How to Learn a Language

Trade has always influenced the languages we speak. But what happens with language at one of the busiest and most important trade routes in the world, the Panama Canal? In this episode of Language Stories, discover languages at The Panama Canal. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Links:The Panama Canal - WikipediaAgreement from Panama Canal - the agreements document issued by the Panama Canal with the "Important Notice" at the top. English Test Guidelines - the English Test Guidelines for jobs at the Panama Canal. Jobs at the Panama Canal - the list of jobs at the Panama Canal (in Spanish).No accident: Ancient walnut forests linked to languages, trade routes - an interesting read about research involving languages, trade, and walnuts...

K'iche' is a Mayan language spoken in Guatemala by over a million people. Join us for this episode of Language Stories as we explore K'iche' Maya at a local homestay and in a busy market town, as well as learning how to learn K'iche'. THE VIDEO Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. SUPPORT THE SHOW The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. SHARE YOUR STORY If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Special Guests: Carlos and Family - Guatemala, Dave Prine - K'iche' Learner, and Juan Leon Cortez - Galeria Pop Wuj.Links:Stay with Carlos and family in the Mayan Countryside - check Carlos' Airbnb listing to stay for yourself with him and his family.Galeria Pop Wuj - learn more about the art and classes taking place at Juan's gallery.Can Knowing Some K’iche’ Save Your Life and Make You Rich? - Dave's presentation on K'iche' from the Polyglot Gathering 2017.Online free K'iche' course from The University of TexasFurther resources to learn K'iche' - a few extra links from the University of Connecticut.Institute of World Languages - the initiative that Dave is learning K'iche' through.Mayan Languages: How I Learned to Speak Tz’utujil in Guatemala - Fluent in 3 MonthsAcademy of Mayan Languages in Guatemala

As we've been travelling through Latin America and heading into a new Spanish-speaking country every few weeks, I've realised something. I arrive in a new Spanish-speaking country and don't know how to address YOU. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Links:Duality - WikipediaSaying 'you' in Japanese - Nihon Shock100 Ways to Say 'You' in Japanese - Japanese Level UpJapanese Personal Pronouns - WikipediaSubjectless Sentences in Child Language - academic paper sharing research on children dropping subject pronouns.

Belize isn't like the rest of Central America. Belize speaks English. But that's not the full story... The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Special Guests: Osmer Balam - Northern Belizean Spanish and Timothy McKeon - Creole Specialist.Links:Guatemalan Passport - this interesting website has images of all the passport covers in the world. You can see the jaggy line I mention between Guatemala and Belize on this one.Guatemala Passport Map an Affront to Belizeans - AmandalaQ'eqchi' - WikipediaMopan - WikipediaCIA Factbook - A useful list of country sizes. I used this for the size comparisons mentioned in the podcast.Belize Language Stats - Official stats from the Belizean Government.National Kriol Council - the useful website of the National Kriol Council has some great references both for the language and culture.National Garifuna Council - a language we didn't get into in this episode. The website has some useful info on the Garifuna language and culture that spreads beyond Belize to Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua also.A Spanish Accent, The Economist - an interesting article on the impact of immigration on the languages in Belize.

Nahuatl is a language spoken in Mexico that maybe you've never heard of until now. But guess what? You know a word in Nahuatl. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Special Guest: Siskia Lagomarsino - The Polyglotist.Links:Uto-Aztecan Languages on Wikipedia - check the Wikipedia page for an introduction to the Uto-Aztecan family.The Flower Tree Poem - the whole poem I quote at the end of the podcast.More Nahuatl poem suggestions - a Quora post with more suggestions for poems in Nahuatl.An app to learn Nahuatl - if you're curious to learn a few words, this looks like a great start!Starter Lessons - Self-proclaimed 'Inadequate' Nahuatl Lessons.

Think of this episode as a bit of a myth buster. Answering the questions you didn't even know you had about a language that you didn't even know still existed: Maya. THE VIDEO Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. SUPPORT THE SHOW The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. SHARE YOUR STORY If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you. Special Guests: Mirna Canul Aké - Radio Yúuyum, Pat Boy - Mayan Rapper, and Vicente Canché Móo - Yucatec Maya Expert.Links:Photos of the Yuya nests Mirna mentions - The Yucatan TimesEnd of World in 2012? Maya "Doomsday" Calendar Explained - National GeographicVicente Canche Moo's WebsiteKo’one’ex kanik maaya - the project in the region teaching Yucatec Maya in schools.Xiimbal Kaaj - my favourite Pat Boy song featuring Yazmín Novelo, who also volunteers with Radio Yuuyum.ADN MAYA - Pat Boy's record label YouTube channel.Vice/Noisey - an interview with Pat Boy (in Spanish)Radio Yuuyum - check their official website to see everything going on!Global Voices - an article about Radio Yuuyum.

It's another Mini Episode! This time we’re in Tikal, Guatemala, aka Rebel Base Yavin 4, and we’re talking all things...Star Wars. In particular the languages of Star Wars. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Links:Languages in Star Wars Wikipedia pageObject Subject Verb Wikipedia pageStar Wars: Linguists Explain The Way Yoda SpeaksYoda in Different Languages Reddit threadYoda TranslatorStar Wars accused of race stereotypes - The IndependentJar Jar Binks: A Cultural Rorschach Test - Chicago Tribune

We're making our way up North America. This time we visit Montreal, a city that goes beyond the French and English bilingual expectations you might have. This is episode 3 of Language Stories - Montreal: Beyond Bilingual. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Special Guest: Tetsu Yung & Joey Perugino - LangFest.Links:Bernard Spolsky - The Language of the JewsMontréalers Need To Stop Greeting People With 'Bonjour. Hi.' - Huffington PostHow Bilingual Is Montreal? The Truth is Shocking - MtlBlogMaps tell story of Montreal's changing linguistic landscape - CBA News

Havana, Cuba has a Chinatown. Nothing too unusual about that, right? Well what happens when that Chinatown doesn't really have a Chinese population? This is episode two of Language Stories. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Links:Chinese Cubans - WikipediaEl Barrio Chino - Spanish WikipediaIn Cuba, A Chinatown With No Chinese - The Diplomat

Language Stories is finally here! Woohoo! And what better place to start for episode one than New York City. New York City is undoubtedly one of the most multicultural in the world. So what's it like to live there as someone interested in languages? In this episode we meet with 5 local New Yorkers to hear about their experiences living and learning languages in such a diverse city and to learn about the projects that have developed from living in this inspiring place. The Video Click here to watch the sister video to this podcast episode. To keep track of future episodes in video form, click here to subscribe on YouTube. Support The Show The best thing you can do right now to support the project is threefold, and if you've ever listened to any podcast before, I'm sure you'll be familiar with what I'm about to say! Subscribe - by subscribing to the Language Stories podcast in your favourite place and YouTube for the sister videos, you're going to keep up with all future episodes. Woop! Review - when it comes to the tech stuff, reviews are pretty important. Reviews help to tell iTunes that people like the podcast, and that helps to raise the profile so that new people can find it easily. Yay! Tell a friend - word of mouth still wins! If you know someone who would love Language Stories, tell them about it. And if they're new to podcasts, walk them through the process to subscribe them. Woohoo! To make it as easy as possible to share the podcast, click here to tweet about episode. Share Your Story If you have a Language Story you’d love to share, or if you know someone that does, get in touch. I always love to hear from you! Your feedback helps to shape future episodes so thank you.Special Guests: Benny Lewis - Fluent in 3 Months, Daniel Bogre Udell & Freddie Andrade - Wikitongues, and Ross Perlin - Endangered Language Alliance.Links:A short article from the New York Times about the work of the Endangered Language Alliance.A longer piece from the New York Times about languages in New York.An article from the BBC in 2012 about langauges in New York.Language Map of Queens produced by the Endangered Language Alliance.Facts about the NYC population from the official local government website.An article from The Daily Telegraph about the Number 7 Line.Census stats for New York City and languages.