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!
Past Programs
Click the link for a video recording of the program.
Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022- Korean, with Dr. Seungkwon You
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.