BBC網頁（http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015qqkl）上對第二集《身份》（Identity）的介紹，如下：
What is it that defines us? Stephen argues that above all, it is the way we speak. Be it a national language, a regional dialect or even class variation - we interpret and define ourselves through our language.
From markets in Kenya to call centres in Newcastle, Stephen charts the shifting patterns of lingua franca and the inexorable spread of Globish (Global English). As many of the world's more than 6000 languages are threatened with linguicide, Stephen seeks out examples of this rise and fall. In Ireland he learns how TV soaps are keeping Irish alive, whilst in Southern France, Provencal and other Oc languages are struggling to survive after 200 years of suppression by Parisian orthodoxy and the heavy hand of the Academie Francaise.
lingua franca：通用語
inexorable：不可阻擋的
The Academie Francaise：法蘭西學院 It has for decades been the watchdog over the French Language. A few years ago, French sensitivity to the influx （湧入）of English words became so great that a law for the purification of French was adopted.
But even amidst the imminent death of some, other languages like Basque survive, whilst Hebrew in Israel is reborn. Variety is the spice and in Bradford poet Ian McMillan teaches Stephen the subtle variations of dialect, whilst in Norwich Stephen finds his ultimate sense of identity in the chants of his beloved Canaries, Norwich City F.C.
說到語言對人類的緊隨，一個學者說: "Yout ravelled light, all of us, our ancestors, travelled light because their property would be taken. But their language, their wit, their leraning, they could travel with them." 頗有點「富貴於我乃浮雲，只有語言恆相隨」。裹屍布上沒有（裝錢物的）口袋，但是，大腦裡有盛放語言、智慧、學識的溝溝回回。
探討Does the language we speak actually alter the way we see, interpret, and engage with the world? 問題時，主持人 對話一個俄國裔學者。談到契科夫的作品，Stephen Fry 說，language is a cue to the cultural values. 俄語不懂，so 俄語如何給出俄國文化價值的一個線索，沒有感受。不過，片中俄裔學者所言，"Russians love being miserable. they revel in it. It's the only way be an intelligent person in the world--to really appreciate the misery and the horror that the world has to offer." 或許有一定道理。這跟中國古語說的「文章憎命達」、「哀怨起騷人」，算是一路。
以猶太人為主體民族的國家以色列1948年復國後，決定把希伯萊語（Hebrew）作為以色列的官方語言。但是，不少猶太人使用的意第緒語（Yiddish）依然繁茂。片子裡說到意第緒語之於猶太人的重要性："Yiddish is a way of feeling your life. It is the langauge of emotion and of sex, and of failure and hilarity while Hebrew is the langauge of seriousness and ceremony and solemnity."漢語裡普通話和方言之間的差異，類似於希伯萊語和意第緒語的差異。普通話是有利於不同地區、不同民族之間的溝通，但是，說到情感上的親近，還是家鄉話！異鄉碰到說家鄉話的陌生人，會頓生親切感啊！
接下來探討的語言消亡（linguicide）部分，主持人說，「It's to do with globalisation and the rise of the lingua Franca: those national and transnational languages like English and Mandarin Chinese, which gobble up every language in their path.」
英語（globish English）橫掃全球的背景下，法蘭西學院為保持法語的純粹（homogeneity / purity）創造出新的法語詞彙來替代英語單詞，比如，用cauriel 表示e-mail. 但是，it is impossible to stem the mutability and inventiveness of a langauge.
一個很好的例子，是馬賽說唱歌手（rapper）的所為。雖然是在語言政策比較嚴格的法國，他們會把不同的語言融入歌詞，以吸引以那些語言為母語的聽眾。受採訪的一個歌手說: You will systematically draw the attention of a certain category fo people who will say, "He speaks like us. It's great. Let's have a listen." It puts a smile on people's face and it makes people relax when they're listening to the music.
以色列的語言發展，也證明了這一點。
對以色列這個國家，主持人說，It had a difficult birth, a tricky childhood and a stormy adolescence. After the Diaspora, the dispersal of the Jews throughout Europe, the language of Israeli unifies teh Jews worldwide.
The success of Israeli is not only the revival of Hebrew, but rather the survivla of all the other languages like Yiddish, etc. Israeli, if you want, is one one hand a phenix, rising from the ashes, Hebrew. On the other hand， it's a cuckoo, laying its eggs in the nest of another bird, tricking it to believe that it is its own bird. This is Yiddish. On still another hand, it's a magpie stealing from English and then Polish, etc.
In our globalised world, this kind of phenix-cuckoo-magpie hybird may be the most workable way of keeping local languages alive.
隨著科技的發展和全球交流的加強，新的事物、觀念不斷湧進來，對外來語，一味阻止，可說是螳臂當車。中國語言委員會也曾出臺政策，禁止漢語裡使用NBA、MP3等英語縮略詞，終了，不都是不了了之。
喜歡看中、英、粵等語言文化雜陳的香港那邊人寫的東西，一個原因，就在這語言的雜交和基於其上的思想、情感的新異。以香港學者劉紹銘那篇說名牌服飾對香港中學生負面影響的《名網恢恢》的局部為例。
近承一同學告知一「法母三遷」的故事。其實不是故事，應說近事。法母，是法國文化協會來教法文的一位法國老太太。住的地方，大概是接近「名牌坊」之類的社區。法母有在學千金。來港不久，竟受盡名牌汙染，朝夕纏著法母，要死要活的嚷道：「我要名牌書包呀！快給我買名牌書包呀！不然不但你沒面子，我沒面子，發蘭西也沒面子！」
上乃耳食之言，故不知法母三遷到哪個角落。最合理的推想是，她個人留在香港履行合約，卻把發名牌瘋的乖女遣返法國，留交修道院長老看管。此乃上策，因人在香港，要不受名牌引誘，三遷也是徒然。這怎分教？君不見——
伯爵與愛彼齊飛
Bally 共Vuitton一色
短短三百來字，兩處用了仿擬修辭格：一處是對中國傳統故事名「孟母三遷」的仿擬，一處是對王勃名句「落霞與孤鶩齊飛，秋水共長天一色」的仿擬。用詞，有典雅的書面語，也有隨意的口頭語。句式，有漢語的凝練，也有英語的繁複。「這怎分教？君不見——」 有《水滸傳》那樣漢語話本小說的流韻；「伯爵與愛彼齊飛 / Bally 共Vuitton一色」中夾雜名牌商標的漢譯以及名牌商標的原文，又頗現異域風情。這一切，仿佛大雜燴火鍋，組合起來，搖曳生姿，引人發笑的同時，更讓人深思。僅憑純粹的漢語及漢文化，如何生得出如此效果？！
紀錄片臨終，主持人說，our attachment to our language is about emotion, not intellect. Our identity is all about feelings. I can't help but belong.
他說的belong, 就是belong to a group who speaks the same language （官話）, to be more exact, the same language with the same accent and dialect（方言）, the langauge of emotion and of sex, and of failure and hilarity.
最後，主持人引用法國總理 Georges Clemenceau 的話 「A patriot （愛國者）loves his country, but a nationalist （民粹者） hates everybody else's country」，來支持他的觀點：我們不應該抵制外來語的入侵，或影響。
蘋果粉，掃碼勾搭：