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When you tell people
you're a linguist,

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sometimes they look
at you funny...

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like, they have no idea
what you do.

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Even worse, you get

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"You're a linguist?
Oh, I hate grammar..."

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or "How many languages
do you speak?"

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People have some strange
ideas about linguistics.

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So, let's clear up these
misconceptions.

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[♪]
[MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT LINGUISTICS]

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Hi, Welcome to Snap Language.
I'm Marc Franco,

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the resident linguist here.

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Misconception Number 1:
"Linguists love formal grammar."

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Actually, what's interesting
in language is *not*

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the rules set by some
panel of grammarians.

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That's prescriptivism.

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Instead, most linguists follow the
practice of descriptivism.

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They try to describe and understand
the language that people

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actually use it.

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It doesn't matter if the grammar
a group of speakers uses

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is considered "incorrect."

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We know there's a standard
language, and we follow

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grammar rules (for example,
when we write or give a lecture).

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Formal grammar's appropriate
in those situations.

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But, to understand language, we
want to understand how people

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actually use it in all contexts .

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So, if a linguist corrects your grammar,

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it's not because he or
she is a linguist.

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Maybe, they're just being
kind of obnoxious.

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Misconception Number 2:

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"A linguist knows everything
about language."

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OK. All medical doctors study
medicine, but they specialize

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in a particular field, right?

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If you have stomach problems, you
don't go to a cardiologist, do you?

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The same way, linguists
study language

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but specialize in
a particular field.

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You can specialize in
historical linguistics,

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language acquisition,
phonetics, syntax,

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sociolinguistics... and so on.

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Also, language is so central
to being human that

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linguistics overlaps with
many other disciplines.

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That's why you might study
some linguistics in education,

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sociology, literature, computer
science, and so on.

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So, if you ask your favorite linguist
a question about language,

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don't make them feel bad if
they don't know the answer.

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(I don't feel bad; I just look it up...)

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Misconception Number 3:

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"Linguists are translators
or interpreters."

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No... A few linguists may go on
to become translators

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or interpreters, but these are
just two possible career paths.

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Speaking of careers:

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Misconception Number 4:

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"Linguists are academics who
work in universities."

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Yes, we can all imagine the
lonesome linguist...

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sitting in a dark office
cluttered with old books...

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that old-book smell in the air.

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Nah... Many linguists do research
in universities but, remember,

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there are many fields in linguistics.

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A linguist can also have a career
in industry, for example,

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working on speech recognition
or natural language processing

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for a company.

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You could work in education,
designing literacy programs

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or teaching English as a
second language.

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Some linguists work in the field,

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sometimes even in the
middle of a jungle,

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documenting and analyzing
an indigenous language.

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You may find a linguist (or two)
working in the government,

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working as a voice coach in
the film industry, or

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specializing in speech pathology.

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Misconception Number 5:

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"Linguists speak many
foreign languages."

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(I hate this one.)

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What do you call someone who
speaks several languages?

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A polyglot... not a linguist.

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In fact, many linguists work in
their own native language,

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so they don't need to know
a foreign language at all.

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Of course, there are many
foreign-language buffs

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among linguists.

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(We can't help it!
We love languages!)

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But learning or speaking a
foreign language

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is not a requirement
to be a linguist.

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So, what is linguistics, and
what do linguists do?

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Linguistics is the study
of language.

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Linguists study how
language works,

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how it evolves over time,
how it is perceived,

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how it affects social behavior...

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essentially, linguists study some
aspect of this amazing thing

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humans do that we
call "language."

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It doesn't even have to be
spoken language.

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There are linguists who study
sign language, for example.

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If it's a language, chances are
a linguist will want to study it.

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And chances are you
found this video

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because you like languages
yourself, so

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if there's something you'd like
to add or know

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about this topic, please
leave a comment.

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And don't forget to like
and share this video,

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and subscribe.

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And thanks for stopping by
and watching this video.

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Does my office smell like old books?

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Nah...

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Bye!

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[♪]
[MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT LINGUISTICS]

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[♫]