What assumptions do we make based on someone's speech patterns? How can we be more aware of our own biases? How beneficial is exposing young kids to a second language? Such an fascinating read! This really had me questioning the assumptions I make when meeting new people and hearing them speak. I grew up in a school system that didn't offer foreign language classes until 9th grade. I love hearing that so many of my friends' kids have access at a much younger age. In a world so connected in so many ways, negative implications of a certain accent or speech pattern shouldn't exist.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mariner Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

How You Say It is a book that looks at various societal and psychological examples related to language. Some cover specific individuals (like Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and others focus more on broader ideas such as adoption and race. I enjoyed reading Kinzler's book, but the research felt repetitive at points, and I was already familiar with much of it. If you are interested in language, communication, or psychology, this book may be a good one to pick up.

An interesting read, though it does get very repetitive throughout and a little bit bogged down by research. As a multi-lingual person who grew up in a multicultural country, it made me frown at times and also scratch my head as much of this pertains to English and the territory of the US. More familiar with Britain's different accents, it was a bit hard at times to figure out what the author was referring to (having to stop many a time to try and pronounce the words as they're supposed to be spoken with an accent - pronunciation I know not much about since I'm not from the US)
It's a solid book, a lot of times perfectly hitting the mark, but coming from a multicultural setting where accents and word usage are rife and appreciated and even celebrated, a lot of this was a voyage of discovery for me, making me go, "Really?" throughout as it just seems so different from what I know and am used to

I gravitated toward this book as a writer looking to deepen my understanding of language and psychology in order to create more resonant characters in my fiction. But I have to say . . . I got so much more than I bargained for in this book! How You Say it: Why You Talk the Way You Do—and What It Says About You explores the ways language defines and divides us, both on a personal level and in society at large. It tackles not only about what our speech says about us, but also about the ways in which languages have been policed and weaponized and how that had further impacted linguistic evolution. Written in clear, concise, accessible language that is smart but not unapproachably academic, How You Say It is a fascinating look into one of the ways we define ourselves and each other (sadly, it’s not always for the better!).

This is a marvelous book about how we speak and what our speech says about who we are. As one who hails from highly intelligent highly educated parents I was brought up to speak properly with proper English and have often been ridiculed for being proper spoken throughout my life. So I was interested in what the author had to say in regard to speech. This was a wonderful introduction to the science behind our speech and dialects.. Dr. Kinzler analyzes dialects, accents, and fluency. She validates how the dialects, accents and fluency do affect every aspect of our lives from job interviews, to how we speak in our everyday life . I highly recommend this book for your reading enjoyment. .

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

This book was an interesting combination of linguistics and psychology. I enjoy both so thought that it was quite interesting. It covered some great topics, including linguistic discrimination. I thought that the author did a great job in simplifying concepts and terms for those who are not familiar with the field as well.

I love books about psychology and language so this book was right up my street. A really accessible read. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an egalley.

I was a sucker for language even before I took that as the main subject of my college studies. This book really got me thinking back to my classes and reflecting on how language is and means EVERYTHING. It's often hard to put aside our preconceptions of others based on how they speak, because language is our identity. We can use it to better our communication, to shift a conversation, to show ourselves to others et cetera. The author was absolutely brilliant and raised several interesting points. The writing was very fluid and easy to follow, even to people who have never studied language outside of regular school, I suppose.

An impressive, thought-provoking book that is back with empirical research. Read it and be prepared to be changed and impacted.

I picked up this book for two reasons: (1) I'm a translator and as such I have a deep interest in all things language and languages and (2) I wanted more information on the aspects related to language and how we speak in the conversation about race and racism. This book definitely delivered on both fronts and I couldn't recommend it more.

As someone who is bilingual it was incredibly interesting to learn more about what that means for my brain, for the way I look at the world and at other people, to learn how me knowing more than one language shapes the way I am and the way I relate to other people. This book is full of knowledge, examples and experiments, it's incredibly well researched and so insightful. I'd recommend it to anyone who knows more than one language, to anyone who wants a good reason to start learning a new language and to parents who want their children to grow up bilingual.

In recent months the conversation about race and racism has gained momentum all across the world, a lot of aspects that play into racism have been covered by many books, articles, essays and talks. Personally I knew something was missing from the conversation, at least for me, I felt like we hadn't touched on every layer that makes this issue so complex. This book allowed me to explore how language, dialects and pronunciations are riddled with prejudices too. Even though this aspect of racism is frequently overlooked, we do discriminate people based on the language or dialect they speak, we deem certain accents as bad and others as good, so languages play a big role in matters of racism and discrimination.

Even though this book is written by a white educated woman, it didn't fail to take into account all of these aspects and to put race and language at the centre of this book.

When I picked this up I think I was expecting more on language and children than there was in the book. Overall I enjoyed it, I'd probably categorize it under a pop science genre. Some parts were interesting, others if you've taken an introduction to psychology course would be unsurprising. I'm not sure I really saw how the book brought together that many disciplines. I think I would've enjoyed reading more about the studies performed. It just felt a little unbalanced, like there was the side being portrayed but than a lot of unexplored areas. You can't really take just language and not explore more in depth social constructs like socioeconomic status, race, gender, etc. and these concepts were mentioned but they felt glossed over.

An interesting look at what the way that you speak says about you. Fun and intriguing. Loved this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was attracted to How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do—and What It Says About You by Katherine D. Kinzler because of the cover and requested it without a lot of research. I enjoy books that describe how our brains work and I thought that this one would probably do that. It did and was based on years of research by the author. I was pleasantly surprised that the book also provided good insights into a timely topic, racial injustice. Much of the book describes linguistic affinity and linguistic bias. The author has many examples in her research that show that people from a young age will quickly identify with someone based on the way that they sound (and at early ages even so before they identify with others based on the way they look). The examples of bias resulting from accent or dialect were insightful and definitely raised my awareness. The book also has a chapter with a good discussion on the impact of bilingualism on young kids. Because I’m just a curious reader I felt like the book was a little bit long, especially the first half; I realize the author has so much data and research but felt it got to be a tiny bit repetitive and I wanted it to move a little faster. I voluntarily received and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book on Net Galley, all opinions are my own.

Katherine D. Kinzler, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, explores "why you talk the way you do—and what it says about you." She analyzes the ways in which the languages we speak, as well as our accents, affect every aspect of our lives.

Kinzler's research, while undertaken from an American point of view and therefore centered around English, can be applied to any language or accent.

Particularly interesting is the anecdote about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Linguists have compared the way Justice Ginsburg spoke when she was a young lawyer to her pronunciation in recent years on the high court. During her youth, Ruth took pains to make a good impression by pronouncing her words crisply and carefully. Once her career was established, she lapsed into an accent more consistent with her Brooklyn roots.

Thank you for the advanced copy. This is only my second book I believe I have read on linguistics.

The book is well researched and well written, I found some of the content fascinating. The biases we form based on how other people speak is a fascinating topic.

A very interesting read. A recommended purchase for most general fiction collections, particularly where pop psychology or linguistics are popular.

The book How You Say It: Why You Talk the Way You Do -- And What It Says About You discusses a topic I am very familiar with yet do not often consider thoughtfully. As a native Appalachian, I have often enured teasing about my dialect. Growing up, I felt a pang of shame about the way my family spoke. You see, being from southern West Virginia, we had the southern twang and the characteristic vocabulary of the mountain state ¨down pat.¨ Whenever we traveled away from home, we were met with stares of confusion as we placed orders at restaurants and tried to converse with the people we encountered. We were clearly outsiders. At one point, I was determined to master standard grammar and lose the twang. I wanted to disassociate from the shame I felt each time our local ¨country folk¨ spoke. I had learned that outsiders interpreted our dialect to mean we were uneducated, backward hillbillies, and I wanted nothing to do with that characterization.

In this book psychology professor Kathrine D. Kinzler, a graduate of both Yale and Harvard, claims that linguistic discrimination is often overlooked in discussions about implicit bias. Rather than overburdening readers with jargon and details of the science, Kinzler presents relatable examples of how our language shapes us -- and how who we want to become can also shape our language. Using knowledge gained from her own research as well as from others, she explains language development in babies and how they immediately form bonds with people who speak the same language. Through her conversational tone, Kinzler calls attention to the fact that language is often used purposefully to shape and perpetuate harmful biases against groups of people, sometimes through seemingly innocuous stereotypes in pop culture and sometimes deliberately through policies and laws. One of the most significant points to me was that we tend to exclude language in discussions about the value of diversity, a fact the author is clearly working to change.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about how language affects social groupings. Kinzler is a storyteller who dives into the history of language, and that makes this book not only an educational read but an enjoyable one. This is the book I needed when I was struggling with my own language and accent identity, and it is one that could empower many young people who may also feel less valued simply because of their native language.

In "How You Say It," Katherine D. Kinzler, a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, explores "why you talk the way you do—and what it says about you." Dr. Kinzler analyzes the ways in which the languages we speak, as well as our dialects, accents, and fluency affect every aspect of our lives. How we speak can brand us in the eyes of others as desirable or someone to avoid, and can boost or sink our chances at job interviews.

The author offers some intriguing anecdotes, such as this one about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Linguists have compared the way Justice Ginsburg spoke when she was a young lawyer to her enunciation in recent years on the high court. During her youth, Ruth took pains to make a good impression by pronouncing her words crisply and carefully. However, when her career was more firmly established, she lapsed into an accent more consistent with her Brooklyn roots. Sometimes, Kinzler suggests, we try to alter our speech to suit particular occasions.

Although it lags at times and has some repetitious passages, on the whole, "How You Say It" is a well-researched, informative, and scholarly book. Dr. Kinzler cites studies that reveal the uncanny ability of small children to absorb languages and suggests that bilingualism may broaden one's cultural awareness and promote empathy. She believes that speech is "a window into who you are and how other people see you." During our turbulent times, what we say and how we say it can bring us closer together or fuel our prejudices and resentments. This timely and thought-provoking work of non-fiction emphasizes the role of language and speech in many areas, such as education, the law, employment, housing, parenting, and interpersonal relationships.

Decades ago I was a linguistics student and the interest has never left me. So this book really was a great fit for me. I really enjoyed reading it and it expanded on some of the social and anthropological aspects of linguistics I would have studied back then. I found it quite fascinating and it seemed well researched and written. What it really brought home again is how much language is a force in our lives, be it subtle or quite overt.

The greatest part of this book was how it showed that language can be the basis of bias in so many ways. Be it racial, ethically or just a matter of regional accents. It's well known people form opinions based on appearance but the way we speak isn't often considered when we think about our opinions of others and theirs of us.

I give this a solid four stars.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sharing an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

"How You Say It" by Katherine Kinzler is nonfiction work about how we speak shapes the perception about who we are by the people around us. To me, the topic of this book is really unique in that I have never read a book before that has forced me to consider, especially with linguistic specificity, the deep levels of discrimination and bias that occur because of accents. Also, the studies that Kinzler and her colleagues conduct to determine how language-based discrimination compares to other forms of discrimination are really enlightening to show how prevalent, but often overlooked, accent bias really is. This book left me wanting to read more about this topic and will surely be a recommendation to others.