Learning Languages in Early Modern England

In the early-modern period, the English language was practically unknown outside of Britain and Ireland, so the English who wanted to travel and trade with the wider world had to become language-learners. John Gallagher explores who learned foreign languages in this period, how they did so, and what they did with the competence they acquired.

List of contents

• Introduction


• 1: Extracurricular Economy: Language Teachers and Language Schools in Early-Modern England


• 2: Speaking Books: The Early-Modern Conversation Manual


• 3: To Be Languaged: Early-Modern Linguistic Competences


• 4: A Conversable Knowledge: Language-Learning and Educational Travel


• Conclusion

About the author

John Gallagher was educated at Trinity College Dublin and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After holding a Research Fellowship in History at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, he became Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Leeds in 2017. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Renaissance Quarterly, Renaissance Studies, The Italianist, Huntington Library Quarterly, and others. He is a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker and a frequent contributor to radio and print media.

Summary

In the early-modern period, the English language was practically unknown outside of Britain and Ireland, so the English who wanted to travel and trade with the wider world had to become language-learners. John Gallagher explores who learned foreign languages in this period, how they did so, and what they did with the competence they acquired.

Additional text

How English men and women of the late 15th to the early 18th century went about doing so is the subject of John Gallagher's fascinating new book, a welcome attempt to show that the history of language encompasses much more than just the history of words.

Product details

• Authors: John Gallagher, John (Lecturer in Early Modern History Gallagher, Gallagher John
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.03.2022
• EAN: 9780192865151
• ISBN: 978-0-19-286515-1
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; England, European History, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / Sociolinguistics, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Study & Teaching, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Study & Teaching, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Middle Ages (449-1066), Sociolinguistics, c 1500 onwards to present day, British & Irish history, Social and cultural history, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, Historical & comparative linguistics, History and Archaeology, HISTORY / Europe / Renaissance, Historical and comparative linguistics