AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: we answer a couple of questions with help from English teacher Lida Baker in Los Angeles. The first is from a listener who teaches physics at Hebei Normal University in China. Bil...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster we talk about regional changes in American English with University of Pennsylvania linguist William Labov [la-BOVE]. Imagine a situation like this: WILLIAM LABOV: Someone says 'gee...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: the sounds of change. RS: If you want a good example of how language changes, just picture a mouse. Are you thinking of a rodent -- or a device for moving the cursor on a computer...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: English teacher Lida Baker suggests five resolutions for people who want to improve their English in the New Year. LIDA BAKER: My first resolution that I would recommend people ma...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: more of our conversation with Jim Tedder, the creator of VOA's online Pronunciation Guide. RS: It used to be that when announcers at VOA needed to know how to say the name of some...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: VOA's prince of pronunciation. RS: Jim Tedder has been with VOA for 25 years. He works in the English production branch, and is one of the news readers in Special English. But he'...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster we have part two of our look at proverbs in American English. RS: We continue our conversation with Wolfgang Mieder, a professor of German and folklore at the University of Vermont...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: proverbs in American English. RS: It's tempting to call Wolfang Mieder the proverbial expert from out-of-town. A professor of German and folklore at the University of Vermont, he...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: we continue our conversation about creative writing with a self-described addicted, compulsive reviser. RS: Chitra Divakaruni has written four novels; her newest, Queen of Dreams,...

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: we have a special guest to discuss creative writing. CHITRA DIVAKARUNI: My name is Chitra Divakaruni, and I am a writer and also a professor of creative writing at the University...