A celebration of the huge linguistic diversity that is open to all of us at birth, and that has inspired and fascinated humans since the invention of speech.

The acclaimed novelist Sophie Hardach – a German native who writes in English – explores languages, and multilingualism, as an expression of human creativity and identity, and a way to connect in an often fractured world – a necessary and important pursuit in these politically divided times.

The book's chapters roughly follow the trajectory of a human life, tracing our relationship with language from the first muffled sounds we hear in the womb, to the comfort and companionship it can provide in old age. The author weaves together her own experiences of language as the mother of a multilingual child and explores the science and history of speech. Languages Are Good For Us offers a unique perspective on a subject that affects us all.

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