Talking to Grandma

In this special bonus episode of Talking to Grandma, producer Beck takes listeners on a journey back to SXSW EDU in March 2023, where Bilingual Generation participated in an enlightening panel discussion and spoke with audience members about language preservation, cultural identity, and equitable education. We hear the voices of Angélica Sánchez, Daniel Hernandez, and Jon Chin, exploring the chall...

In this special bonus episode of "Talking to Grandma," we embark on a captivating journey to Antonito, Colorado, a town nestled in the heart of Southern Colorado.  Join us as we dive into the stories of students and teachers who are part of the "Spanish for Heritage Speakers" class at Justice & Heritage Academy.  This work was also featured in a segment on Colorado Public Radio on May 17th. Th...

We hope you enjoyed season 2 of Talking to Grandma! While our season has ended, we aren’t quite done yet! Keep your ears peeled for some exciting bonus episodes coming your way soon.  And if you haven’t already, please rate, review, and subscribe to our podcast. It costs you nothing and means everything to us - it helps us keep these podcast lights on and helps us bring powerful, important, narrat...

We have spent almost two seasons talking with parents and educators of children with bilingualism in their bones, but in this episode, we get to hear very special conversations between a father and his daughter, who are both on the journey to preserve their heritage language. Dr. Armando X. Orguña and his daughter Giuliana Sol Orduña sat down to share what that journey looks like from each of thei...

We each have unique identities that become even more complex when we have mixed heritage. In today’s episode, Henry Yau shares how he heard the question, “What are you?” many times growing up with Chinese & Venezuelan heritage and how the diverse community of Houston welcomed him and continues to inspire his work today!  As a graduate of the University of Houston, Henry has become a seasoned p...

As many of our listeners know, heritage language learning is hard but made a lot easier when done in  community. That is what Anita Sachariah has created with her Instagram account Bhashakids which helps connect the south asian diaspora to their heritage language. In today’s episode, we hear Anita’s story of how she is teaching her kids their heritage languages, even though these languages were ne...

Dr. Lizette B. Suxo ( Sooks-so ) shared her journey to connect with her Andean culture and learn Aymara, an indigenous language from the region. Like many people trying to learn their indigenous heritage language, she had to dig deep to find resources, which inspired her to create a hub for people looking to connect with their Andean culture. Dr. Lizette B. Suxo is an accomplished leadership coach...

Over the years, we disconnect from ourselves, our ‘ser’, the person we are before society and family and insecurities tell us who to be. This can mean losing language and culture from our lives. In this episode, we talk with Robyn Moreno about her new book, Get Rooted, and what it means to find our way back to our whole and unbreakable selves. Visit RobynMoreno.com for free meditations, to sign up...

If you are a long-time podcast listener, you likely know that the emotional barriers tied to a heritage language can cause pressure or stress that non-heritage language learners don’t experience. In this episode, Wendy Ramirez shares the complexity of language as it's tied to our identity and navigating the barriers of shame. Learn more about Spanish Sin Pena at www.spanishsinpena.com or @spanishs...

Over the past decade, we’ve seen a shift in schools' perception of multilingual learners. Things like changing our language from “English Language Learner” to “emergent multilingual student” shows how we are moving from a singular focus on English acquisition to a more holistic approach to bilingualism and biliteracy. In this episode, we dig into that conversation with bilingual educator and speci...

In this episode, we talked with mother and daughter Fran and Gabrielle Kotkov about their experience reclaiming their Italian heritage language after it was lost two generations earlier. Check out Gabrielle's work at www.multilingualmontessori.org ! 

Generational language wounds speak to the idea that languages aren’t lost just by chance or accident across the generations. Rather, there was trauma, discrimination, or deficit narrative that caused this language loss. In this episode, Dr. Veronica Benavides shares four steps you can take to heal generational language wounds! Don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast with a coworker, frien...

Welcome back to Talking to Grandma! We are excited to share this powerful conversation with Rhonda Broussard about the double erasure of Black bilingual Americans and the lack of access to dual language programs for the Black community. Rhonda is an author, entrepreneur, and futurist. One Good Question: How Countries Prepare Youth to Lead is her first book. Broussard is an award-winning education...

Welcome back for a new season of Talking to Grandma! We hope you enjoyed our first season and the amazing guests that brought us stories of resilience, joy, and hope on their language preservation journeys. This season, we hear stories from people who envision a world where heritage languages are preserved and valued, creating tools, resources, and communities where there once were none. Subscribe...

Trying to preserve heritage languages in a monolingual society is hard! For decades, languages have been lost for the sake of survival by many newcomers to the U.S. Now, there is a generational readiness to reclaim what was lost, but where do we begin? In February, Talking to Grandma host, Dr. Veronica Benavides, appeared on KQED’s Forum and got to chat with Forum host Alexis Madrigal and Karen Ga...

Last year, our work with the Language Preservation Project took us to Denver, Colorado. As we began to design and think about our programming for educators and families, we met with a lot of great people in the community who all had their own journeys with language preservation and loss. In this episode, we highlight the voices of Denver as they share their stories. It was a reminder to us of why...

The reason for language loss in a family can be deeply personal and complicated. In this episode, we talked with Dr. Vanessa Santiago Schwarz about the complex history of both her heritage languages, how that impacted her own relationship with language, and how she uses what she’s learned as an educator and mother today. Find out more about our guest on her website www.vanessasantiagoschwarz.com

Creating resources that bring beauty and joy to the people we serve has become a goal for The Langauge Preservation Project. In this episode, two LPP collaborators, Maried Rivera Nieves and Nansi Guevara talk about creating art and design with equity and representation in mind. Listen to how representation shaped their own stories of language and cultural loss and preservation! Learn more about Ma...

As we start year 2 of our work with the Language Preservation Project, we want to share the stories of some of the other amazing folks we have worked with over the past year. The work we do is truly by us and for us. In this episode, Vero talked with Jenn Pressman & Irene Vergara, about making connections to language through little moments, food, and music! If you've struggled with finding way...

In this episode, we talked with Errol de Jesus from Morenita Mommy about her commitment to raising her autistic son multilingual. Errol’s journey shows that while the complexities of life can take expectations and flip them upside down, forming community and connection can make language learning happen, even in hard times. You can find Errol on Instagram ( @ morenitamommy ) or on her blog morenita...

The journey of passing on a heritage language you are still learning can be scary. In this episode, Annie Lee shares with us how she reimagined bilingual parenting from a place of fear to a place of joy. If you have doubts and fears about your own bilingual parenting journey, join us in this conversation full of wisdom and reminders to give yourself grace!

Dr. Gloria Rosario Wallace shared how she grew up rejecting the harmful narratives about her language and identity and how she continues to affirm language and culture as an educator, leader, and parent. Listen to the many nuggets of wisdom Dr. Gloria has to share in this episode! You can find Dr. Gloria Rosario Wallas on Twitter @GRosarioWallace.

Parenting can be a juggling act. Throw in the hard work of passing on one or more heritage languages, and it can feel impossible. In this episode, Tamar Lawrence-Samuel shares her experience balancing grace and accountability on her multilingual parenting journey. If you need a reminder that what you are doing is enough, we got you covered with this episode!

The role educators play in shaping a child’s connection and identity with their heritage language and culture is crucial. In this episode, Dr. Carla España and Dr. Luz Yadira Herrera reflect on how they are changing how educators support emergent multilingualism in the classroom. If you're an educator of children with bilingualism in their bones, join us for this conversation! You can find Dr. Car...

Linguistic oppression has plagued many cultures over the years, leaving generations unable to speak to older generations. Dr. Veronica Benavides shares her family’s story of language loss and how she is reclaiming her heritage language and culture. Are you also on the journey to reclaim what was lost? Come along for the ride! You can find more about Dr. Veronica Benavides on our website www.thelan...