Special offer for Ling-phabet patrons: sticker pack including signed bookplates!

People have been telling us, I'm extremely bored of this pandemic still (still!) existing and is there a way that I could get more linguistics joy and whimsy in the mail?

People have also been asking, is there a way to get Gretchen to sign my copy of her book Because Internet, especially since irl conferences are, uh, not much of a thing these days?

We're excited to announce a special offer that we're running on Patreon that solves both of these problems!

Special Offer: Sticker pack!

Join the Ling-phabet tier or higher by November 3, 2021 and get a sticker pack of FOUR stickers:

• Two round "Schwa never stressed" stickers (one floral, one geometric)
• One classic square Lingthusiasm logo sticker
• One BECAUSE INTERNET bookplate sticker signed by Gretchen, for you to stick inside your copy or anywhere else you like

Here's what the stickers look like! (IPA scarf and hot cup of tea not included)

Plus, we have a stretch goal!  

If we reach a total of 1400 patrons at any level before November 3, then the sticker pack will also include:

• Two mini Lingthusiasm green cutout stickers, one of which is called "bouba" and the other "kiki" — which is which? That's an experiment you get to run on your friends when you stick them on your phone case, water bottle, laptop, etc.

Here’s what the sticker set looks like, including the kiki bouba twins:

Ling-phabet tier

This special offer is part of the Ling-phabet tier, which also has the ordinary perk of letting patrons sponsor an IPA symbol or other special character and be recognized on the Lingthusiasm website on our "Supporter Wall of Fame" page. You can get your symbol through our ~*~super scientific~*~ Which IPA Character Are You Quiz, or just tell us what your favourite character or other Unicode symbol is. Then you get an image with your name and favourite symbol on it (see samples here!) recognizing you as a supporter, which you can share on social media/print off and use as a bookmark/gaze at in warm satisfaction/etc. Plus, after 3 months at this tier, you get its regular "Lingthusiast" sticker in the mail, so that could be a total of 5 (or 7) stickers and 2 joyous mail occasions for you!

(Patrons at the Phil-ling-thropist tier will get two sticker packs — an extra one to share with a friend or to make sure your next laptop is still sufficiently lingthusiastic — plus the IPA Wall of Fame tile. Patrons at this level also receive a “Lingthusiast” mug after three months at this tier instead of the three month sticker.)

Patrons at all tiers <3

We're still incredibly appreciative of all levels of support for our completely independent linguistics podcast! Regardless of what tier you're at, you’ll help contribute to the 1400 patron stretch goal (and any new Phi-ling-thropists will let us reduce this goal by 10 patrons each!). Existing patrons at any of the relevant tiers will still receive sticker packs, and we'll be in touch to confirm addresses closer to the shipping date.

The bonus episodes will continue to be available at the Ling-thusist tier and above the way they always have, so definitely don't feel like you have to go for this special offer if you can't spare the cash, but if you can and you'd like to help cross-subsidize Lingthusiasm for the many people learning about linguistics for free from our main episodes, then we've got these new special perks to make it even sweeter!

We'll be announcing this special offer publically in a few days for new patrons, but we thought we'd give you the chance to sign up early and claim your favourite symbol on the IPA Wall of Fame before the rush!

Thanks for being a patron, and stay lingthusiastic!

Gretchen and Lauren