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America the Bilingual is a storytelling podcast designed to inspire people on their journey to bilingualism. We'll listen to people who have become bilingual, especially native-English speakers who learned another language as adults (that is, the hard way). How did they do it? Why did they do it? How do they lead their bilingual lives? You'll find out every two weeks.
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The United States leads the world in bilingualism.No kidding.Because of this, no country understands the world as well as the United States.Seriously.Ah, you may be thinking, there must be a catch. No catch—just a different way to understand the uncontested data that’s been accumulating for decades.So…how did we get here, and how might we use this …
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While the whole world does not speak English, it’s nevertheless a ubiquitous language worldwide.Is that a good thing or bad? Or is it, perhaps, more complicated than that?Professor Rosemary Salomone, both linguist and lawyer, knows how to answer this question perhaps better than anyone. In this episode, she and Steve discuss her newest book, The Ri…
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Hear why Kim Potowski, a professor of linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has a passion for preserving heritage languages, and how she teaches speakers of these languages. De-stigmatizing the way that a Spanish bilingual speaks his or her home language, in Kim’s view, “is a question of social justice.” Listen now to Episode 72 of …
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Want to know what really goes into that Subway® sandwich? Localization. Internationalization. And one more: transcreation. Hear how Subway’s Carrie Fischer is making languages part of Subway’s linguistic palate worldwide, in this new episode of the America the Bilingual podcast.This episode was written and directed by Mim Harrison, the editorial an…
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The American journalist, linguist, and author Michael Erard (Babel No More) has lived in South America, Asia, and now in Europe. He’s always had an ear to the native languages as much as for them.A deep researcher of language, he shares in this episode why he believes that “human beings are meant to have very complex linguistic systems in their bra…
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The 20th-century novelist Thomas Wolfe famously pronounced that “you can’t go home again.” But what if you have little choice?This is what a number of Latino immigrants, who have long made their home in the US, face when immigration laws require that they return to their country of birth.In this episode of the America the Bilingual podcast, Alexand…
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Join Steve for a lively, upbeat and often surprising conversation with first-generation Chinese American Amy Chua. A Yale law professor who gained fame as the Tiger Mom, she made sure that her children grew up as she did: bilingual. Listen as Amy describes three traits American immigrants share that help them excel. She also explains what the revie…
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Call him señor Mo. That’s what Mohamed Kilani’s third-to-fifth grade students in Falmouth, Maine, call him. Mohamed is an Iraqi by birth, a Jordanian by virtue of war, and now an American by virtue of a selfless and brave mother. Listen to this Arab refugee’s odyssey of finding home and the many languages he speaks that have played a role. Among th…
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As a native English speaker who became smitten with Spanish, the American journalist Joe Keenan decided that nobody else had written how to break out of beginniner’s Spanish, so he would have to do it himself. That’s just how he titled his first book, back in 1995. It became a bestseller, one that continues to sell more than 20 years later, and in …
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Why are Tacombi restaurants winning hearts across the US as America’s taco sensation? And just what is a Tacombi, anyway? Mexican American founder Dario Wolos shows how being not just bilingual but bicultural is turning Tacombi into a beloved brand that crosses borders. Hear his story, and the story behind the name, in Episode 65 of America the Bil…
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Martina Castro, the award-winning production impresario behind Duolingual’s popular multilingual podcasts and NPR’s Radio Ambulante, has become a major force in audio storytelling. Hear this Uruguayan American recount her own story of being bilingual in America, in Episode 64 of the America the Bilingual podcast, “ A Global Audio Storyteller: The J…
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The award-winning star of the popular PBS cooking show, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” and of the PBS docu-series “La Frontera” (“The Border”) brings her love of her native Mexican culture and food to everything she does—including this conversation. Listen now to Episode 63 of the America the Bilingual podcast, and get a taste for how this Mexican America…
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“I don’t know that I would have become a writer had I not grown up with this very deeply rooted fascination with language and the ways that for me it existed in these two worlds.”That’s the Peruvian American author Natalia Sylvester, whose newest book, “Breathe and Count Back from Ten,” was named a 2022 Today Show Pick. In Episode 62 of the America…
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“If you limit yourself to writers from your own country, you’re missing out on the whole rest of the world.”That’s Arthur Levine, the founder of Levine Querido Publishing, which is making a name for itself—in many languages—in translated books for children.In Episode 61 of America the Bilingual, find out how they’re doing it, and why they will neve…
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“I do consider Puerto Rico a borderland of the United States,” says Brenda Piñero of her homeland, which is both a part of, and apart from, the U.S. In Episode 60 of the America the Bilingual podcast, Brenda shares what it’s like to work on the border in South Texas as an American immigration attorney from a part of America that is a territory rath…
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“My dad died in 2018 and I wasn’t able to go to his funeral. It was too much of a risk.” For the film critic Carlos Aguilar to have left his home in the US to attend his father’s funeral in Mexico would have put his re-entry into the United States in jeopardy. A native of Mexico City who has lived and worked in the US since he was young, Carlos is …
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In 1491, the Taíno people of the Caribbean and their language were thriving. After 1492, both had been extinguished.Or so many history books would have you believe. In Episode 58 of the America the Bilingual podcast, Priscilla Colón—whose DNA tested YES for Taíno—shares what it’s like to reclaim a language that was nearly lost. The language that wa…
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Long before his college graduation, Jack Clarke had his life mapped out: “I was going to be an Army officer and language capability would enhance my career.” Getting there was quite the adventure.His Spanish took him parachuting into countries on Special Forces mission. His German found him alone in the mountains of… North Carolina. And his French …
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Concert pianist Andrew von Oeyen has been learning languages even longer than he’s been performing with the world’s top orchestras—and he made his professional debut at age 16. In Episode 56 of the America the Bilingual podcast, he explains how his fluency in three other languages infuses his work with greater meaning (and did a lot for his relatio…
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This is our second of two episodes on what technology can and can’t do for language learning…and perhaps more important, what technology should and shouldn’t do.Listen as Steve shares the week he spent in Silicon Valley attending the futuristic technology incubator called Singularity University. He had a chance to ask the high priest of language te…
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Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on using technology for learning a language. That includes the many bilinguals Steve interviewed for Episode 54 of the America the Bilingual podcast. It’s a brief meditation on the merits—and demerits—of language technology.How much should we depend on language technology to talk for us? What are technology’s limi…
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From sea to shining sea, English is spoken throughout all 3.8 million square miles of the US. Does it make sense to speak anything else?To answer this question, in Episode 53, Steve takes you on a tour that starts in Little Rock and ends in Montreal, by way of Casablanca and Mali.Enjoy this seventh free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Cent…
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Want to learn Japanese? Go to Japan. Portuguese? Portugal or Brazil. Hindi? India. Immersion is absolutely the best way to learn another language…or is it? In Episode 52, Steve weighs in, and his answer might surprise you.Enjoy this sixth free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 36, narrated…
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A middle-aged guy named Steve walks into an intermediate-Spanish class for Harvard undergrads, and does a quick assessment of their advantages versus his.Theirs: They’re smarter. They take tests really well. They’ve had more Spanish. They can hear perfectly fine. They’re highly motivated to get good grades. They seem to relish the mental struggle.S…
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Are there certain best practices for starting your children on a lifelong path to bilingualism? Absolutely, and in Episode 50, Steve shares the three that are most essential. They can work even if parents are not (or not yet) bilingual.You’ll also meet two families who started their children off as bilingual speakers and one family who wished they …
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In Episode 49 of the America the Bilingual podcast, Steve introduces seven bilinguals whose new language came alive for them when they found where in their lives it should live.Lorna Auerbach is one of them. She had struggled as a young student trying to learn a second language. But later, as an adult, she blossomed when she connected her “where” t…
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If how you’re going to learn a new language is the first question you consider on your bilingual journey, Steve has a surprise for you. In Episode 48, he reveals an even more important question to ask yourself about that new language—before you decide how you’ll learn it.It’s one of the pivotal lessons Steve learned when researching his book, Ameri…
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In Episode 47, Steve shares why he decided in midlife to leave behind a comfortable career as CEO of his own company and light out for the long road to bilingualism.Enjoy this first free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century, the new book by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to the preface of the book, narrated by Sean Pratt.Then check out …
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Winter may be coming, but next summer is not that far behind. Start planning now if you’d like to send your kids—or yourself!—to a summer language immersion camp. In Episode 46 of the America the Bilingual podcast, we give you capsule reports on five top programs we’ve featured in earlier episodes, plus a brand-new report on a different kind of cam…
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Since October is Bilingual Child Month, we are rebroadcasting our America the Bilingual podcast on the status of bilingual education among deaf children. What happens when their parents aren’t able to find schools that teach American Sign Language—and why can’t they?The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of AC…
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October is Bilingual Child Month, a good reason to revisit one of the country’s major success stories in bilingual education for children. Their secret? Start kids early, use a broad definition of biliteracy, and give every school district the power to pick the languages. Meet some of the powerhouse educators behind North Carolina’s impressive rise…
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For anyone older than 20 who's learning a language, the all-new Episode 45 of the America the Bilingual podcast is one you won't want to miss. We tapped a slew of global language teachers and asked them for their best tip on learning a language as an adult. In the podcast, you’ll hear their advice—sometimes based on their own experience of learning…
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Here’s a fact you don’t hear talked about much: 25% of Latinos don’t speak Spanish--because they can’t. And that percentage is growing.Hear Ed’s story set against the backdrop of the forces that are drowning out Spanish and other heritage languages in America. And hear what some dedicated language teachers are doing to promote a healthy bilingualis…
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Summer Light Listening: “In case you thought Latin was dead…”Seriously? A podcast about Latin is supposed to be summer light listening? We promise, this one is. There’s not even a whisper about the subjunctive. But there’s sure to be a smile when you hear how one high school Latin teacher, who’s constantly teased with the question, “Learn Latin? Wh…
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El mundo es un pañuelo, goes the Spanish dicho, or saying. It translates literally to “The world is a handkerchief.” A handkerchief is small, and so is the world. See where this is going? Right—to a more colorful way of saying “It’s a small world.” In Episode 10 of the America the Bilingual podcast, Steve exchanges dichos with two Mexican friends. …
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Summer has its own movie theater allure, rainy-afternoon matinees being just one. Why not take in a few films this summer in a language you’d like to learn…even if it’s not raining? Steve will share with you how he’s done it in learning Spanish, starting with just dipping his toe in to diving right in. You can pick the immersion point that works be…
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We hope you’re enjoying your summer. At America the Bilingual, we’re taking a summer break from our podcast routine while Steve works on his new book about bilingualism in America. While he does that, we thought we’d rebroadcast a few of our podcasts that you might not have heard, or might like to hear again. This one, Episode 27, marks the first i…
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To mark this Independence Day, we’re rebroadcasting our podcast on “American Outliers.” It tells a modern immigrant family’s tale and their success in coming to America, professionally but also linguistically. Both parents and both sons speak English plus four other languages. How did they succeed in becoming a two-generation, multilingual American…
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In the west African country of Cameroon, it’s not unusual for youngsters playing a neighborhood game of soccer to encounter different languages among their friends. And throughout Africa, it’s not uncommon for people to speak three languages—even if they don’t write or read all three. How do they do it? And what can the United States learn from thi…
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None of us can master every language, but we can all learn phrases that extend a symbolic hand in greeting and say, “To show I respect you, and therefore your language, I’ll try to speak a few words of it.” No matter how poor the result linguistically, you’ve often made a friend. And thus, a bud of bilingualism blooms. In Episode 43 of the America …
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In 2005, North Carolina had seven dual-language schools; in 2018, there were 140. A 2018 graduating class at one of the dual-language high schools had two valedictorians—one a native Spanish speaker and the other a native English speaker, both now fluent in the other’s native tongue. How did North Carolina do it? Can their success be replicated? An…
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This fifth episode in our series on some of the finest summer language immersion programs takes us to Université Sainte-Anne in the tiny village of Church Point, Nova Scotia. A French immersion summer program, it is Canada’s most popular and attracts many students from the United States as well. In Episode 41 of the America the Bilingual podcast, h…
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What if young hearing children in America were never taught how to spell or properly pronounce words? That’s what’s happening to many of the children in America who cannot hear. They do not have the same access to the language of the deaf—American Sign Language, or ASL—that their hearing counterparts have to English. In Episode 40 of America the Bi…
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What could be a better example of free speech in America than to be able to speak freely in public in another language? And when it comes to patriotism, what could be more patriotic than defending our country by actually being able to understand our allies, and our enemies, in their own languages? To help envision such a new normal in America, we t…
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On September 11, 2001, the value of knowing another language was probably the last thing on the minds of most Americans. But 9/11 revealed another fissure in this country’s infrastructure: the thousands of jobs going unfilled in our intelligence agencies because not enough Americans speak the language of the countries these agencies must understand…
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In our continuing series of dual language summer immersion programs, in Episode 37 of the America the Bilingual podcast, we learn what it means to “live the language” at Concordia Language Villages—from learning opera in Italian, soccer in German, volleyball in Spanish, and French while waltzing with mops.The America the Bilingual podcast is part o…
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The summer language immersion program that Professor John Rassias founded at Dartmouth College is famous worldwide for showing results in as little as 10 days. But now that this larger-than-life language visionary has passed away, can his legacy—and his method—live on? Join us for Episode 36 of America the Bilingual, “A Tidal Wave of Love: The John…
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World War I shattered a way of life for millions. But one positive result, invented by a German-American immigrant, continues to deliver blessings to Americans today. Almost no one knows her name or her story, but the peacemaking legacy of Lilian L. Strobe, today called summer language immersion experiences, is the subject of Episode 35 of America …
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Jenny K. Messner credits the high school cultural exchange program of AFS with transforming her life. Living in Brazil for a year in the 1970s, Jenny learned a new culture, became fluent in Portuguese, and parlayed her language skills into a career in international finance. Then she found a way to help hundreds of other young American bilinguals-to…
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Movies, especially with the help of new streaming services and à la carte language options, offer a virtual language immersion where you can choose how far to wade in. In Episode 33 of America the Bilingual, we’ll venture into the four stages of movie immersion—from just dangling your toe to diving in head first.The America the Bilingual podcast is…
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