects of electronic communication. Obviously it couldn’t cover every aspect in detail but it provides a great basis on which to understand the major changes in the language, the trends in study of English and issues arising from various points of view.

Excellent

It was great. I loved every bit of it. It was professional and thorough. Highly recommend it.

English by great courses

Study of English, I did learn from Course but wish for something more. Good.

Loved it

I love the great courses series and this one was so good. I learned a lot and the professor was great

Good, But Could Be Better

This course is very interesting, although it could be better. The first two parts of the book are excellent with a wealth of historical information about the historical development of the English language going, well, back to the beginning. Really fascinating, and I felt like I learned a lot.

When the book gets to the later stages, however, it slips a bit. The professor lapses into more than a little political correctness, which is probably not surprising given his background. If you can take it or leave it, the discussion is still interesting.

The professor is not a bad lecturer, but he has one incredibly irritating habit: He says "if you like" all the time. It becomes glaringly obvious, especially given the length of the recording. Maybe the professor can fix this in the third edition.

Another irritation--although certainly not the professor's fault--is the trumpet music announcing each new chapter along with the fake applause (which also closes each chapter). Straight out of 1950s sound effects. Just plain awful and prevalent in the "Great Courses." But, fortunately, a small part of the recording.

Fascinating and informative

I listened to the first version of this course on cassette tapes way back in the day and found it truly fascinating. The second version contains much of the original material, and it was fun to be reminded of the things I had forgotten. It is a testament to the original course that I also remembered quite a lot! The new material at the end brings the history of English up to date by covering the ways in which new technologies are transforming the language. Professor Lerer presents the lectures at a perfect pace, uses great examples to illustrate abstract concepts, and clearly loves this material. His enthusiasm is infectious. Highly recommended as a way to learn not only the history of English but also some widely applicable principles of philology and linguistics.

History in a nifty Package

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly enjoyed learning the history of the English language. It was comprehensive and packed with history. The instructor speaks fluent Old English, Middle English, and modern English. He also has a firm grasp of all English dialects and accents. I enjoyed his voice, especially when he spoke in Old English. He made it clear how to translate older forms of English and why and when the pronunciations changed. I found this audio course riveting and would listen to it again. If you like history, you will love this course.

Impressive

Best taken in small doses. Lots of info that needs to be thought about and digested.

Excellent Lecture Series

His very frequent use of the conditional clause “if you like” might get on your nerves. However, the content, quality, and presentation is excellent. These lectures sing. I look forward to listening to them again probably in a year or so.