Awards

• Short-listed for City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize 2022 (United States)
• Short-listed for Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction 2022 (United States)

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9780674980280

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Reviews

At last, a go-to book on bilingualism and why it matters. One part science and one part personal history, Sedivy guides us through the eternal question of how we handle two or more languages. It leaves us monolinguals looking deprived rather than as the default.--John H. McWhorter, author of Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter--Then, Now, and Forever One of the finest books I have ever read about language: a wise and humane amalgam of poetry and scientific rigor, rooted in Julie Sedivy's deeply-felt personal experience. Full of compassion and sharp-edged insights, Memory Speaks will touch all of us who care about the tongues we speak and about the countless tongues now falling into oblivion.--Mark Abley, author of Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened Languages

In this insightful and informative analysis, Julie Sedivy examines what happens to memory, dreams, and even the sense of self when you enter another language. It is a book which speaks to the condition of countless people who have changed language and culture in our globalized world. -- Eva Hoffman, author of <i>Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language</i> Julie Sedivy's book is not just a study of what it means to cradle more than one language or more than one culture, perhaps even more than one identity-it is a profound elegy to memories that endure despite displacement and the many time zones that define our lives. -- Andre Aciman, author of <i>Homo Irrealis: Essays</i> One of the finest books I have ever read about language: a wise and humane amalgam of poetry and scientific rigor, rooted in Julie Sedivy's deeply-felt personal experience. Full of compassion and sharp-edged insights, Memory Speaks will touch all of us who care about the tongues we speak and about the countless tongues now falling into oblivion. -- Mark Abley, author of <i>Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened Languages</i> At last, a go-to book on bilingualism and why it matters. One part science and one part personal history, Sedivy's book guides us through the eternal question of how we handle two or more languages. It leaves us monolinguals looking deprived rather than as the default. -- John H. McWhorter, author of <i>Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter-Then, Now, and Forever</i> Engagingly describes the disorienting and sometimes shattering experience of feeling one's native language atrophy as a new language takes hold...[A] beautifully written book...Sedivy elegantly captures why the language(s) we use are so dear to us and how they play a central role in our identities. If we believe multilingualism is valuable, then we must work to preserve language contexts while embracing linguistic diversity. -- Fernanda Ferreira * Science * With implications for communities and identities, Memory Speaks is an astute linguistic investigation, showing that language is something both in people and of them. * Foreword Reviews (starred review) * [A] moving and deeply personal account...Sedivy also makes a case for saving endangered languages...The connection between language and memory is...beautifully rendered...An astute, thoughtful volume. * Publishers Weekly *

Author Information

Julie Sedivy has taught linguistics and psychology at Brown University and the University of Calgary. She is the author of Language in Mind: An Introduction to Psycholinguistics and coauthor of Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says about You.

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