(Reuters) - Language enthusiasts want to open a dedicated museum in
London -- the world's most multilingual city, where more than 350
languages are spoken -- to coincide with the 2012 Olympics.
Linguist David Crystal said the interactive museum would draw on
high-tech gadgets and serious scholar****p to boost people's interest in
languages -- both foreign and their own -- and would be the first of
its kind in Britain.
A team including Crystal and Museum of London Director Jack Loman were
waiting to see if the London Olympics board will approve the idea,
Crystal told Reuters at his home in northwest Wales on Tuesday.
"The world needs houses of language for the same reason that it needs
expositions of all kinds. to satisfy our insatiable curiosity about who
we are, and where we have come from," Crystal said.
The British Council and the government's National Centre for Languages,
have both given their backing to the museum. It will feature machines
that show what happens to the brain during speaking and will be able to
predict how your voice will change over time.
Barcelona will open a similar project next year to coincide with the
International Year of Languages, designated by the United Nations to
draw on the im****tance of multilingualism.
