Julie Sedivy

A scholarly tome that reads like a doctoral thesis. This does not minimize its value, but does lessen its use by many who need it most. Bottom line is that there are too many languages being lost globally, but the worst offenders are in North America and are generally government sanctioned. To those who point to the multiplicity of indigenous languages, let me point to Africa, SouthEast Asia, and also to Eastern Europe as having their own multiplicities.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Harvard University Press/Belknap Press via NetGalley.… (mehr)

Abandoned after 21% read.

I so wanted to like this book, but it just wasn't meant to be, I guess.

The author laments the loss of Czech, the language her parents spoke, and which she was exposed to exclusively until the age of 2, when her family emigrated to Canada. (She assumes she was "fluent" in Czech - she, of course, doesn't remember being two - though I would argue that a 2-year-old cannot be truly fluent in any language.)

Firstly, this book is very long for what it contains, and is only split into 6 chapters. I got through the first one before I finally gave up.

The writing is dense, which is fine; but the author takes on this victim mentality of sorts that I just didn't feel she was entitled to. Maybe this improves in the remainder of the book, but I'm not sticking around to find out. She seemed negative about everything in her life, never acknowledging the good things that came about from her move to Canada, or hope for the future.

The insights into language learning and loss weren't new to me, even though I don't feel I've read extensively about it. And much of it seemed repetitive.

I received temporary access to this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley.… (mehr)