With Good Reason

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Within seconds of hearing someone speak, we make judgments about that person and their background, just based on their accent. Linguistics professor Steven Weinberger (George Mason University) explains how and when we develop accents and how these accents affect our identity.

Also: Written in early English, Geoffrey Chaucer’s fourteenth century writings may seem impenetrable, with strange pronunciation and incomprehensible phrases . English professor Alan Baragona (Virginia Military Institute) says the best way to approach Chaucer is to read it out loud and hear the musicality of the words.