33. Let’s Go to the Movies…in Another Language IMDB/Warner Brothers image Immersion, say many who’ve done it, is the best way to learn another language. But moving to Florence or Fez isn’t the only way to achieve it. 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 deep to wade in—from just dangling your toe to diving in head first. In Episode 33 of the America the Bilingual podcast, we venture into the four stages [...]

31. Not Your Uncle's Language Class Steve Leveen's Spanish test What older generations may remember from their language classes—drills of verb conjugations, constant corrections of grammar and sentence structure—is not what they’ll find in many global-language classes today. What we’ll hear in “Not Your Uncle’s Language Class,” Episode 31 of the America the Bilingual podcast, may shock many of us old-schoolers: Global-language teachers are no longer looking for perfection from their students! A new and not-so-perfect order At the 2017 national conference of the American Council on the [...]

30. A New Generation of Cherokee Speakers Rises Among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina, there are fewer than 200 first-language speakers of Cherokee. In Episode 30 of America the Bilingual, you’ll hear from people, both Cherokee and non-Cherokee, who are finding ways to embed the Cherokee language in classrooms and music, giving rise to a new generation of Cherokee speakers in the process. But is it too late? And how did it get to this point? First land, then language When gold was discovered in Georgia [...]

28. And Crown Thy Good with Brotherhood “We have ground rules,” said Amjad, an Arab American speaking about his family of five, “and the ground rules say in public places we don't speak a word of Arabic.” Freedom of speech is a constitutional right we take for granted in America, yet many bilingual speakers avoid speaking their non-English language in public for fear of hostile looks—and worse. Are we destined to perpetuate this contradiction, or might America be ready to move on? In Episode 28, hear Amjad’s story and what happened when his [...]

 26. Are You Too Old to Learn Another Language? Even at 16 we may be too old to learn a new language and speak it without an accent. So what about us adults over 50? Should we even bother trying? Hear longevity expert Laura Carstensen debunk some common assumptions. And hear the story of one intrepid fifty-something language learner who refuses to give up on her efforts to become a bilingual—and to reduce global greenhouse gases, which for her are related quests. “If we think of longevity as about old people, then [...]