From 'Parasite' to 'Emilia Pérez': How movies shape language, with Andrew Cheng

1060. Why do villains always have British accents? Why was "Parasite" a game-changer for non-English films? And how is AI secretly shaping the voices you hear on screen? With the Oscars coming up, Dr. Andrew Cheng talks about how films are evolving to reflect linguistic authenticity — and why it matters. From heritage speakers in "Anora" to made-up languages in "Dune" and "Avatar," we look at the complexities of representing real and fictional languages in film.

Dr. Andrew Cheng teaches Linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, located in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. His academic research focuses on the sounds of language, the social perceptions of language, and all sorts of linguistic phenomena associated with bilingualism and multilingualism. When he's not geeking out about linguistics, he can be found playing tabletop games, hiking in the jungle, or, of course, watching movies. You can find him on Bluesky and Letterboxd (for film buffs). 

🔗 Share your familect recording in a WhatsApp chat.

🔗 Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses.

🔗 Subscribe to the newsletter.

🔗 Take our advertising survey. 

🔗 Get the edited transcript.

🔗 Get Grammar Girl books. 

🔗 Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. 

| HOST: Mignon Fogarty

| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475).

| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

• Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend
• Director of Podcast: Brannan Goetschius
• Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson
• Marketing and Publicity Assistant: Davina Tomlin
• Digital Operations Specialist: Holly Hutchings
• Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes

| Theme music by Catherine Rannus.

| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook.Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky.