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Stephen Fry hosts four programmes on the joys of the English language - as heard on BBC Radio 4.

Melvyn Bragg examines new coinages, puns and wordplay; how accents and social class are entwined; swear words; attempts to stop the evolution of language in its tracks; and, finally, the many varieties of English that are spoken around the world today.

Melvyn Bragg looks at how English has evolved over 1,000 years, looking at the disappearance of old dialects like that of Cumbria, and how it has been enriched by foreign languages, from Latin, Old French, and then dozens more as conquest, trade and immigration played their part in recent centuries.

The second series of Stephen Fry's witty and incisive programs looking at the oddities of the English language. The three 30-minute episodes include: "So Wrong It's Right"--Fry examines how "wrong" English can become right English.

Melvyn Bragg examines some of the many different varieties of English spoken around the world today....

Melvyn Bragg looks at dialects from around Britain: the Pitmatic of Northumberland, the dialect of (London/Derry), the increasingly elusive Cornish dialect, Pidgin, and Shropshire dialect, then finishing up with a speculation on the future of English dialects.

Learn and improve your English with the BBC. Collected here for the first time are 12 episodes from BBC Learning English's popular 6 Minute English series.

Learn and improve your English with the BBC. Collected here for the first time are 12 episodes from BBC Learning English's popular 6 Minute English series.