America the Bilingual

Want to know what really goes into that Subway® sandwich? Localization. Internationalization. And one more: transcreation. Hear how Subway’s Carrie Fischer is making languages part of Subway’s linguistic palate worldwide, in this new episode of the America the Bilingual podcast.

This episode was written and directed by Mim Harrison, the editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual project. It was sound designed, mixed and produced by Fernando Hernandez Becerra produced.

Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech manages our website.

Music credits:

Komiku - Hélice’s theme

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Komiku/Helice_Awesome_Dance_Adventure_/helices-theme/

Kevin Macleod - Quasi Motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

TRG Banks - City

https://bit.ly/43pM2g4

Komiku - Everything is groovy (how to move your body)

https://bit.ly/3xejA4I

HoliznaCC0 - 20 Minute meditation 1

https://bit.ly/492XPlN

TRG Banks - Horse ride 2

https://bit.ly/3LRPuZv

Komiku - In the restaurant

https://bit.ly/3OfJTOs

Soft and the furious - Superconnected sleep

https://bit.ly/3rN902r

Wax Lyricist - A bad death

https://bit.ly/3WbFwG7

Kai Engel - Holiday gift

https://bit.ly/3TL05cX

The American journalist, linguist, and author Michael Erard (Babel No More) has lived in South America, Asia, and now in Europe. He’s always had an ear to the native languages as much as for them.

A deep researcher of language, he shares in this episode why he believes that “human beings are meant to have very complex linguistic systems in their brains.” He also explains why he likens learning a language to weaving a rope.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team who worked on this episode: Fernando Hernández, writer for this episode, and his production house in Guadalajara, Mexico, Esto No Es Radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual Project; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Meet the entire America the Bilingual team—including our bark-lingual mascot, Chet—here.

Music in this episode, in sequence:

Demoiselle Döner, - Des têtes trop pleines

https://bit.ly/421rrhp

John Bartmann - African Moon

https://bit.ly/47Avvqe

Kevin Macleod - QuasiMotion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Loyalty Freak Music - Waiting TTTT

https://bit.ly/3HEwICx

TRG Banks - Michael Landon

https://bit.ly/47ytYkp

TRG Banks - Horse Ride 2

https://bit.ly/3LRPuZv

Jorge Mario Zuleta - En Detención

https://bit.ly/JMZ_detencion

John Bartmann - Bouncy Gypsy Beats

https://bit.ly/4aR7RZv

The 20th-century novelist Thomas Wolfe famously pronounced that “you can’t go home again.” But what if you have little choice?

This is what a number of Latino immigrants, who have long made their home in the US, face when immigration laws require that they return to their country of birth.

In this episode of the America the Bilingual podcast, Alexandra Rivera relays how an Uber driver in Mexico City startled her into realizing that these were important stories to be told. And even though she is a US citizen, she has faced her own challenges in balancing life in America as a Latina. She understands how important it is to find your place in wherever you may choose to—or have to—call home.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team who worked on this episode: Fernando Hernández, writer for this episode, and his Mexican production house in Guadalajara, Mexico, Esto No Es Radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual Project, and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Join Steve for a lively, upbeat and often surprising conversation with first-generation Chinese American Amy Chua. A Yale law professor who gained fame as the Tiger Mom, she made sure that her children grew up as she did: bilingual. Listen as Amy describes three traits American immigrants share that help them excel. She also explains what the reviewers got wrong about her controversial bestseller “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” and explores how American bilingualism could bolster what Amy’s parents taught her was “just the greatest document in the world”: the American Constitution. Plus: why Amy’s newest book is nothing like her others. Join us now for this episode of America the Bilingual.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team for this episode: Fernando Hernández and his production house in Guadalajara, Mexico Esto No Es Radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual Project who wrote and directed this episode; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Music artists and selections, in order of listening:

HoliznaCC0 - Dream pop

https://bit.ly/3ZNXhx4

Loyalty Freak Music - Friend to friend

https://bit.ly/3 iMYXWs

Kevin Macleod - Quasi motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Loyalty Freak Music - Shoepop

https://bit.ly/3RMh9yM

Pictures of the floating world - Nomadic

https://bit.ly/3LVlpYV

Loyalty Freak Music - One cool minute

https://bit.ly/42WvMlk

TRG Banks - Horse ride 2

https://bit.ly/3LRPuZv

Soft and furious - Superconnected sleep

https://bit.ly/3rN902r

John Bartmann - Secret agent rock

https://bit.ly/3ZMr0X8

Call him señor Mo. That’s what Mohamed Kilani’s third-to-fifth grade students in Falmouth, Maine, call him. Mohamed is an Iraqi by birth, a Jordanian by virtue of war, and now an American by virtue of a selfless and brave mother. Listen to this Arab refugee’s odyssey of finding home and the many languages he speaks that have played a role. Among them: Spanish, which señor Mo delights in teaching his young Maine students.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team who worked on this episode: Fernando Hernández and his Mexican production house in Guadalajara, Mexico, Esto No Es Radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual Project, who also wrote and directed this episode; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Music in this episode, in order of appearance by

John Bartmann - Somewhere nice

https://bit.ly/3ZqUpGv

Kevin MacLeod - Quasi motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Monplaisir - 66666666

https://bit.ly/3Rt4dxM

Kai Engel - Wake up

https://bit.ly/45Xu9Wy

Jason Shaw - River Meditation

https://bit.ly/48iOY0f

Kevin MacLeod - Back vibes clean

https://bit.ly/3sYnYmD

As a native English speaker who became smitten with Spanish, the American journalist Joe Keenan decided that nobody else had written how to break out of beginniner’s Spanish, so he would have to do it himself. That’s just how he titled his first book, back in 1995. It became a bestseller, one that continues to sell more than 20 years later, and in an updated edition.

In this exclusive interview, hear some of the author’s best tips for giving your Spanish a turbo boost, plus other tips that apply to learning any language.

Along the way, learn some Mexican Spanish dichos, or sayings crafted from popular wisdom. You’ll get to know what false cognates are and how to avoid them on your own journey to intermediate and advanced levels of Spanish.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team for this episode: Fernando Hernández, who wrote and directed this episode, and his Mexican production house Esto No Es Radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual Project; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Music artists and selections, in order of listening:

Loyalty Freak Music - One cool minute

https://bit.ly/42WvMlk

Kevin Macleod -Quasi motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Koi Discovery - Beer blues

https://bit.ly/3pIQxmi

Komiku - In the restaurant

https://bit.ly/3OfJTOs

The new mystikal troubadours - NMT_the lonely hunter pt. 1_11.21.20

https://bit.ly/3pKr6AL

Wax Lyricist - A bad death

https://bit.ly/3WbFwG7

HoliznaCC0 - Endless Grind

https://bit.ly/3MxdT7r

Pictures of the floating world - Cycles

https://bit.ly/41L8uxT

Why are Tacombi restaurants winning hearts across the US as America’s taco sensation? And just what is a Tacombi, anyway? Mexican American founder Dario Wolos shows how being not just bilingual but bicultural is turning Tacombi into a beloved brand that crosses borders. Hear his story, and the story behind the name, in Episode 65 of America the Bilingual.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team for this episode: Fernando Hernández and his Mexican production house Esto No Es Radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual Project, who wrote and directed this episode; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Music artists and selections, in order of listening:

Broke for free - Something Elated

https://bit.ly/41CWMGp

Kevin Macleod - Quasi motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Monplaisir - Brotherhood

https://bit.ly/446bo2O

Juanitos - Funkula

https://bit.ly/3Vd2koI

John Bartmann - Umlungu

https://bit.ly/3oGV5Jr

Closing track:

Broke for free - Something Elated

https://bit.ly/41CWMGp

Martina Castro, the award-winning production impresario behind Duolingual’s popular multilingual podcasts and NPR’s Radio Ambulante, has become a major force in audio storytelling. Hear this Uruguayan American recount her own story of being bilingual in America, in Episode 64 of the America the Bilingual podcast, “ A Global Audio Storyteller: The Journey of Martina Castro.”

You can read about other inspiring American bilinguals in the book “America’s Bilingual Century.” Details are on the Book page of americathebilingual.com

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team for this episode: Mim Harrison, editorial director of the Project; Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website; and Fernando Hernández, who wrote, mixed, and sound designed this episode.

Music credits:

HoliznaCC0 - Ugly Truth

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/holiznacc0/left-overs/ugly-truth/

Kevin Macleod - Quasi motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

HoliznaCC0 - 20 minute meditation1

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/holiznacc0/space-sleep-meditation/20-minute-meditation-1/

HoliznaCC0 - Sky scrapers

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/holiznacc0/city-slacker/sky-scrapers/

Wax Lyricist - the brass brigade

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/wax-lyricist/the-wax-lyricist/the-brass-brigade/

HoliznahCC0 - Endless grind

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/holiznacc0/city-slacker/endless-grind/

The award-winning star of the popular PBS cooking show, “Pati’s Mexican Table,” and of the PBS docu-series “La Frontera” (“The Border”) brings her love of her native Mexican culture and food to everything she does—including this conversation. Listen now to Episode 63 of the America the Bilingual podcast, and get a taste for how this Mexican American chef uses food to create common ground between our neighboring countries.

Thanks to members of the America the Bilingual Project team for this episode: Fernando Hernández and his Mexican production house Esto no es radio, which provides sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, editorial director of the Project, who also wrote and directed this episode; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website.

Music credits (in order of appearance):

TRG Banks - Horse ride 2

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/TRG_Banks/TRG_Banks/Horse_ride_2/

Kevin Macleod - Quasimotion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Soft and furious - Super connected sleep

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Soft_and_Furious/The_Merfolk_I_Should_Turn_To_Be/Soft_and_Furious_-_The_Merfolk_I_Should_Turn_To_Be_-_06_Superconnected_sleep/

Komiku - In the restaurant

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Komiku/THE_GIRL_WITH_THE_BASEBALL_BAT/Komiku_-_THE_GIRL_WITH_THE_BASEBALL_BAT_-_03_In_the_restaurant/

TRG Banks - Lake in the woods

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/TRG_Banks/Dreamland/Lake_in_the_woods/

Wax lyricist - A bad death

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/wax-lyricist/the-wax-lyricist/a-bad-death/

Monplaisir - Brotherhood

https://freemusicarchive.org/track/Monplaisir_-_American_Dreams_Original_Soundtrack_-_15_Brotherhood/download/

“I don’t know that I would have become a writer had I not grown up with this very deeply rooted fascination with language and the ways that for me it existed in these two worlds.”

That’s the Peruvian American author Natalia Sylvester, whose newest book, “Breathe and Count Back from Ten,” was named a 2022 Today Show Pick. In Episode 62 of the America the Bilingual podcast, we talk with Natalia about how words have shaped her experiences as a young Latina immigrant to America. She also describes how she writes her novels in English, but with her home language of Spanish often guiding what appears on the page.

Music credits, in order of appearance:

John Bartmann - Umlungu

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/umlungu/

Kevin Macleod - Quasi motion

https://bit.ly/KevinMacleod_QuasiMotion

Monplaisir - A good start

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/American_Dreams_Soundtrack/Monplaisir_-_American_Dreams_Original_Soundtrack_-_12_A_Good_Start/

Loyalty freak music - Shoepop

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Loyalty_Freak_Music/MELODIES_WITH_A_BEAT/Loyalty_Freak_Music_-_MELODIES_WITH_A_BEAT_-_09_Shoepop/

Komiku - The tablets

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Komiku/Helice_Awesome_Dance_Adventure_/the-tablets/

Monplaisir - Brother

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Monplaisir/American_Dreams_Soundtrack/Monplaisir_-_American_Dreams_Original_Soundtrack_-_04_Brother/

TRG Banks - Daybreak in a new town

https://bit.ly/TRGBanks_Daybreakinanewtown