October 2017

11. The Power of Language Exchange

2017-12-05T20:33:09-05:00By |Episodes|

The Power of Language Exchange With millions of Latinos wanting to improve their English and millions of Anglos wanting to improve their Spanish, you’d think there would be lots of programs in America for them to help one another. There aren’t. I’ve looked. That’s why I was thrilled when my friend alerted me to a fellow in Denver who had started one. When I got James Archer on the phone, I learned he wasn’t a language teacher. In fact, he wasn’t a teacher of any kind. Instead he was a “semi-retired” software entrepreneur. But he was something [...]

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August 2017

10. The Joy of Spanish

2018-05-21T12:47:17-04:00By |Episodes|

The Joy of Speaking Spanish Twenty-five percent of American Latinos don’t speak Spanish, because they can’t. The erosion of Spanish and other heritage languages will continue to be make it challenging for the United States to build its international language capital (see Episode 9). On the positive side, an estimated 2.8 million non-Latinos speak Spanish. I aim to be one of them. Martha Gonzalez, Age 16, Grandmother of Mario Bravo For almost 10 years I’ve been studying the language, and while my progress has been embarrassingly slow, I am falling ever more deeply in love [...]

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July 2017

9. Ed de La Torre Doesn’t Speak Spanish

2017-12-05T19:59:57-05:00By |Episodes|

Ed de La Torre Doesn't Speak Spanish “Wow, it’s a good thing you’re studying Spanish,” a fellow told me the other day “because Spanish is taking over the country!” It’s easy to see why it seems so. We see Spanish signs when we shop at Walmart and Home Depot, and on our cocktail napkins on JetBlue. When we phone Bank of America we hear “marque dos para español.” But here’s a fact you don’t hear talked about much: 25 percent of American Latinos don’t speak Spanish — because they can’t. While today’s immigrants are sometimes accused [...]

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8. American Outliers

2017-12-05T19:42:22-05:00By |Episodes|

American Outliers America has been called the place where languages go to die. But not always. In episode 8 of America the Bilingual we hear the story of two American immigrants and their intrepid sons. What the sons did leaps out when set against the landscape of the more usual American study-abroad experience. Listen on iTunes by clicking here: America the Bilingual by Steve Leveen on iTunes Download past episodes or subscribe to future episodes of America the Bilingual by Steve Leveen for free Listen to this SoundCloud episode below:  America the Bilingual by Steve [...]

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June 2017

7. The Bella and the Bold

2017-12-05T19:25:23-05:00By |Episodes|

The Bella and the Bold Bettina Young had a remarkable young life — a fairy tale life by the standard of so many American girls who dream of becoming ballet dancers and models. But the path to living happily-ever-after took some sharp turns. The constant, through thick and thin, was this young American’s boldness. Bettina’s story left me wondering whether living bilingually and living boldly have a natural relationship. Bettina Michele at nine years old Listen on iTunes by clicking here: America the Bilingual by Steve Leveen on iTunes Download past episodes or subscribe to [...]

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6. Little Ketchup Girl

2017-12-05T19:15:37-05:00By |Episodes|

Little Ketchup Girl How hard can it be to go up to the counter at McDonald’s and ask for ketchup? The answer might depend on how confident you are in English. Michelle Bazargan was a little girl when bombs began exploding outside her home in Tehran. It was then that her mother decided it was too dangerous to remain. Thus begins the story of one Iranian family and their challenges of becoming American. Sometimes trauma can leave people irreversibly damaged. Other times trauma can leave people irreversibly dedicated to helping others. Listen to episode 6 of [...]

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May 2017

5. The CEO and the Polyglot

2017-12-05T19:24:20-05:00By |Episodes|

The CEO and the Polyglot Does the whole world speak English? It seems so when you travel to big cities and stay in major hotels. It seems so when you visit popular tourist destinations. But what about in corporate conference rooms? Like when you’re trying to sell something? That, as you’ll hear in this episode, can be a different story. Lois Melbourne Lois Melbourne studied French in school but didn’t get all that far. In other words, she is a typical monolingual American. But Lois is not typical in other ways. Andrew Simmons is [...]

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February 2017

4. Mother Tongue

2017-12-05T19:24:32-05:00By |Episodes|

Mother Tongue We hear it before we are born. Before the first air rushes into our tiny lungs, before the first light refracts into our blinking, baby eyes, our mother tongue is already resident, dreamlike in our waiting minds. In America, the mother tongue for most of us is English. But for millions of us baby Americans, those comforting vibrations our mothers pour over us have other names, like Spanish or Portuguese or Mandarin. Bilingual mothers have a choice to make. Sometimes they chose their own mother tongue to speak to their babies. Other times they [...]

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January 2017

3. Just Call Me Anna

2017-12-05T18:24:55-05:00By |Episodes|

Just Call Me Anna Linguists call it “shift.” The rest of us would call it “loss.” It’s what happens to the languages spoken by immigrants, and it happens fast. By the third generation, and sometimes even the second, the German or Hindi or Greek spoken in the home is gone. That’s why America, known for so many good things, is also known as the place “where languages go to die.” But not always. Sometimes an immigrant family bucks the trend. This is one of those stories.* Anastasia “Anna” Kastrenakes Merkel Listen on iTunes by [...]

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2. With a little Help from his Friends —and Good French Wine

2017-12-05T19:12:22-05:00By |Episodes|

With a little Help from his Friends —and Good French Wine “It was a body blow. I told them, if you reject me, I’ll be forced to accept my position at Oxford.” “Forced” to go to Oxford? Why did this young American want so badly to attend a French business school that few Americans have heard of? Why was he willing to forgo his slot at Oxford to do so? And why were a panel of French professors shooting him down in his interview? David Wolf Find out in Episode 2 of the America [...]

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