Learn a Language for a Neighbor?
Across borders, language learning follows two main patterns. Neither leaves room for learning a language for the sake of building a community.
Yuliya Komska
Yuliya Komska teaches German at Dartmouth College. She writes about Cold War culture and multilingualism.
The Double Standard of Our Solidarity
When the West rises for so-called "Western values," it inevitably gets more empathy, attention, and validation than any other part of the world trying to do the same.
The Monolingual American
If you are an American trying to learn German in a large German town or city, you will mostly hear English in return, even when you give sprechen your best shot.
Can the Kremlin's Bizarre Sci-Fi Tell Us What Russia Really Wants?
Over the past five years, Vladimir Putin’s presidential aide has been publishing fiction under an alias. Desperate for answers, commentators are trying hard to find some meaning in all of the madness.
ZunZuneo: Do Former Users Care That It Was Secretly Built by USAID?
Our criticism of the U.S. government's covert or "discreet" funding of communication channels like ZunZuneo or Radio Free Europe presumes that they try to seed something non-native.
The Role ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ Could Play in the Crisis in Ukraine
The nostalgic dreams this timely film rouses can provide an antidote against the next foreseeable bout of “Ukraine fatigue.”
What Red Deer Tell Us About Our Dangerous Iron Curtain Obsession
The way the media mishandled a years-old story about the behavior of wildlife where Germany and the Czech Republic meet feeds and legitimizes many people’s visions of impermeable physical borders or solid inter-ethnic lines.