Talking to Grandma

Over the past two seasons, we have heard from parents, children, educators, researchers, therapists, and museum directors, all dedicated to the work of heritage language preservation. In this mini-season, we wanted to talk to actual grandmas in honor of our podcast name and host, Vero's grandmother, Maria Medina. If you are a grandmother or know of a grandmother who would like to share their story of language and cultural preservation, please reach out to us at hello@bilingualgeneration.com - we would love to feature them on a future mini-season of the podcast!  Learn more about the Brillando Bilingüe: The Bilingual Generation Alumni Speaker Series here: https://bit.ly/BGspeakerseries

In this special bonus episode of Talking to Grandma, producer Beck takes listeners on a journey back to SXSW EDU in March 2023, where Bilingual Generation participated in an enlightening panel discussion and spoke with audience members about language preservation, cultural identity, and equitable education. We hear the voices of Angélica Sánchez, Daniel Hernandez, and Jon Chin, exploring the challenges and triumphs of preserving heritage languages and the importance of embracing cultural identity. Check out the full SXSW EDU session here! Find out more about the panelist and their work:  Diandra Morse, LCSW - @bilingualplayate on Instagram Dr. Vanessa Santiago Schwarz - www.vanessasantiagoschwarz.com Kaila Diaz - @bilinguitos on Instagram Dr. Veronica Benavides - @wearebilingualgeneration on Instagram You can find out more about our guests: Angélica Sánchez - @myth.787 on Instagram Daniel Hernandez - www.theblackwellschool.org Jon Chin - www.jonathanchin.com Follow us on Instagram @talkingtograndma Don't forget to rate and review! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In this special bonus episode of "Talking to Grandma," we embark on a captivating journey to Antonito, Colorado, a town nestled in the heart of Southern Colorado.  Join us as we dive into the stories of students and teachers who are part of the "Spanish for Heritage Speakers" class at Justice & Heritage Academy.  This work was also featured in a segment on Colorado Public Radio on May 17th. The piece featured an interview with the co-founder of Justice and Heritage Academy, Aaron Abeyta, sharing the context of language loss in the community in addition to the student’s voices sharing their experience and hopes for the future.  Learn more about Justice & Heritage Academy: https://www.justiceheritageacademy.org Learn more about the Bilingual Generation: www.bilingualgeneration.com Learn more about the Margulf Foundation: https://www.margulffoundation.org Keep the conversation going on Instagram @talkingtograndma

We hope you enjoyed season 2 of Talking to Grandma! While our season has ended, we aren’t quite done yet! Keep your ears peeled for some exciting bonus episodes coming your way soon.  And if you haven’t already, please rate, review, and subscribe to our podcast. It costs you nothing and means everything to us - it helps us keep these podcast lights on and helps us bring powerful, important, narrative change work to the world. 

We have spent almost two seasons talking with parents and educators of children with bilingualism in their bones, but in this episode, we get to hear very special conversations between a father and his daughter, who are both on the journey to preserve their heritage language. Dr. Armando X. Orguña and his daughter Giuliana Sol Orduña sat down to share what that journey looks like from each of their perspectives. 

We each have unique identities that become even more complex when we have mixed heritage. In today’s episode, Henry Yau shares how he heard the question, “What are you?” many times growing up with Chinese & Venezuelan heritage and how the diverse community of Houston welcomed him and continues to inspire his work today!  As a graduate of the University of Houston, Henry has become a seasoned professional in the field of public relations, a passionate advocate for diversity and representation in children's education, and has played a vital role in shaping the experience at the Children's Museum Houston for the past 16 years.  Connect on social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henryyau Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/henry.yau.735/ Children's Museum of Houston: www.cmhouston.org Resources Henry mentioned: FLIP (Family Involvement Program): https://www.cmhouston.org/outreach-programs/flip

As many of our listeners know, heritage language learning is hard but made a lot easier when done in  community. That is what Anita Sachariah has created with her Instagram account Bhashakids which helps connect the south asian diaspora to their heritage language. In today’s episode, we hear Anita’s story of how she is teaching her kids their heritage languages, even though these languages were nearly lost in her generation. She shares her vast knowledge of language and tips to make it easier to pass on languages to your kids. Find out more about Anita's work at bhashakids.com Resources Anita shared: Bilinguitos 

Dr. Lizette B. Suxo (Sooks-so) shared her journey to connect with her Andean culture and learn Aymara, an indigenous language from the region. Like many people trying to learn their indigenous heritage language, she had to dig deep to find resources, which inspired her to create a hub for people looking to connect with their Andean culture. Dr. Lizette B. Suxo is an accomplished leadership coach. With over 2 decades of leadership in education, Lizette made a pivot in her career when she became a mom. Faced with important language learning decisions with regard to her son, and also in light of a recent rare disease diagnosis, the importance of raising her son as a multilingual global citizen quickly became a top priority. As a traveler of the world, Lizette has often worked to craft bridges between individuals and across communities. Learning the indigenous language of her ancestors has been a parallel learning experience for her as she raises a son who is bilingual and an emerging multilingual learner. After years of leading and learning in schools and school systems in the US and Latin America, Lizette is deeply interested in strengthening her connection to her cultural Andean roots by learning Aymara. While her family has spoken Aymara for centuries, their immigration to the US and Europe has resulted in a generation who does not speak it. Lizette aims to learn Aymara to ensure it does not disappear from her family and, as her teacher- or yatichiri - has said, “to learn our language is the preserve the ways in which our ancestors lived in the world. How they saw, felt, and experienced the world. How they made sense of it. If we lose our language, we lose that important vision and perspective.” Lizette is determined to strengthen her knowledge of Aymara so that she can build this connection with her mom (a native speaker) and her son, too. The Ayllu is an online virtual Adinx community for those looking to connect with Aymara and Quechua resources and people in the U.S. and abroad). Their website will go live on June 21st, which is the Aymara New Year or Wilkakuti (the 'Return of the Sun,' in Aymara) IG: @the_ayllu Aymara language resources (Lizette's 'yatichiri's (teacher's) page) FB: https://www.facebook.com/aymaryatiqana IG: @elis.ajata.rivera Quechua community resources IG: @quechuaproject UNESCO article on Aymara: https://courier.unesco.org/en/articles/aymara-has-not-said-its-last-word

Over the years, we disconnect from ourselves, our ‘ser’, the person we are before society and family and insecurities tell us who to be. This can mean losing language and culture from our lives. In this episode, we talk with Robyn Moreno about her new book, Get Rooted, and what it means to find our way back to our whole and unbreakable selves. Visit RobynMoreno.com for free meditations, to sign up for her newsletter, and check out upcoming events and offerings.

If you are a long-time podcast listener, you likely know that the emotional barriers tied to a heritage language can cause pressure or stress that non-heritage language learners don’t experience. In this episode, Wendy Ramirez shares the complexity of language as it's tied to our identity and navigating the barriers of shame. Learn more about Spanish Sin Pena at www.spanishsinpena.com or @spanishsinpena on social media!