S1E9 Language is a Door: Lindsay Szper of Culture Without Borders (Part 2)

Are children really better at learning language than adults? Is an unknown language a "barrier," or a door to another culture? What is an idiom, anyway? Lindsay Szper and Rose Thomas refer to Hannah Arendt on the mother tongue, James Baldwin on good bread, and the power of friendship to learn a language and to repair the world. Lindsay studies language pedagogy at The New School and is working on a masters in Oral History at Columbia. Listen to Part 1 of this interview, "What I Need is a Friend," to learn more about Culture Without Borders Language Collective (CWB), the community school for world languages that Lindsay co-founded. CWB believes the best way to learn language is through friendship. You can get in touch with Lindsay at cwblanguagecollective@gmail.com. Lindsay gave Rose Thomas this great working definition for "idiom": An idiom is a collocation of words that tend to go together and represent a common cultural notion or understanding. Nice! Lindsay and Rose Thomas refer to many brilliant texts and people in this episode, listed here for further inspiration. :-) Gabriel Wyner, author of Fluent Forever, says these 625 vocabulary words will let you communicate in any language. Rose Thomas mentions the mom and dad from the Campania winemaking family of the Terre Stregate estate. Penny Ur, a language pedagogy specialist, considers some of the advantages adult language learners have (compared to children) when learning a language. More information on University’s Oral History Master of Arts (OHMA) Program and the Certificate in Teaching English program at The New School. More information about the "affective filter". Lindsay also referred to the language scholar Dianne Larson Freeman in Part 1 of the interview. Lindsay's favorite three minutes on the internet begin at 36:51 during this interview with Hanna Arendt, broadcast in 1964. Lindsay presented on the Walter Benjamin essay "The Translator's Task" with her friend Ana María Belique, a leader and founding member of the the Reconoci.do movement, an independent national civic network that promotes human rights and the full integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent in Dominican society.

Lindsay mentioned this 15-minute video on Youtube by Robin Waldun that summarizes the Benjamin essay. Reflections on the French word maman come from Waldun’s video. Lindsay learned the saying "Cada cabeza es un mundo" from her friend Florencia Ruiz Mendoza, a researcher, lecturer, activist, and longtime advocate against forced disappearance in Mexico. This is the James Baldwin quote about bread from The Fire Next Time. Should Modo di Bere make a spinoff podcast all about different cultural conceptions of the word "bread"? Send your opinion in an Instagram DM or an email through the Modo di Bere website.

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This episode was produced, recorded and edited by Rose Thomas Bannister. Audio assistance by Steve Silverstein