39 - Season 3 - America the Bilingual goes to Morocco
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 take you to a country that shows how a linguisti...
34m Mar 13, 2019
34m
38 - Season 3 - STARTALK: Another Peace Corps for the 21st Century
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. The Department of Defense has done something ...
29m Feb 27, 2019
29m
37 - Season 3 - Concordia Language Villages: Waltzing with Mops, and Other Adventures
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 of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL —...
30m Feb 13, 2019
30m
36 - Season 3 - A Tidal Wave of Love: The John Rassias Legacy
In our continuing series of episodes featuring the most well-known summer language immersion programs in America, in Episode 36 we travel to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, home of the famed Rassias Center named in honor of the beloved professor John Rassias. The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL—The American Council on the Teaching of Forei...
25m Jan 30, 2019
25m
35 - Season 2 - The Magic of Middlebury
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 the Bilingual: The Magic of Middlebury. The Am...
28m Jan 09, 2019
28m
34 - Season 2 - Parents, Give Your Child Bilingual Wings
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-be follow in her path. But would she let her o...
14m Nov 14, 2018
14m
33 - Season 2 - Let’s Go to the Movies…in Another Language
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 part of the campaign of ACTFL—The American C...
20m Oct 31, 2018
20m
32 - Season 2 - Why a World War II Survivor Adopted the Enemy’s Language
Listen to Steve’s conversation with octogenarian Bill Davis, whose bilingualism was essential to an unexpected—and rewarding—life after World War II. Bill describes what it was like to hide in the mountains during the Second World War to escape the enemy, all the while loving the language of the enemy. Years later, he had another, very different escape… from a future American president. The Am...
17m Oct 17, 2018
17m
32 - Season 2 - A dispatch from France (Minisode)
Your host Steve Leveen calls from France to talk a little bit about upcoming episodes where we'll explore language immersion camps, and the term "buds of bilingualism" that he coined.
6m Sep 11, 2018
6m
31 - Season 2- Not your uncle's language class
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 looki...
19m Sep 05, 2018
19m
30 - America the Bilingual podcast season 2 - 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? Join us f...
12m Aug 15, 2018
12m
29 - America the Bilingual Season 2 - When Baby’s First Words Are Not Spoken
When Viviana Cisniega’s son Luis was four months old, she taught him to talk—not in English, not in her native Spanish, not even by speaking. Instead, she taught her son some American Sign Language, the physical language of the deaf. For a number of years, some very young hearing babies have learned a few of the signs in ASL, as a way to successfully talk with their parents and caregivers befor...
12m Jul 11, 2018
12m
28 - America the Bilingual Podcast Season 2 - And Crown Thy Good with Brotherhood
When people find out I’m learning Spanish, they frequently ask me, “How are you doing it?” It’s an obvious question. But over the years I’ve discovered that it’s not the best question. A better one is “What are you doing with your language?” For when you can answer that question, you have discovered a place, or places, where your adopted language can live in your life. That, as we’ll hear in th...
19m Jun 20, 2018
19m
27 - America the Bilingual podcast Season 2 - How to Learn a Language Without Studying It
When people find out I’m learning Spanish, they frequently ask me, “How are you doing it?” It’s an obvious question. But over the years I’ve discovered that it’s not the best question. A better one is “What are you doing with your language?” For when you can answer that question, you have discovered a place, or places, where your adopted language can live in your life. That, as we’ll hear in th...
16m Jun 06, 2018
16m
26 - America the Bilingual Season 2 - 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 h...
20m May 22, 2018
20m
25 - America the Bilingual Season 2 - Dual language education: Winds of change
In this second episode on the dual-language movement, we hear from six voices of change in America. They trace their heritages to different countries and have had different life experiences, but they share a common vision for America. They would place our old melting pot respectfully in a museum of American history. The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign ...
31m May 08, 2018
31m
24 - America the Bilingual podcast Season 2 - The Dual-Language Revolution Begins (Part I)
Imagine there was a new way of teaching that results in most students becoming truly bilingual and biliterate before finishing high school. Imagine if this new way of teaching also helped students rise in academic achievement overall. And finally. imagine if this new way of teaching could also help students develop more empathy towards others. We don’t have to just imagine it, it exists. It go...
28m Apr 24, 2018
28m
23 - America the Bilingual podcast Season 2 - In case you thought Latin was dead
How has a presumably dead language become such a disruptor? Because Latin certainly seems to be just that. It’s one of the most frequently taught languages in American schools. It’s a language that few speak and yet can help people think. And it’s been shown to be effective in strengthening English literacy. Who knew?In this episode, you’ll meet two Latinists who make their living by teaching t...
19m Apr 10, 2018
19m
22 - America the Bilingual podcast Season 2 — A language to reveal —or conceal— your true self
We're back with Season 2 of America the Bilingual! We open with this episode that features two stories of how people reconstruct themselves in a new language and how through that process, they can sometimes discover and express important new aspects of themselves that can be liberating. America the Bilingual is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL — The American Council on the Tea...
31m Mar 27, 2018
31m
21 - America the Bilingual podcast - Preview of Season 2 (a minisode)
As we close Season One of America the Bilingual, we are filled with gratitude for the hundreds of interviewees—teachers, scholars, and bilinguals of all types. Thank you for answering our incessant questions and adding your voices to our first 20 episodes. We will resume our schedule with Season Two on March 28th, 2018. In the meantime, we’re in production on a dozen new episodes, including: H...
8m Jan 02, 2018
8m
20 - America the Bilingual podcast - Twelve gifts of Bilingualism
It’s a gift that can’t go under the tree, it can’t even be seen, but it’s one of the best gifts in life. It is, of course, the gift of bilingualism. We’ve reported on this gift many times in our first 19 episodes of this premier season of the America the Bilingual podcast. Our gift to you this Christmas season is a collection of 12 ways to experience this gift . We’re featuring excerpts from so...
29m Dec 20, 2017
29m
19- America the Bilingual Podcast - When America went to war against the German language
Americans remember World War I, but most of us have forgotten the war within our own borders that took place during those same years. It was a war against all things German-American, including the teaching of the German language. Our internal war was so violent, destructive and cruel, that as soon as the war in Europe ended, Americans were quick to sweep what happened under the rug. The lynchin...
37m Dec 06, 2017
37m
18-America the Bilingual podcast - Bill Weir Loves Language Teachers--Wishes he had Listened to His
Bill Weir, travel correspondent and host of CNN Wonder List has his dream job. He gets to jet all over the world to capture images and weave stories together from what he finds. It’s all perfect, except for one thing--Bill is monolingual. “I wish I could travel back in time and punch my teenage self in the face for not paying attention. I was one of those horrible language students who didn't ...
14m Nov 22, 2017
14m
17- America the Bilingual Podcast - When a Gap Year Becomes a Bridge Year
Paulina Jedrzejowski was five years old when two airliners slammed into the World Trade Center. She was just a few miles away in Brooklyn and wondered why ashes and bits of paper were floating down from the sky. Despite growing up in an America with a heightened concern for attacks from the outside, Paulina has devoted her young life to helping outsiders. She has lived in several other countrie...
27m Nov 08, 2017
27m
16- America the Bilingual Podcast - Bless the Late Blooming Bilinguals
When older adults learn another language, they don’t have the advantages of toddlers, whose minds are wired to learn two or three languages simultaneously. Nor do they have the flexibility of young adults who can acquire a native sounding accent. But this episode tells the story of adults who deploy the abilities that come with age and experience, that not only make them effective language lear...
29m Oct 25, 2017
29m
15- America the Bilingual Podcast - Sealed with un beso
He was rich, persuasive--and wrong. But Ron Unz succeeded in leading our most populous state down a dark path in the history of world language education. Yet his very success planted the seeds of change that are yielding a harvest of good in the nation today. Hear the origin story of the Seal of Biliteracy, which began in California and is now transforming America. America the Bilingual is par...
30m Oct 11, 2017
30m
14-America the Bilingual Podcast - The vanishing high school year abroad
In his junior year of high school, Doug Renfield-Miller was flunking out. It didn’t help to also get ejected from school for passing out anti-war posters. To escape, Doug took his mother’s suggestion and applied for a year of study abroad. Hear the story of how a young man was changed by the full measure of a school year away, and of a kind of immersion that is fading from the American tableau....
26m Sep 26, 2017
26m
13- America the Bilingual Podcast - Hurricane Irma: a dispatch from Delray Beach and an invitation
We were halfway into the production of episode 13 but then Hurricane Irma happened. However, our host Steve Leveen still was able to call and give us an overview of the situation in Delray Beach, Florida. We’ll be back with a new episode in two weeks, but in the meantime, we are re-broadcasting “Little Ketchup Girl”. Here’s the description for said episode: How hard can it be to go up to the ...
17m Sep 13, 2017
17m
12-America the Bilingual Podcast - Eastern Star: The Nick Staffa story
Nick Staffa was meant to become a rock star —but not the kind with a guitar on stage. This kid from Long Island of Italian heritage, would become a rock star language teacher with a reputation that would spread well beyond the United States. America the Bilingual is a storytelling podcast for people who think bilingualism is good for themselves, for their families, and for their country. The ...
27m Aug 28, 2017
27m
11-America the Bilingual Podcast - 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. Steve Leveen has looked. That’s why He was thrilled when his friend Caroline Doughty alerted him to a fellow in Denver who had started one. The America the Bilingual podcast is part ...
22m Aug 16, 2017
22m
10-America the Bilingual Podcast - The Joy of speaking Spanish
For our tenth episode of America the Bilingual, we decided to do something different. Your favorite Recovering Monolingual (that would be Steve)has a conversation with podcast producer Fernando Air-nandez about the Joy of Spanish. Plus, a good friend of the show, Mario Bravo, adds some dicho-wisdom for your listening pleasure. The America the Bilingual Podcast is part of the Lead with Language...
32m Aug 02, 2017
32m
9- America the Bilingual Podcast - 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 at Walmart and Home Depot, when we fly on JetBlue, and when we dial Bank of America and hear “marque dos para espanol.” But here’s a fact you don’t hear talked about much: 25% of Latinos don’t speak Spanish--because...
22m Jul 19, 2017
22m
8- America the Bilingual Podcast - American Outliers
Many of us dream of living abroad but few of us actually do. Yet here’s the thing: I’ve interviewed hundreds of native English speakers who have become bilingual and nearly all of them, at some point, lived abroad. Often, it was in a study abroad program. Something that brothers Philip and Cyrus Roepers, true outliers, took advantage of. Because of the critical role of study abroad in fueling...
20m Jul 05, 2017
20m
7- America the Bilingual Podcast - 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 being ballet dancers and models. But the path to living happily-ever-after took some sharp turns. The constant, through thick and thin, was Bettina’s boldness. Bettina’s story left me wondering whether living bilingually and living boldly have a natural relationship. America the ...
21m Jun 21, 2017
21m
6- America the Bilingual Podcast - 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 tra...
15m Jun 06, 2017
15m
5- America the Bilingual Podcast - 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 studied French in school but didn’t get all that far. In other word...
8m May 24, 2017
8m
4-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 ...
15m May 10, 2017
15m
3- 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. A big “Bravo!” to...
19m Apr 25, 2017
19m
2- With a little help from his friends —and good french wine
“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? Find out in Episode 2 of the America the Bilingual podcast. We’ll follow David Wolf’s journey, with its twists and turns th...
19m Apr 12, 2017
19m
1- The Lamp of empathy
Does the whole world speak English? Not quite, not even in France, if you really want to do business. Meet Ben Macklowe, a New York City kid, who grew up as a monolingual English speaker, until he messed up big time and then took matters into his own hands. Now he’s passing The Gift to his baby boys. This episode was written by Steve Leveen, and producer Fernando Hernández, who also does sound...
15m Mar 26, 2017
15m