Language is something people take for granted. This museum is an opportunity to delve into an aspect of ourselves that we’re intimately familiar with, yet know nothing about. Anyone can benefit from going to this museum, but I have a feeling it’ll be extra special to those already interested in linguistics, philosophy, literature, or cognition. The exhibits tackle a diverse range of subjects and do a great job of being both informative and entertaining. The museum is pay what you wish and the building itself is beautiful. This is a hot take... but in my opinion Planet Word is the best museum in DC. Please check it out and support it if you can!

Its an amazing placed, my 10 year old had a blast. Couldnt imagine a kid having more fun with words. It definitely added a few books to his to read list.

Love this museum! So many activities! Totally worth it! The best museum ever in D.C!Im so lucky that I visited there while I stay in DC.

What a fun museum! I visited at 10am on a Friday. There were probably a dozen other people, so it was quite easy to space out and see everything. There were a few technical glitches and some displays were not working but this will all improve with time. Its still a great time to visit.COVID safety precautions: capacity is limited, masks are required, there are sanitizers throughout, you can borrow a stylus when you arrive to touch the screens, and you can use your own headphones on most installations. I might have missed this but I think they should also have you agree to a list of conditions when you get your passes online, ie: you do not feel sick, have a temperature, etc. The passes are free and released on a rolling basis. I did not receive a confirmation so take a screenshot just in case. I dont think you actually need a confirmation email but if you want one, just DM them on social media.The entire museum is digitally interactive. It takes some time and patience to interact with the exhibits. If youre like me and have a constant pull from your phone to multitask just try to focus and turn that mode of your brain off. I wound up spending an hour and 45 min and didnt even see everything!The exhibits have speech recognition AI that is still learning. It was difficult to speak loud enough through a mask in a room with other people talking for it to hear me but you can always just click buttons to move to the next screen.An unexpected high point of my visit was the music room that has a karaoke set up. I am not an extrovert or musically inclined and had a great time singing (socially distanced) with strangers. If youre not paying attention you could miss the educational explanations of song structure and elements of hooks and such but you will be entertained for sure! It was such a nice release from being quarantined for so long!I hope in the future they offer language classes and an exhibit on preserving endangered languages, but right now theyre doing great and the experience is really different from any other museum.

Super cool museum. Some of the exhibits are fantastic learning experiences.

This new museum is super cool! Great for the entire family. Fun, interactive, educational, informative. Cool items in the gift shop. Highly recommended!

One of the most challenging tasks of a good museum is to appeal to a broad audience. I cant comment on how enriching Planet Word is for young kids since Im not a young kid, but I can say that it offers essentially nothing for teenagers or adults who know even the most rudimentary facts about language and linguistics.The design of the museum is Instagram-friendly, and features many voice-activated screens that walk you through presentations, with individual segments frustratingly unable to be skipped through. Exhibits range from a karaoke room to information literacy education (the latter being a highlight, especially given the sad demise of the Newseum). Its currently three floors, and wont take long to explore.Perhaps I should have anticipated the focus given the branding, and perhaps the museum will expand its offerings as it matures (most visitors are likely unaware its historic venue is arguably the birthplace of optical communications), but until then Id recommend it only for kids.

What an AWEmazing experience. Each exhibit was strategically planned with social distancing in mind. From the Speaking Willow tree to the interactive word wall to the different recording booths, I was able to get lost in translations. Get it?!

Amazing place, the best Museum

Extremely interactive experience