Do you want to know how to make a language, like Dothraki from Game of Thrones, Elvish from Lord of the Rings, or Parseltongue from Harry Potter? Queen Mary is hosting a week-long university experience May 21–25, open to all Year 10 students attending a state school in London, in which we will teach you how languages like Dothraki and Quenya are created, and how to create your own language.

This programme is run by Prof. David Adger (creator of Mere and Warig for ITV series Beowulf) and Dr. Coppe van Urk. Transport and lunch is provided.

You can apply for a spot in the summer school here. Applications are open until March 29.

You can find a description of the Creating a Language Summer School 2017 in this blog post.

What will you learn?

  • You will find out about how languages like Dothraki and Parseltongue were created
  • You will start creating your own language and will be taught how to develop a sound system and writing system
  • You will learn how to draw up a wordlist, with rules for creating new words
  • You will be taught how to make a basic grammar, with rules for how to structure sentences and phrases

At the end of the week, there will be a competition for the best short poem/song/piece of prose in a created language, voted for by the class. The prize will be a copy of David Peterson’s book The Art of Language Invention.