Englishistheworldlanguage,exceptthatmostoftheworlddoesn’tspeakit--onlyoneinfivepeopledoes.Dorrencalculatesthattospeakfluentlywithhalfoftheworld’s7.4billionpeopleintheirmothertongues,youwouldneedtoknownofewerthantwentylanguages.Hesetsouttoexplorethesetoptwentyworldlanguages,whichrangefromthefamiliar(French,Spanish)tothesurprising(Malay,Javanese,Bengali).Babelwhisksthereaderonadelightfuljourneytoeverycontinentoftheworld,tracinghowtheseworldlanguagesrosetogreatnesswhileothersfellawayandshowinghowspeakerstodayhandlethefoiblesoftheirmothertongues.Whethershowcasingtongue-tyingphoneticsorelegantbutcomplicatedwritingscripts,andmind-bendingquirksofgrammar,Babelvividlyillustratesthatmothertonguesarelikenations:eachhasitsowncustomsandbeliefsthatseemasself-evidenttothosebornintoitastheyaresurprisingtotheoutsideworld.Amongmanyotherthings,BabelwillteachyouwhymodernTurkscan’treadbooksthatareamere75yearsold,whatitmeansinpracticeforRussianandEnglishtoberelatives,andhowJapanesedevelopedseparate“dialects“formenandwomen.DorrenletsyouinonhispersonaltrialsandtriumphswhilestudyingVietnameseinHanoi,debunkstenwidespreadmythsaboutChinesecharacters,anddiscoversthatSwahilibecamethelinguafrancainapartoftheworldwherepeopleroutinelyspeakthreeormorelanguages.Witty,fascinatingandutterlycompelling,Babelwillchangethewayyoulookatandlistentotheworldandhowitspeaks.
