Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language Audiobook

" Interesting story on how the english language became the de facto lingua franca of the world. "

" Both the author and I seemed to have problems focusing on the putative point of the book. "

" This was the "textbook" for my History of the English Language class. It's an interesting topic, but I really just didn't like this book much. It only focuses on the English language about half the time, and only half of that is about the English language spreading beyond the Angleo-American sphere to become the world's language. The rest is a standard history text of Britain running from the Celts up through the British Empire and then Churchill. I wish McCrum had focused more on language, even at the risk of making his book less "acceptable" to a general audience. "

" Contains lots of interesting British and American history, much that I did not know. However, the book seemed to have a difficult time coming to its point / making its point. The argument was disjointed and difficult to follow. That said, I really enjoyed the historical tidbits... "

" 25 years ago, when McCrumb co-wrote the Story of English, fax machines were the height of technology and they figured English had evolved as far as it would go--little did they suspect the language was ready to assimilate text-speak, Bollywood, Chinglish and refudiate. "

" I was unsatisfied by this book. It seemed to talk its way around the topic, and it jumped from idea to idea while being too vague in it's analysis and conclusions. "

" A really fast general overview. Written clearly for a mass audience "

" interesting review of history and the evolution of the language "

" More of a history book really, but luckily a well-written and interesting one. I wish more of it had been set in contemporary times: I was fascinated with his exploration of modern-day Singapore and China. The stuff about the Norman invasion of England etc, is a well-worn path. "

" This is a somewhat similar book but is based strictly on the history of England and America, describing how our language has changed and adapted through historical events. Very well written. "

" I was really only interested in the most modern parts of history in the book. I realize background is necessary but it really slowed te book down for me. It was good enough but not spectacular. "

" This book is disappointing in that it offers very little new information -- especially to those who frequently read articles and books on the topic of world Englishes. "

" A somewhat interesting book about the rising dominance of English as the world lingua franca. If has a lot of language history but is far too breezy and buys into stereotypes. "

" This was surprisingly disappointing. The author couldn't keep the narrative on track, going off on odd discursive things all the time. Some of his off-handed interpretations of history and culture were quite unusual. "

" A fascinating history of the development and spread of English but he never quite gets around to discussing what Globish is, aside from "a utilitarian vocabulary of some 1500 words...designed for use by non-native speakers." Kinda leaves the native English-speaker hanging. "

" Not the history of English, but the history of the SPREAD of English around the world, in all its global variations. English is now the language of business everywhere. Very interesting as history; but more important for understanding the uses of English today in the culture of the world. "

" The audio just couldn't hold my interest! Sorry, this was wasn't finished! "

" Wonderful, nice tight writing and a topic that touches on history, culture, and other favourite topics of mine. "

" Wonderful, nice tight writing and a topic that touches on history, culture, and other favourite topics of mine. "

" This book is disappointing in that it offers very little new information -- especially to those who frequently read articles and books on the topic of world Englishes. "

" Don't waste your money. Very superfical. "

" Both the author and I seemed to have problems focusing on the putative point of the book. "

" Another book that could be so much more. Poorly organized, full of distracting anecdotes, mediocre and meandering. "

" This is a somewhat similar book but is based strictly on the history of England and America, describing how our language has changed and adapted through historical events. Very well written. "

" A fascinating history of the development and spread of English but he never quite gets around to discussing what Globish is, aside from "a utilitarian vocabulary of some 1500 words...designed for use by non-native speakers." Kinda leaves the native English-speaker hanging. "

" Interesting that many examples used to argue his thesis and the language used to articulate those examples are extremely similar to what's in Bill Bryson's 1990 _The Mother Tongue_. There's no originality here. "