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I think it was earlier this week, or maybe last week, that someone on one of the frontpage posts recommended "The History of English Podcast". I haven't finish
by chistev 8mo ago
I think it was earlier this week, or maybe last week, that someone on one of the frontpage posts recommended "The History of English Podcast".
I haven't finished the first episode yet, but it's already seeming promising and I know I'm going to continue with it.
In that first episode (which is basically an introduction), the host explains that the history of the English language can be divided into three periods: Old English, Middle English, and New English.
After establishing that there are three periods, he asks where we think Shakespeare falls, and I immediately thought it had to be Middle English.
Then the host proceeded to say he wouldn’t be surprised if most listeners guessed Old or Middle English—and that he wouldn’t be surprised at all if nobody guessed correctly. Because Shakespeare’s plays are actually classified as New English!
I smiled in surprise.
But he explained that if you can more or less understand the English being written or spoken, then it still falls under New English. The King James Version of the Bible is considered New English too.
Keep in mind, Shakespeare wrote his plays between 1589 and 1613.
The King James Bible was published in 1611.
So when I opened that link in this thread’s header and realized I couldn’t understand a damn thing, it all suddenly made sense!
- 542354234235 8mo agoThe History of English Podcast gets much better once he gets into the groove of things and I'd definitely recommend sticking with it. I love all the random fun facts that come in most episodes, like where idioms came from, meaning behind the names of the days of the week, and how the word for hospital relates to Christians pilgrimaging to the Holy Land.
- madcaptenor 8mo agoI've seen this recommended a few times here, and I've listened since the beginning. I'd recommend it. But it would be hard to catch up after nearly 14 years and 187 episodes (probably averaging an hour?) - I wonder if there's a shorter history of English somewhere.
- chistev 8mo agoIs it still in production? I mean are new episodes still being released? Because I haven't finished the first episode yet, but if all episodes are as interesting as the first, I'll finish all those 187 episodes in no time. Hahaha.
- madcaptenor 8mo agoStill in production. The most recent episode was released 2025-12-31, and it looks like he's lately been putting them out every two months. (I subscribe to the Patreon; there are bonus episodes interspersed between the regular episodes.)
- madcaptenor 8mo agoUpdate: episode 188 just dropped.
- fsckboy 8mo ago>I wonder if there's a shorter history of English somewhere. I don't know what's a good podcast for it, but learning "linguistics/linguistic theory" I think is a more rewarding experience. Then when you listen to the history of english you'll have more insights.
- mauvehaus 8mo ago> I've seen this recommended a few times here, and I've listened since the beginning. That, uh, might be my fault. I’m the one who recommended it earlier this week. And I tend to recommend it any time anything related to English pops up.
- thaumasiotes 8mo ago> Because Shakespeare’s plays are actually classified as New English! This... isn't normal terminology. From everything I've ever read, Shakespeare would be called "Early Modern English". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Modern_English There isn't a term "New English". There's "Modern English".
- chistev 8mo agoYou are right. Thanks.