About the Lexicon: Bite-Sized Language Intros

There are around 6500 languages spoken throughout the world today, but how many can we name, much less speak? The International Relations Council is proud to present Lexicon, a weekly digital interactive program that will introduce you to a language you may not know much about. Each week, IRC members and friends will offer some history and context on a different language, let you sample the look and sounds of the language, and give you some hints on where you can experience more of the language and the cultures it represents – and you just might walk away with a new word or two. Linguists of all levels welcome!

Upcoming Languages

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022- Korean, with Dr. Seungkwon You

Past Programs

Click the link for a video recording of the program.

Monday, August 30, 2021 – Choctaw, with Michael Stewart

Wednesday, August 9, 2021 – Croatian, with Marta Pirnat-Greenberg

Wednesday, July 28, 2021 – Dutch, with Wim van Klinken

Monday, July 26, 2021 – Ancient Greek, with Craig Jendza

Wednesday, May 26 – Malinke/Jaxanke, with Ryan Haefke

Wednesday, May 19 – Alphabet Series: Hindi, with Pritha Hariharan of Unbound

Thursday, April 29 – Cherokee, with Rainy Brake of Western Carolina University

Wednesday, April 14 – Latvian, with Kristine Vainovska Twidwell

Wednesday, April 7 – Alphabet Series: Turkish, with Salih Dalbudak

Wednesday, February 10 – Arabic, with Dr. Ranya Ahmed, Senior Researcher at the Legal Services Corporation in Washington D.C.

Wednesday, January 20 – Indonesian, with Marti Wilson of the Ethnic Enrichment Commission Executive Committee

Wednesday, January 13 – Armenian, with Armen Babajanian, Executive Director at World Affairs Council of San Antonio

Wednesday, January 6 – Swahili, with Wasim Khan, CEO of both Indigenous to Indigenous and the Baraza African Cultures Center

Wednesday, December 16 – Norwegian, with Lise Falskow

Wednesday, November 4 – Bengali with Debabrata Bhaduri

Wednesday, October 21 – Czech with Honorary Czech Consul and IRC Member Sharon Valášek

Wednesday, October 7 – Guarani with Korbin Jones, University of Kansas

Wednesday, September 23, 2020 – Kaqchikel Maya with Phil Duncan, Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas Department of Linguistics

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 – K’iche’ Maya with Ignacio Carvajal, Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts & Sciences – Spanish & Portuguese

Wednesday, August 12, 2020 – Miskitu with Laura Herlihy, Lecturer in the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies at the University of Kansas

Wednesday, August 19, 2020 – Spanish with Luis F. Gomez Lomeli of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences – Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Kansas

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 – Tagalog with Jose “Ping” Bayani

Wednesday, July 8, 2020 – Italian with Paolo Ghezzo, University of Kansas

Wednesday, July 1, 2020 – Amharic with Nani Detti, Santa Fe Council on International Affairs

Wednesday, June 24, 2020 – Chinese with Joan Pu

Wednesday, June 17, 2020 – Japanese with Haruko Shukla, Heart of America Japan-America Society

Wednesday, June 3, 2020 – Urdu with Samira Hussein, JCCC

Wednesday, May 27, 2020 – Turkish with Eyyup Esen, Dialogue Institute of the Southwest

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 – Russian with Lana Yeager, Russian House of Kansas City

Wednesday, May 13, 2020 – Hebrew with Rabbi Jonathan Rudnick

Wednesday, May 6, 2020 – German with Jutta Behnen, Goethe Pop-Up, and Scott Baker, UMKC

Wednesday, April 29, 2020 – French with Donnie Hughes, North Kansas City School District

Wednesday, April 22, 2020 – Thai with Oay Slaughter, Thai Cultural Center of Greater Kansas City

Wednesday, April 15, 2020 – Hindi with Pritha Hariharan, Unbound

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 – Polish with Dr. Tom Patterson, JCCC

Using Zoom

This event will be hosted through the free online meeting platform, Zoom. This link will bring you directly to the download page for Zoom. After downloading, please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with its features.

Once you register for the event, you will receive an IRC email with the link to join the session. Simply click this link and grant permission for Zoom to open the link. You will then automatically join the event. You may access the room five minutes before the event is set to begin.

If you are interested in presenting a language in a Lexicon program, please contact Evan at everploegh@irckc.org.