LingComm
Communicating linguistics with broader audiences (#LingComm25, 23, 21 conferences).
Posts by @becauselanguage.com
More info at lingcomm.org
- Reposted by LingCommThe LingComm Grants are back! These grants started in 2020, as "hey let's help get lingcomm projects going during lockdown" They've since run in 2022 and 2024, and thanks to generous folks we've always given out more than expected But they only work if people apply!!! Please share this!!
- Working on a project bringing linguistics to broader audiences? The 2026 LingComm Grants are $300 USD grants to help you with your project! Please apply and/or share with any up and coming lingcommers you know! Details: lingcomm.org/grants #linguistics #langsky #lingcomm
- Working on a project bringing linguistics to broader audiences? The 2026 LingComm Grants are $300 USD grants to help you with your project! Please apply and/or share with any up and coming lingcommers you know! Details: lingcomm.org/grants #linguistics #langsky #lingcomm
- Who participated in #WorldLinguisticsDay 2025? 🌏 127 "Happy World Linguistics Day" or similar greetings 🌍 from 70 cities 🌎 in 34 countries We've compiled these and more stats in a blog post: lingcomm.org/2025/12/15/s...
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- World Linguistics Day is coming up on November 26th! Have you made any plans yet to celebrate? lingcomm.org/2025/10/26/w...
- That's a wrap for #LingComm25! And it was the biggest LingComm ever. We'll be back next time for more panels, talks, how-tos, posters, and great chats with all the linguistic communicators. Thanks to everyone who attended and made this conference such a success.
- Plenary: @emilymbender.bsky.social on text extruders: "Why are we automating that? How does it fit into the context we're trying to use it…? Who gets hurt if it goes poorly, if it puts errors? Who gets hurt if it works as intended, and who's benefiting from that being automated? #LingComm25
- What does it mean to talk like a person, and not like a journal? @mikemena.bsky.social: "It's more than switching vocabulary words. It's relating to a person on a different level." Try using YOU. Just addressing the reader gives it a whole different vibe. #LingComm25
- @drjpb.bsky.social: "If you write something inaccesible, did you really write it?" After being intimidated by the academic style, he realised: "If I can't understand it, they didn't do a good job!" #LingComm25
- Doing a Linguistics Day for high schoolers? Take a tip on terms from Frances Blanchette. Morphology? ❌ Wordmaxxing ✅ #LingComm25
- @malvinanissim.bsky.social heads up an Ethics in AI course at the University of Groningen, where one final project is to give a presentation to high school students. The uni students report that having to explain concepts to younger people forces them to consider multiple perspectives. #LingComm25
- "You take a complicated subject that everyone THINKS they understand and explain it in a way that people REALLY understand." @grantbarrett.com on a huge value of linguistics and lingcomm training #LingComm25
- @Laura Wagner and Cecile McKee are showing how to share linguistics with respect. Right now they're role-playing teaching IPA with nametags, and linguistic concepts with dinosaurs! 🤯 #LingComm25
- If you can bring a bit of childlike silliness, even adults will respond. #LingComm25
- Final thoughts on book publishing: Evangelia Adamou: "I feel personally that there is a lot of pressure to build your own audience. What I liked about @MITPress was they built the audience for me." #LingComm25
- Hedde Zeijlstra: "Try to think what you're going to accomplish with your writing" before you start. "Try to keep in mind who you write for." #LingComm25
- Valerie Friedman: "Forget what you know as a linguist in many ways, and all those internal battles we have… It's not about dumbing it down. It's about simplifying." #LingComm25
- Author Hedde Zeijlstra on publishing: "The hardest thing about writing was that there was a linguist sitting on my shoulder" playing the part of a critic. "You just have to beat up that person on your shoulder." #LingComm25
- Tips on podcast audio from @becauselanguage.com How hard do you go on the edit? - UMs and UHs have a function, so try to leave them. - Honour the conversation you had. Don't overwork it. - Serve the show — if it's distracting, cut it. And always always always record more than one way. #LingComm25
- Valerie Friedman has an important tip on publishing (on the English-speaking scene): Agents get paid when you do. "If an agent is asking you for money up front — run." #LingComm25
- Evangelia Adamou: Writing a popsci book is a great way to consolidate yourself as an expert in the field. However, "popular books don't always count the same [as academic books], especially early in your career. You may want to wait to get tenure first, before writing a popular book." #LingComm25
- Valerie Friedman on writing a popular book: "There's a point at which you have the confidence to say what *WE* do, rather than just what *I* do." #LingComm25
- Valerie Friedman has studied "vowel movement". "I know I can say that in this crowd and not be mistaken for a gastroenterologist." #LingComm25
- Laura Wagner, on measuring impact in lingcomm: “Not that any of us would ever have wrong ideas… but itš useful to have data to back up that we’re doing things the right way.” #LingComm25
- An interesting insight from Ionica Smeets: In Netherlands, one goal is to increase public trust in science. Another is increasing the trust scientists have in the public. Mutual trust. #LingComm25
- Ionica Smeets road-tested their youth-oriented maths book. They used this chart to gauge emotional response; this is a good predictor for retention of material. #LingComm25
- Ionica Smeets points out that there's a lot that goes into communication! Where do you start? Answer: yes. #LingComm25
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- Wisdom from Ionica Smeets: "The more glossy the picture of the magazine you're writing for, the more you have to avoid jargon." #LingComm25
- It's Day 2 of #LingComm25! What are you looking forward to? - Plenary with Ionica Smeets: Lessons Learned in Science Communication - Panel: Measuring LingComm impact with Ward Peeters, Laura Wagner, Eva Knopp - How-to: A complete beginner's guide to podcast audio with @becauselanguage.com
- - Panel: Writing a Popular Book with @heddezeijlstra.bsky.social , @evangelia.bsky.social , Valerie Fridland - How-To: Apply Game Design Principles to Your Lingcomm with Kathryn Hymes of Thorny Games - Speed networking!
- "Linguistics contributes to the preservation of democracy," says linguist and educator Joao Costa in the LingComm and Policy panel. "We have to be aware that democracy is at risk. Language rights are human rights." #LingComm25
- Linguist and educator Joao Costa in the LingComm and Policy panel: "The more voices we engage, the better the results." #LingComm25
- Adam Aleksic @etymologynerd.bsky.social explains that by using an app like TikTok, you are agreeing to the constraints it imposes. But all the same, "you should do what you like doing, and I really liked making those videos." #LingComm25
- In the Lingcomm and Policy panel: Where will your work have the most impact? Onno Crasborn left a tenured job in academia to become a schoolteacher again because he could do more as a teacher than by working on policy. #LingComm25
- Ross Perlin: Doing good LingComm means thinking about "the ratio of substance to sizzle". From the panel discussion on Taking LingComm on the Road #LingComm25
- TikTok star Adam Aleksic @etymology.substack.com.web.brid.gy explains that, as creators, we need to be aware of the attention economy. Playing into trend-based content can help the algorithm decide to push our work to people. Can you balance attention getting with what you want to say? #LingComm25
- Why are you doing the #lingcomm that you do? What are your goals, and what does a good goal look like? If your goal is to provide information, @charlottevaughn.bsky.social explains that simply providing information doesn't change minds. (But, eh, I still think it kind of does.) #LingComm25
- Mad props to @adamcschembri.bsky.social in his Lightning Talk for taking us through what he learned in the "English Is Weird" incident of 2019. #LingComm25
- At #LingComm25, @garicgymro.bsky.social gives us a Lightning Talk with some great advice in getting the message out there: Be seen Be accurate Don't be a jerk Discuss.
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- Happening soon at #LingComm25: ⚡️Lightning Talks⚡️ These people know stuff, and they'll tell you in five minutes! Sophia Smith Galer @sophiasgaler.bsky.social Eatymology: Viral Storytelling with Linguistics and Food Gareth Roberts @garicgymro.bsky.social My Experiences Making a Video for Wired
- Pascal Wagner @indieflock.bsky.social How to Use Video Games to Get Players Interested in Linguistics Heddwen Newton @heddwen.bsky.social Substack - The Good and the Bad Marina Beccard How to Pass the Bar As a Linguist
- Heike Pichler LingComm in the Theatre Adam Schembri @adamcschembri.bsky.social Weirdly, How Not To Lingcomm
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- Coming soon to #LingComm25: @etymologynerd.bsky.social Adam Aleksic (author of Algospeak) will explain how to TikTok your lingcomm! How can you add short-form video to what you're already doing? and become massive? We can't wait to find out.
- It's Day One of #LingComm25! What are you looking forward to? • Lightning Talks • Panels: Taking Lingcomm on the Road & Lingcomm and Policy • How-Tos: Set Goals and Objectives for Your Lingcomm & TikTok Your Lingcomm • Posters Check the schedule: lingcomm.org/lingcomm25/s...
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- If you've registered for #LingComm25, you get to repost this! If you haven't, there's still time. Go here. It's going to be huge. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intern...
- #LingComm25 update: We're looking forward to a ✨plenary✨ from Dr Ionica Smeets @ionica.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy: How do you know if your work is having any impact? Can you do better at reaching people? Read more: lingcomm.org/lingcomm25/s... Register now: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intern...
- #LingComm25 update: We're looking forward to a ✨plenary✨ from Prof @emilymbender.bsky.social: Lingcomm in the Face of Well-Funded Nonsense Read more: lingcomm.org/lingcomm25/s... Register now: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intern...
- #LingComm25 update: Feast your eyes on these posters. Zines, African American language, trans language activism, bilingualism, Deaf outreach — and that's just Poster Session *one* Read more: lingcomm.org/lingcomm25/s... Register now: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intern...
- How do you use social media to embiggen your work? A #LingComm25 panel discussion with Ingrid Piller @languageonthemove.bsky.social Danny Hieber @linguisticdiscovery.com Jana Viscardi @janaviscardi.bsky.social Daniel Midgley @becauselanguage.com Register now! www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intern...
- 🚨 LINGCOMM25 REGISTRATION IS OPEN 🚨 Get ready to meet up with linguistic communicators, hone your skills, and lift your lingcomm game. LingComm25 is an online conference, and it's packed with plenaries, panels, posters, how-tos, and lightning talks. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intern...
- #LingComm25 — the conference programme is up! Which session are you most looking forward to? lingcomm.org/lingcomm23/s...
