Doesn’t language play a vital role in our lives? Welcome to Mundolingua, the museum of languages in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Mundolingua is dedicated to language, linguistic diversity, and linguistics. It presents information, objects, and documents to the public.
Mark Oremland, a New Zealander, launched the museum’s concept in 2010. He studied linguistics at Paris Descartes University. Oremland wanted to make the field accessible. Between 2010 and 2013, resources were collected and material was designed. Craftspeople, specialists, students, and translators worked on the museum in 2013. Mundolingua opened its doors on October 11, 2013. Jean-Pierre Lecoq, mayor of the 6th arrondissement, inaugurated it.
Mundolingua spans two floors: the ground floor and the basement. Touchscreens, recordings, games, and objects illustrate various subjects. The ground floor focuses on language in general. It highlights human language versus animal communication. You’ll discover double articulation and the vocal apparatus here. A large head demonstrates the vocal apparatus. Press phonetic characters to hear sounds and see articulation.
Another room explores language acquisition. Mother tongues, foreign languages, and speech difficulties are covered. A reconstructed language lab lets you listen to 1700 languages.
Descend to the basement. This vaulted cellar showcases language diversity and evolution. See 3D tree models of language families on the ceiling. These include Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan. A globe displays the geographic distribution of these families. Visuals and audios explain language evolution and policies. A life-sized Rosetta Stone facsimile, made by the British Museum, is also on display. A large-scale braille alphabet model allows you to read phrases.
The basement also has a fun area. It is devoted to codes, slang, humor, and invented languages. Enjoy board games in different languages, including a giant Scrabble board. An Enigma machine is also present.
The final section covers the history of linguistics. From ancient Greeks to Chomsky, the museum explores it all. An alcove features new technologies like machine translation. You will also find a telex, a microfiche reader, and typewriters. One typewriter has phonetic alphabet keyboards.
Mundolingua offers visit plans for school groups and children. They also have thematic evenings with lectures and debates. Mundolingua covers nearly 170 square meters. The permanent exhibition is enjoyable and original. It covers many themes.