0:00:03.790,0:00:06.390
Hi, I'm Marc van Oostendorp.

0:00:06.390,0:00:08.220
This is Leiden University.

0:00:08.220,0:00:11.350
Welcome to this course on[br]the miracles of human language.

0:00:11.350,0:00:15.317
This is our studio where we prepared[br]a course full of surprises,

0:00:15.317,0:00:17.600
full of miracles of human language.

0:00:20.860,0:00:23.700
This course is all about diversity.

0:00:23.700,0:00:26.390
Well, it's all about diversity,[br]and it's also about similarity.

0:00:26.390,0:00:30.440
And that's because there are about[br]6,000 languages in the world.

0:00:30.440,0:00:32.626
And they're diverse,[br]they're all different,

0:00:33.040,0:00:34.960
but they are also similar in some way.

0:00:36.000,0:00:36.930
How is that possible?

0:00:36.930,0:00:40.980
That's one thing, an important thing that[br]we're going to explore in this course.

0:00:42.050,0:00:44.430
And we're going to explore[br]this in five modules.

0:00:45.450,0:00:49.145
In the first module, we talk about[br]questions like what makes language

0:00:49.145,0:00:50.814
so typically human,

0:00:51.500,0:00:54.709
or differentiates it from,[br]from animal languages, for instance.

0:00:55.370,0:00:58.340
And we're going to see how[br]linguists go about their work.

0:00:59.446,0:01:02.290
There are different kinds of linguists and[br]we're going to meet them.

0:01:04.050,0:01:07.056
In the second module,[br]we talk about sounds of language.

0:01:08.010,0:01:09.550
How do we produce sounds?

0:01:09.550,0:01:11.030
How do we distinguish sounds?

0:01:11.030,0:01:13.790
How do we organize sounds in our minds?

0:01:15.170,0:01:18.490
In the third module,[br]we talk about words and sentences.

0:01:19.570,0:01:23.670
How are languages different in[br]the way in which they create words?

0:01:23.670,0:01:28.177
How are they different in the way in[br]which they organize words into sentences?

0:01:29.650,0:01:32.670
In the fourth module[br]we talk about meaning.

0:01:33.160,0:01:37.891
How do we give meaning to words and[br]sentences in human language?

0:01:38.110,0:01:40.492
And how do languages differ in that?

0:01:41.770,0:01:47.168
And in the fifth module, we talk[br]about language in its social context.

0:01:47.460,0:01:52.006
We talk about how language is actually[br]used in, let's say, everyday life.

0:01:52.790,0:01:54.660
Since this course is all about diversity,

0:01:54.660,0:01:56.770
there's also diversity[br]within every module.

0:01:56.770,0:01:58.790
It's not just me explaining things to you.

0:01:58.790,0:02:01.770
We also have discussions with students

0:02:01.770,0:02:04.720
and we've interviews with experts, [br]with linguists from the Netherlands

0:02:04.720,0:02:07.710
and other countries about linguistics,

0:02:07.710,0:02:08.719
about their job.

0:02:10.039,0:02:13.590
But most of all,[br]we have speakers of different languages.

0:02:13.590,0:02:17.240
We have found six speakers of[br]six very different languages.

0:02:17.240,0:02:20.280
And they will give examples of[br]how they speak of words and

0:02:20.280,0:02:23.010
sentences in their language.

0:02:23.010,0:02:26.364
And it will be up to you[br]to analyze those examples.

0:02:27.170,0:02:29.900
And if you're in an advanced track [br]or if you just like that kind of thing

0:02:29.900,0:02:33.810
we also invite you to submit [br]your own language,

0:02:33.810,0:02:37.420
to make videos in which you give [br]those same words and sentences

0:02:37.420,0:02:38.560
in your own language.

0:02:38.560,0:02:40.988
And then,[br]other students can analyze those.

0:02:43.510,0:02:45.890
We also invite you to participate.

0:02:45.890,0:02:48.325
We have an online forum[br]on our course page

0:02:48.325,0:02:50.180
and if you like that kind of thing,

0:02:50.180,0:02:53.724
we also have a Facebook group in[br]which you can discuss these things.

0:02:55.520,0:03:00.417
But in any case, we hope to see you[br]very soon in the first module of

0:03:00.417,0:03:03.980
our course on the miracles[br]of human language.