Bonus 40: Doing linguistics with kids (Patreon)

It's a truth universally acknowledged that if you put a linguist within 5 metres of a child, that linguist suddenly becomes an acquisitionist. Child language acquisition is a perennial source of entertainment for the linguistically-inclined -- and so is helping any young people in your life develop an interest in linguistics. In this episode, we talk about some of our favourite things to observe about how kids are learning language as well as linguistically-relevant books for children, middle grade, and young adult. 

Have any more cute child language videos or stories? Feel free to share them in the comments or on Discord!  

Announcements:

Applications for the LingComm grant are now closed, and we'll be announcing the successful projects soon. As thanks to you for making it possible for us to fund all four grants, you'll be the first to hear about the exciting new linguistics communication projects right here on Patreon!

We also have new merch! We can all aspire to be a little less stressed, like our favourite English vowel, the Schwa. Now thanks to Rebubbles new merch line we have 'ə never stressed' pin badges/buttons, and stickers. Available in floral and geometric designs courtesy  of Lucy Maddox. We've also expanded our range of 'Not judging your grammar, just analysing it' merch to include stickers, as well as all merch options with US spelling. 

Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

• Linguistics Books for Kids - Superlinguo master list
• Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn 
• Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (Gretchen's blogpost)
• Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (Lauren's blogpost)
• Frindle by Andrew Clements 
• Frindle by Andrew Clements (Lauren's blogpost) 
• Horrible Histories Wicked Words by Terry Deary
• Horrible Histories Wicked Words by Terry Deary (Lauren's blogpost)  
• The Words Snoop/The Words Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky
• The Words Snoop/The Words Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky (Lauren's blogpost)
• A Little Book of Language by David Crystal
• A Little Book of Language by David Crystal (Lauren's blogpost)
• Babel Zine 
• Mad Libs 

You can listen to this episode on this page, via the Patreon RSS or download the mp3. A transcript of this episode is available as a Google Doc. Lingthusiasm is also on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com or chat to us on the Patreon page. Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at AllThingsLinguistic. Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo. 

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our editorial producer is Sarah Dopierala, and our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.