David Crystal Quotes

David Crystal
David Crystal
English Educator
Born: Jul 6, 1941
Been English Internet Language People You
Related authors: Bill Nye Booker T. Washington Horace Mann John W. Gardner Maria Montessori Michael Pollan Michael Porter Timothy Leary
Bilingualism lets you have your cake and eat it. The new language opens the doors to the best jobs in society; the old language allows you to keep your sense of 'who you are.' It preserves your identity. With two languages, you have the best of both worlds. David Crystal
Best You Cake Old Language Sense Doors Society Preserves Worlds Jobs Eat Both Both Worlds New Opens Identity The Doors Your Languages Who Keep Lets Two
There is no such thing as an ugly accent, like there's no such thing as an ugly flower. David Crystal
Ugly Flower Like Accent Thing
Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely to be the most literate and the best spellers, because you have to know how to manipulate language. David Crystal
Best You People Language Research Spell Evidence Those Kids Rather More Badly Know Most Likely Likewise Because Frequently How Text Texting Literate Manipulate Teaches Who Shows
English does have a larger vocabulary than other languages because of its history as the primary language of science and its global reach. David Crystal
History Science Language Other Vocabulary Primary Global Reach Because Does Than Languages English Larger
Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster. David Crystal
Language Added Negligible Dimension Impact Long-Term New Disaster Texting Use
There's an old little jingle: 'The chief use of slang is to show that you're one of the gang.' What that means is that every social group has its own linguistic bonding mechanism. If there's a group of lawyers, they have their own slang. If there's a group of doctors, they have their own slang, and so on. David Crystal
You Old Doctors Own Group Every Lawyers Linguistic Chief Little Social Social Group Means Use Show Gang Mechanism Slang Bonding
A community, once it realises that its language is in danger, can get its act together and introduce measures which can genuinely revitalise. You've seen it happen in Australia with several Aboriginal languages. And it's happening in other countries, too. David Crystal
You Together Language Seen Community Too Other Other Countries Once Danger Several Introduce Aboriginal Countries Genuinely Australia Get Happen Happening Which Act Languages Measures
Language itself changes slowly, but the Internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly. David Crystal
You Language Internet Changes Those Slowly More Up Itself Quickly Process Them Notice
People are very ready to criticize other people's accents. There's no correlation between accents and intelligence or accents and criminality, but people do make judgments. David Crystal
People Intelligence Other Criminality Correlation Criticize Between Make Accents Judgments Ready Very
A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread. David Crystal
Other Feature Global Makes Spread Different Languages English Compared
The Internet has given us 10 or 15 new styles of communication: long messages like blogging, and then short messages like texting and tweeting. I see it all as part of an expanding array of linguistic possibilities. David Crystal
Communication Internet Long Possibilities See Given Part New Like Messages Styles Array Blogging Linguistic Texting Expanding Short Then Us Tweeting
Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it. It is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end of understanding who you are and what society is like. David Crystal
You People Language Understanding Society Independent Like Existence End Itself Apart Means Use Who
Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries eventually reflect popular choices. And the Internet is allowing more people to influence spelling than ever before. David Crystal
People Internet Made Before Reflect Spelling More More People Allowing Than Dictionaries Influence Choices Popular Eventually Ever
At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects. David Crystal
Time Language One Time Genres Styles Dialects Any Kaleidoscope
The story of English spelling is the story of thousands of people - some well-known, most totally unknown - who left a permanent linguistic fingerprint on our orthography. David Crystal
People Unknown Spelling Our Thousands Thousands Of People Some Totally Most Permanent Linguistic Left Story English Who
Ever since the arrival of printing - thought to be the invention of the devil because it would put false opinions into people's minds - people have been arguing that new technology would have disastrous consequences for language. David Crystal
Technology People Language Thought Invention Devil Consequences Minds Would Arguing Put Since New Disastrous Because Printing Opinions Arrival Been False New Technology Ever
What turns teenagers on more than the Internet these days? If you can get a language out there, the youngsters are much more likely to think it's cool. David Crystal
You Language Internet Think Teenagers Out More Days Likely Than Get Much Turns Youngsters Cool
People say that text messaging is a new language and that people are filling texts with abbreviations - but when you actually analyse it, you find they're not. David Crystal
You People Language Analyse Say Find People Say New Messaging Text Texts Filling Actually
We are rearing a generation of kids who are more equitable and more understanding about the existence of language variety and why it is there. David Crystal
Generation Language Understanding Kids About More Variety Equitable Existence Rearing Who Why
The Internet offers endangered languages a chance to have a public voice in a way that would not have been possible before. David Crystal
Internet Before Way Possible Would Voice Been Endangered Offers Public Languages Chance
The one thing about internet language, people join it, and what quickly evolves is an 'internet dialect,' as it were. David Crystal
People Language Internet One Thing About Join Dialect Were Quickly The One Thing Thing
As I get older and I get a few more years experience I become more like Dad, you know, King Lear. David Crystal
You Experience King Become Few Older King Lear More Like Know Lear Years Get Dad
Academics don't normally manage to alter people's way of thinking through their strength of argument. David Crystal
Strength People Argument Thinking Way Through Academics Alter Normally Manage
Anyone interested in language ends up writing about the sociological issues around it. David Crystal
Writing Language About Around Issues Up Ends Anyone Interested Sociological
Word books traditionally focus on unusual and quirky items. They tend to ignore the words that provide the skeleton of the language, without which it would fall apart, such as 'and' and 'what,' or words that provide structure to our conversation, such as 'hello.' David Crystal
Conversation Words Word Language Focus Fall Our Books Would Structure Tend Unusual Without Provide Items Quirky Which Skeleton Apart Hello Ignore
Increasingly, over the past ten years, I've come to take the view that a cultural perspective is intrinsic to the future of language teaching and learning, especially in the case of English, as it becomes increasingly global. David Crystal
Future Learning Perspective Language Past Increasingly Intrinsic Case Ten Ten Years Take Over Come Global Becomes Years Cultural View Teaching English
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