Not too many people can say they helped battle communist East Germany, but Richard Janda is one of the few.
While spending a college semester abroad in West Germany in 1975, Janda and a friend paid their way across the Berlin wall into East Germany. They crossed back a few hours later with East German flags smuggled in their pants.
“My buddy came up with the idea to steal the flags,” said Janda, the coordinator of the introductory linguistics classes at Ohio State. “(We wanted) to strike a blow for the West (Germans).”
Almost 30 years later, Janda is an established linguistics professor with more than 90 published papers, 47 journal articles and 36 public lectures to his credit. He speaks fluent Spanish, German and French and has taught at five of the nation’s top universities.
“He’s a terrific teacher, engaging in the classroom, and humorous without being silly,” said Brian Joseph, a fellow OSU linguistics professor and the co-author of some of Janda’s published papers. “(Janda is) never at a loss without something to talk about, and he’s very responsive to students’ interests.”
While growing up in the multi-lingual society of southern California, Janda was intrigued by the different languages he encountered. As a child he translated for one of his friends who had a minor speech impediment.
“His parents were afraid to correct him,” Janda said. “His father had a stuttering problem, and his parents were afraid that (by correcting him) my friend would stutter as well. I was his translator since I was the only person who could understand him well.”
Translating for his friend furthered Janda’s curiosity of languages, an interest that grew while taking foreign language courses in high school. However, he saw many of his high school teachers, especially those in English and history, as athletic coaches than teachers. He saw language teachers more focused on their subjects, a trait he admired.
“The language teachers were really specialists in their field,” Janda said. “I was really drawn to German and Spanish.”
At Stanford University as an undergrad in 1973, Janda had never heard of the linguistics field.
“When I first heard about linguistics I was hooked for life,” he said.
Janda’s love for languages was not devoted solely to the Spanish and German he was attracted to in high school, but expanded to a variety including French and Old English.
Wes Collins, one of Janda’s former students and a teaching assistant working with him, is amazed at his former teacher’s mastery of four languages.
“His Spanish is fantastic,” Collins said. “He’s like a different person (when he’s speaking Spanish). I’ve talked to other professors who said I should hear his (great) German, while supposedly (Janda) claims French is better than any of his other languages.”
Janda’s talents do not end with his mastery of language, but extend to some of his other passions including reading and music.
“He is the only guy I know with a legitimate photographic memory,” Collins said. “Mention a poem and he can probably recall the book, chapter or even page number where he read it. (Also), you can play virtually any classical record, and he’ll know who (the musician is).”
It is his love of languages, however, that truly inspires Janda. After viewing the film of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy the “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” Janda was amazed by Tolkien’s invention of various languages and dialects. In the year and a half that has passed, Janda has read the trilogy as well as over 40 books relating to Tolkien and his language ideas.
Tolkien’s use of languages familiar to Janda, including French, German and Old English, furthered his interest in the famous writer. So much that Janda currently teaches linguistics 294, a winter semester course based on the languages of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
Janda’s linguistic knowledge has opened up opportunities outside the classroom as well. Most notably, he has served as an expert witness in court cases concerning the use of language.
In one instance he fought against the alcohol control boards of Ohio and Indiana who attempted to ban the alcoholic drink “Fat Bastard Chardonnay.” The boards said the name was “obscene and offensive.” Janda reported to the court that the word bastard is not meant to be offensive and has many meanings, over a hundred of which involve innocent plants and animals. As a result, the case was dropped.
Janda commutes to OSU weekly from his home in Bloomington, Ind where he and his wife have a five-year-old daughter. His wife is also involved in languages as a French professor at Indiana University. Being around so many languages has already begun to influence the youngest member of the family.
“I’m amazed at how much she is learning,” Janda said.
She takes after her father.
