Online circle
Languages in contact
Why almost nowhere speaks one language, what happens where several meet, and how states decide which one counts. Samarkand, Singapore, Montreal, Aotearoa — and wherever everyone in the circle happens to be.
This circle has no host yet.
Everything below — the expectations, the guide, the prompts, the session plan — is a prepared draft. There are no sessions scheduled and no conversation yet, and this page will not pretend otherwise. If you take it on, you decide when it runs and what it covers.
Sign in to see who is in this circle, join it, or take on hosting. Reading the plan needs no account.
What taking part asks of you
- Bring your own language situation. That is the material.
- Language politics is real politics. Describe positions accurately, including ones you dislike.
- Nobody's variety is 'broken' or 'not a real language' here.
- Correcting somebody's English is not the point of this circle.
Host guide draft
Written by Globe Quest editorial on 2026-09-07, not by anyone who has run this circle. Change it freely once you have.
- Start by asking each person which languages are in their household. It is usually more than they expect and it makes the topic concrete immediately.
- Draw out the difference between an official language, a lingua franca and a home language early — most confusion in this topic collapses once those are separated.
- When revitalisation comes up, keep it on the mechanism: what makes children speak a language to each other?
- Quebec and similar cases will arrive. Report the positions; do not adjudicate.
Session plan draft
About 60 minutes. Suggested: An hour.
1. Household languages10 min
Each person lists what is spoken where they live.
2. Three different things15 min
Official language, lingua franca, home language.
3. A case20 min
Take one place from the reading and work it.
4. Back home15 min
Apply it to somewhere in the room.