A few days ago I came across an interesting set of videos on Youtube where Professor Alexander Arguelles contrasts the differences between various (primarily) European languages by showing how their scripts compare and also by reading selected passages from those languages. Professor Arguelles is currently based at the Regional Language Centre of the South East Asian Ministers of Education Organization in Singapore, but, from what I can gather, he has previously been based as a language professor or program director in South Korea, Lebanon, and Germany as well. Read his very interesting bio here. If you want to see an ultra-hyperpolyglot, look no further.
As well as foreign languages, I have recently come to feel a deep appreciation for my own mother tongue, English, and have started to gain an interest in its development throughout the centuries. Two of Professor Arguelles’ videos in his series cover Old English and Middle English. To me, the first sounds like a kind of odd German, though the second can be made out and understood slightly more if concentrated on.
Additionally, for a quick introduction on the entire history of the English langauge (very quick! I’m talking ten-minutes-quick… for 1000+ years of history!), check out the third video below.
