I loved Linguaphile! It’s beautifully written and a fascinating look into language and how we acquire it, interpret it, and use it - whether written, spoken, or signed. It made me reflect on my own relationship with language, particularly as a bilingual person who used one language at home and another in school from a young age. 

Throughout the book, the author also addresses links between language and social norms; for instance, how men and women are perceived as speakers when using the same linguistic signals, and how communication styles and interpretation can differ around the world. In doing so, she includes many different insights and perspectives from various cultures, age groups, and genders as well as the use of signed languages and Protactile language.

Rather than being a solely academic text, Linguaphile is part-memoir. I feel that this personal aspect and outlook makes a book like this more accessible to a wide range of readers, who will be able to compare and contrast with their own life experiences of, and relationships with, language. For those who want to dive deeper into the world of linguistics, there is a comprehensive list of sources in the Notes section at the end of the book.

I think this is a book I’ll be returning to, and it’s certainly one I would be happy to recommend to anyone with an interest in languages and communication!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All views are my own.