Let's get this summer started!
Well, it started a month ago but you know what I mean...
Happy Summer Language Lovers!
I hope your summer is off to a good start and if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere… well, consider this a very early summer greeting.
Over here, I am smack in the middle of this new season of Speaking Tongues episodes. This week, we released Episode 153 and it just seems like the time has flown by on the last 6 weeks of episodes. It occurred to me that I never did a recap for you as I try to do each month. Hopefully, you’re all caught up on the show but in case you are not, here’s a brief summary of June’s episodes below:
Oh and just a request, if you don’t mind! I am really trying to grow my YouTube page. If you have an opportunity to listen to the show on YouTube, I would greatly appreciate it. I truly am happy that you are listening at all in the first place but, if you’re sitting at your desk at work, listening at home while doing laundry or cleaning, please consider listening on YouTube if you can so that my engagement will go up. We want Speaking Tongues to reach as many people as possible and the more engagement on YouTube, the more likely the video will be suggested to others who also love language and culture like us.
We kicked off the new season speaking about Icelandic language and culture with Óskar from Speak Viking. Óskar came recommended to me through one of our listeners, and Icelandic learners, Sara. We had an absolute blast during this conversation — it’s probably one of the funnier episodes of Speaking Tongues! In this episode we talk about the Icelandic connection to Old Norse, similarities to Faroese via a Domino’s Pizza commercial, how the language stays current through hip-hop music and rituals of self-care and wellbeing in Iceland. We are also learning about something joyous called a Flavor Fox and what we’re putting as toppings on our hot dogs.
From Iceland we went all the way to South India with Joshua as he talked to us about Kannada. I’ve been wanting to feature Kannada on Speaking Tongues for years and this conversation was long overdue. Joshua is originally from Karnataka where he grew up speaking Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, English and Urdu. Listening to the ways he’s been able to weave all of these languages into his life is truly fascinating. Aside from language, in this episode, we also discussed Urdu calligraphy and slam poetry, movies and music in Kannada and settling into his current life thousands of miles away in the French capital.
Did I mention that I love the linguistic diversity of this season? I feel like we’ve really had the chance to traverse the globe through audio!
From South India we ventured north beyond the Himalayas to the Tibetan Plateau to talk about Khroskyabs with Yulha, linguist and native speaker of the language. The most fascinating thing for me to learn when I first met Yulha was that Khroskyabs is represented as /ʈʂʰoscæ̂v/ in IPA or pronounced as “tchoskiav”. She has been working on documenting and revitalizing her mother tongue since high school and she is optimistic of her work moving into a positive direction. Aside from the language, we talked a lot about life in the mountains, an epic tale of a man who ripped a sheep with his bare hands, the blissful moments of water misting through a yak hair tent and the snacks and fashions we encounter at Buddhist celebrations.
Our last episode in June featured another language that I’ve had high on my list for a long time but no idea of how to make it possible. Luckily, a former guest of the show, Eukene, connected me with Gara and we were able to make this conversation happen. Gara is only 19 years old, wise beyond her years, and taught us so much about the whistle language in the Canary Islands called Silbo Canario. As she’s in the process of learning the language for herself, she was able to teach us what she already knows as well as the history of el Silbo Canario— which is also whistled in the nearby Atlas Mountains of Morocco. It’s important to note that when you look at videos or read articles about Silbo, you’re going to see it referred to as Silbo Gomero. Gara took the time to make sure that we know this whistle is not just used on Gomero Island. When you listen to the episode, you will understand why we’ve titled this conversation Silbo Canario.
I hope you enjoyed this quick round up. I know that this summer, so many people are vacationing and enjoying the good weather so I appreciate all of you who are finding the time to listen to Speaking Tongues when and wherever you can.
I will be back sooner than you think with more updates! Make sure you tune in to the final 5 episodes of the podcast coming in August and early September. We were planning on wrapping up the season after episode 155 but in a surprising turn of events, we welcomed three new guests with dynamite conversation and unusual connections to language through their careers.
Until next time
- Elle