Language and Culture with Dr. J

This episode takes us to the amazing Elbphilharmonie (the Elbe Philharmonic Hall) in Hamburg, Germany where Dr. J interviews artistic managing director Barbara Lebitsch. Dr. J and Barbara Lebitsch talk about the incredible artists the Elphi hosts and welcomes from around the world and the richness of the cultures and artistic styles that are represented. Filled with anecdotes and stories, the inte...

Consul General to France, Laurent Toulouse, generously spends over an hour talking to Dr. J about his relationship with languages, his love of the German language, his personal international family background, the role English has played in his professional life, his work with the Institut français in Hamburg, and much more. A warm and intimate view into the life and work of a great diplomat. The...

Consul General to Spain, Pedro Villena Pérez offers great insights into the variety of languages and dialects spoken in Spain. Dr. J and Consul General Villena Pérez explore the use of English in diplomatic circles and talk about the pros and cons of English as a world language. Languages spoken in this episode: The narration and interview summary are in English. The interview in this episode is i...

One of the central topics of this podcast is cultural identity. In this episode Dr. J welcomes a good friend, Nora Heaven, to the podcast and focuses on the question of what it is like to juggle three languages and cultures on a daily basis. Nora’s parents are Hungarian, her husband is English and she was born and raised in Germany. Nora and Dr. J experiment with speaking English, German and Hunga...

Dr. J interviews students and educators from around the world about saying hello in Romance languages – specifically Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. Adita Gordillo de Buchacher, Verónica Guijas Gento and Melanie Lopez Flores speak about Spanish. Dr. J interviews a group of international university students about saying hello in French and speaks to Faustine Guillard about French in France...

András Siebold is the Artistic Director of the International Summer Festival at Kampnagel, a well known theater in Hamburg, Germany. He joins Dr. J to talk about working with artists from around the world and the linguistic and cultural opportunities and difficulties this generates. András Siebold talks about Robert Wilson, Jonathan Safran Foer as well as many other artists and performers he has w...

Senator Ties Rabe starts off this episode with his views on teaching languages in schools. Senator Rabe and Dr. J tackle questions about bilingualism and multilingualism, studying abroad, and the role of parents in language learning. Dr. J then continues discussing language acquisition in children with several educators from Kindergarten to High School—elementary school teachers Esther Sydow and D...

The topic of this episode is saying hello in English and in German. Dr. J speaks to three expats in Hamburg, Germany - Ben Feddersen from the US, Orla Mac Mahon from Ireland and Peter Witchalls from England – as well as to an international group of university students, producer Sarah and a retired Hamburg firefighter. The focus is not the words and vocabulary used in greeting somebody, but the int...