Tag Archives: foreign languages

The Intertwining of Hope and Waiting: A Cross-Linguistic and Theological-Philosophical White Paper

Posted on November 12, 2025 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper explores how the semantic fields of hope and waiting converge across languages and cultures. Using Spanish esperanza—which simultaneously evokes “hope” and “expectation”—as the central case, we trace similar patterns in Indo-European, Semitic, and East Asian languages. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, History, Musings | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Hebrew For Dummies

Posted on May 8, 2024 by nathanalbright

Hebrew For Dummies, by Jill Suzanne Jacobs This book is one that desperately wants to be hip and to show that a language that had been moribund for centuries, limited to liturgical use, had been resurrected like the Messiah as … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Lingo

Posted on January 11, 2024 by nathanalbright

Lingo: Around Europe In Sixty Languages, by Gaston Dorren I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more had it not been for the very beginning and very end of the book. In the first paragraph of the book proper, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Ethnologue Language Family Index

Posted on May 10, 2023 by nathanalbright

Ethnologue Language Family Index To The Thirteenth Edition To The Ethnologue, by Joseph E. Grimes & Barbara E. Grimes As this book consists of more than a hundred pages of languages listed one after another included as part of various … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

Babies, Bathwater, And Babel

Posted on March 15, 2022 by nathanalbright

For those of us who are interested in the Tower of Babel project [1], it is common that we will read writings that have been translated from Russian that seek to discuss the long-term history of human languages. Various different … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Musings | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Fluent Forever

Posted on November 2, 2020 by nathanalbright

Fluent Forever: How To Learn Any Language And Never Forget It, by Gabriel Wyner This book is sort of a sequel to that of many other books that discuss how it is that one gains fluency. This particular book discusses … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Fluent In 3 Months

Posted on November 2, 2020 by nathanalbright

Fluent In 3 Months: How Anyone At Any Age Can Learn To Speak Any Language From Anywhere In The World, by Beny Lewis This book has at least a little bit of the gimmicky nature of it, and it participates … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Through The Language Glass

Posted on October 16, 2020 by nathanalbright

Through The Language Glass: Why The World Looks Different In Other Languages, by Guy Deutscher This book rather thoughtfully engages a question that is in debate in linguistics and one that I have a deep personal interest in. The question … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Are Some Languages Better Than Others?

Posted on September 17, 2020 by nathanalbright

Are Some Languages Better Than Others?, by R.M.W. Dixion If I do not agree with everything this author has to say, I think the author at least deserves to be commended for a certain degree of bravery in his approach … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Book Review: My First Bilingual Book: Feelings / Serbonzinho

Posted on September 14, 2020 by nathanalbright

My First Bilingual Book: Feelings / Serbonzinho, by Milet Publishing Feelings are not simple matters in any language. A book that, as this book does, attempts to describe feelings honestly and sympathetically while doing justice to how they are to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , | Leave a comment