A discussion of language focuses on the relationship between language learning and culture learning. The first four chapters look at the cultural context of language learning, particularly in the language classroom. The second part examines culture learning through language teaching. The first chapter discusses lexical culture, or the vocabulary of a language that reflects the culture's world view. This idea is further examined in the next two chapters. The third part of the book examines situations in which elements of one language are integrated into another, particularly pidgins, neologisms with an extra-cultural element (such as "teenage mutant ninja turtles"), and culturally significant phrases. Part 4 is devoted to a specific intercultural situation in which the researcher reads the newspaper with a Japanese woman and resulting insights about the relationship between language and culture. The fifth section discusses the cultural politics of language learning. Topics include language policy as it relates to language learning, language teacher training as a cultural exercise, and the cultural politics of kanji. Several case studies of language learning across cultures are sketched. Throughout, examples are offered in a wide variety of languages. (MSE)