Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on using technology for learning a language. That includes the many bilinguals Steve interviewed for Episode 54 of the America the Bilingual podcast. It’s a brief meditation on the merits—and demerits—of language technology.

How much should we depend on language technology to talk for us? What are technology’s limitations? Or is it just we humans who are limited in our thinking of what technology can do?

The role that technology plays in language learning is such a timely and important question that we’re devoting two episodes to answering it. Meet the guests you’ll hear in this episode, the first of two.

Music is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

54 - Season 4 - To App or Not to App: That is the Language Learner’s Question

A Plague of Tics, from Naked, by David Sedaris, read by David and Amy Sedaris

A Plague of Tics, from Naked, With David Sedaris And Amy Sedaris

section of Janet Fitch's novel White Oleander, read by Oprah Winfrey

an excerpt from White Oleander by Janet Fitch, read by Oprah Winfrey

Helen Mirren narrates the A+Audio guide to Tchaikovsky's music

MAJADAT04 - MirrenTchaikovskyProdMaster.WAV

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 design and mixing. Our editorial consultants are Maja Thomas and Mim Harrison, research assistance from Alma Flores-Perez.

Our graphic arts are created by Carlos Plaza and Ruth Kim.


Music in this episode by: 

Kevin Macleod - Beach party 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Beach_Party

Kevin Macleod - Rite of passage 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Rite_of_Passage

Kevin Macleod - Quasi motion
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Quasi_Motion

Kevin MacLeod - I knew a guy 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Jazz_Samp

Kevin Macleod - Baltic levity
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Baltic_Levity

Jason Shaw- Jenny's theme 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/JENNYS_THEME___________________-45

1- The Lamp of empathy

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 America’s language teachers. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages--their acronym ACTFL (pronounced ACT-Full) is fitting. Its Lead with Languages campaign encourages bilingualism for all.  

This episode was written by me, Steve Leveen, and our producer Fernando Air-nandez, who also does sound design and mixing. Our editorial consultants are Maja Thomas and Mim Harrison, research assistance from Alma Flores-Perez.

Graphic Arts are created by  Carlos Plaza Design Studio.

Special thanks to Rev. Dr. James Katinas for letting us record in the sound studio of the Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thanks as well to Greek Language School Director, Dr. Stavroula Christodoulou, the teachers of the St. Demetrios Greek School, and to Anastasia Kastrenakes Merkel for sharing her recording of the Chants of the Fathers of the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou Mount Athos. 

Additional music and sound in this episode:

Rast’e Tou Teke by Costa and Nero - Rast'e Tou Teke

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share alike 3.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ 

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Costa_and_Nero/On_A_Steady_Diet_of_Hash_Bread__Salt/soundeyet_-_ON_A_STEADY_DIET_OF_HASH_BREAD__SALT_-_03_Raste_Tou_Teke 

Beach Party by Kevin Macleod 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Beach_Party 
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

Changes include high pass EQ Filter. 

Quasi Motion by Kevin Macleod
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Quasi_Motion 

Land Legs by Andy G. Cohen
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License
https://andyg.co/hen/
Seikilos Epitaph with the Lyre of Apollo by Lina Palera
Released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lina_Palera_Lyre_20_Project_player/An_Appreciation/01_Seikilos_Epitaph_with_the_Lyre_of_Apollo 

Bathed in fine dust  by Andy G. Cohen
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution International License
https://andyg.co/hen/
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Andy_G_Cohen/MUL__DIV_1198/Andy_G_Cohen_-_MULDIV_-_07_-_Bathed_in_Fine_Dust 

Aurea Carmina - Full mix by Kevin Macleod
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Best_of_2014_1461/Aurea_Carmina 

Chicle Bombita by Francisco Penilla
Courtesy by the author. Whose work can be found at https://soundcloud.com/francisco-penilla 
Chants of the Fathers of the Holy Monestary of Gregoriou Mount Athos
Courtesy of Annastasia Kastrenakes Merkel’s personal recordings. 

Sounds:

Drunk teenagers by Zabuhailo 
Released under a Creative Commons Attribution license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 
http://freesound.org/people/Zabuhailo/sounds/195721/ 

Crowd sounds by Sagetyrtle

http://freesound.org/people/sagetyrtle/sounds/102096/ 

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

3- Just call me Anna

“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 they can’t. And that percentage is growing.

The American the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languagescampaign of ACTFL — The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
A special thanks to the Pew Research Center for its uniquely valuable opinion polling on Hispanic trends in America.

This episode was written by Steve Leveen, and producer Fernando Hernández, who also does sound design and mixing. Associate producer is Beckie Rankin. Editorial consultants are Mim Harrison and Maja Thomas. Graphic arts are created by Carlos Plaza Design Studio.

Music in this episode with a Creative Commons Attribution Share a like License by (in order of appearance):

Lee Rosevere - Sad Marimba Planet

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_02_Sad_Marimba_Planet

Kevin MacLeod - Quasi Motion

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Quasi_Motion

Francisco Penilla - Chicle bombita

https://soundcloud.com/francisco-penilla/francisco-penilla-chicle-bombita

Frederic Lardon feat Laura Palme

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Frederic_Lardon_feat_Laura_Palme/Jazz__la_cool_pour_les_vacances_sur_la_plage_ou__la_montagne_1678/Frederic_Lardon_feat_Laura_Palme_-_Jazz__la_cool_pour_les_vacances_sur_la_plage_ou__la_montagne_-_01_Dans_la_piscine_1244

Lee Rosevere - More on that later

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_08_More_On_That_Later

Lee Rosevere - Not alone

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_10_Not_Alone

Komiku - De l'herbe sous les pieds

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Komiku/Its_time_for_adventure_/Komiku_-_Its_time_for_adventure_-_09_De_lherbe_sous_les_pieds

Kevin MacLeod - Beach Party

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Global_Sampler/Beach_Party

9- America the Bilingual Podcast - Ed de La Torre doesn't speak spanish

Alejandro tenía dolor de garganta, se tomó una pastilla y se fue a dormir. Cuando despertó, su vida ya no era la misma.

Ojos quemados es una producción de Esto no es radio, y es el Episodio 2 de la Temporada 1: Familia.

La ilustración de “Ojos quemados” corrió a cargo de Alejandra Puga. Agradecimientos especiales a Lizeth Arámbula, a Abril Rayas y a la familia Aguirre Riveros, por abrirme las puertas de su hogar y vivir muy de cerca la lucha cotidiana que libran contra las secuelas del síndrome stevens johnson. 


No olviden compartir este episodio, y dejarme una reseña en iTunes, eso ayuda a que más gente llegue a este podcast. 

Música en este episodio con una licencia Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike a cargo de: 

Monplaisir - Happy harpy volume
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/_1932/Monplaisir_-__-_09_Happy_Harpy

Monplaisir - Sub
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/_1932/Monplaisir_-__-_01_Sub-_-_-_-__-

Tracky Birthday - Pivoting on salsa key 11
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tracky_Birthday/~/17_Pivoting_On_Salsa_Key11

Monplaisir - 08
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/_1932/Monplaisir_-__-_08_

Monplaisir - Confortablement installé·e
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/Choix_et_Dterminisme/Monplaisir_-_Choix_et_dterminismes_de_la_nouvelle_gnration_-_03_Confortablement_installe

Rafael Archangel - Deep dive
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rafael_Archangel/Library_Music_Vol1/Rafael_Archangel_-_Library_Music_Vol1_-_11_Deep_Dive

Nctrnm - In Medias Res
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Nctrnm/In_Medias_Res_-_Single/In_Medias_Res

The Freeharmonic Orchestra - Deep Space
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Freeharmonic_Orchestra/Space_Robots_the_Future/06_-_Deep_Space

P C I I I - PCGCP
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/P_C_III/Clouds_1348/05-PCGCP

Andy G Cohen - A perceptible shift
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Andy_G_Cohen/MUL__DIV_1198/Andy_G_Cohen_-_MULDIV_-_04_-_A_Perceptible_Shift

La ilustración de “Ojos quemados” corrió a cargo de Alejandra Puga. Agradecimientos especiales a Lizeth Arámbula, a Abril Rayas y a la familia Aguirre Riveros, por abrirme las puertas de su hogar y vivir muy de cerca la lucha cotidiana que libran contra las secuelas del síndrome stevens johnson. 


No olviden compartir este episodio, y dejarme una reseña en iTunes, eso ayuda a que más gente llegue a este podcast. Les recomiendo que se queden hasta el final de esta canción, pues escucharán un adelanto del Episodio 3 de Esto No Es Radio, “The purple Elephant”.

S1E2 - Esto no es radio - Ojos quemados

Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World (Iz Cover)

BB KING - The Thrill is Gone

America the Bilingual is a storytelling podcast designed to inspire people on their journey to bilingualism.  We'll listen to people who have become bilingual, especially native-English speakers who learned another language as adults (that is, the hard way). How did they do it? Why did they do it? How do they lead their bilingual lives? You'll find out every two weeks.

54 - Season 4 - To App or Not to App: That is the Language Learner’s Question

America the Bilingual

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