America the Bilingual

A middle-aged guy named Steve walks into an intermediate-Spanish class for Harvard undergrads, and does a quick assessment of their advantages versus his.

Theirs: They’re smarter. They take tests really well. They’ve had more Spanish. They can hear perfectly fine. They’re highly motivated to get good grades. They seem to relish the mental struggle.

Steve’s: He shows up on time.

And it gets better. Like when Steve teams up with one of the students, Josh Robinson, to do an oral presentation in Spanish on Reggaeton. Steve’s first question to his teammate: “What’s Reggaeton?”

The power of perseverance is on humorous display in Episode 51.

Enjoy this fifth free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 27, narrated by Sean Pratt.

The music is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode, followed by “West in Africa”

by John Bartmann.

Are there certain best practices for starting your children on a lifelong path to bilingualism? Absolutely, and in Episode 50, Steve shares the three that are most essential. They can work even if parents are not (or not yet) bilingual.

You’ll also meet two families who started their children off as bilingual speakers and one family who wished they had. What caused their paths to diverge?

Enjoy this fourth free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 18, narrated by Sean Pratt.

Support for the America the Bilingual project comes from the Levenger Foundation.

Support for our podcast episodes comes from members of the America the Bilingual Project team, including Caroline Doughty, our audio and digital book maven; Fernando Hernández and his production house, Esto No Es Radio, who provide sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, our editorial and brand director; Carlos Plaza, our creative director; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website. Meet the entire America the Bilingual team—including our bark-lingual mascot, Chet—here.

Like the music? It’s “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

We invite you to follow America the Bilingual on Facebook, along with the Lead with Languages campaign run by our friends at ACTFL—The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

In Episode 49 of the America the Bilingual podcast, Steve introduces seven bilinguals whose new language came alive for them when they found where in their lives it should live.

Lorna Auerbach is one of them. She had struggled as a young student trying to learn a second language. But later, as an adult, she blossomed when she connected her “where” to the work she was passionate about—and found the language that she really wanted to learn.

Father Chuck Durante is another. A Catholic priest, he had abandoned his plans to minor in Spanish when he was in college. But when he joined the seminary, he had the motivation he needed: his future parishioners.

You’ll also hear about leading international correspondents and authors Anand Gopal and Evan Osnos, who knew that the only way to truly get the story was to first get the language.

Calvin Sims, a longtime overseas correspondent for The New York Times, also became fluent in both Spanish and Japanese for just this reason. And his bilingualism has taken him beyond the Times, to two other unexpected “wheres”—International House in New York City, and CNN Worldwide.

Enjoy hearing this audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 17, narrated by the award-winning Sean Pratt.

If how you’re going to learn a new language is the first question you consider on your bilingual journey, Steve has a surprise for you. In Episode 48, he reveals an even more important question to ask yourself about that new language—before you decide how you’ll learn it.

It’s one of the pivotal lessons Steve learned when researching his book, America’s Bilingual Century, and he thanks Guadalupe Valdés, a professor at Stanford, for enlightening him.

Enjoy this second audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century. You’re listening to Chapter 1, narrated by Sean Pratt.

Like the music? It’s “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then Johh Bartmann's "West in Africa".

In Episode 47, Steve shares why he decided in midlife to leave behind a comfortable career as CEO of his own company and light out for the long road to bilingualism.

Enjoy this first free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century, the new book by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to the preface of the book, narrated by Sean Pratt.

Then check out the story on Sean, and why this award-winning audiobook narrator was so taken with Steve’s book. He’ll also show you how he marked up the text of the preface, to turn the written words into spoken words. You'll find it on the Articles page of America the Bilingual.

The music you’ll hear is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

Winter may be coming, but next summer is not that far behind. Start planning now if you’d like to send your kids—or yourself!—to a summer language immersion camp. In Episode 46 of the America the Bilingual podcast, we give you capsule reports on five top programs we’ve featured in earlier episodes, plus a brand-new report on a different kind of camp in South Florida.

Since October is Bilingual Child Month, we are rebroadcasting our America the Bilingual podcast on the status of bilingual education among deaf children. What happens when their parents aren’t able to find schools that teach American Sign Language—and why can’t they?

The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL—The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

This episode was written by Mim Harrison, the editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual project, and edited by Fernando Hernández, who also does the sound design and mixing. Steve Leveen is the executive producer and host. The associate producer is Beckie Rankin. Rob Kennedy, Alejandro Capriles and the rest of the team at Daruma Tech power our website. Graphic arts are created by Carlos Plaza Design Studio. Caroline Doughty is our social media maestro. Meet the America the Bilingual team—including our bark-lingual mascot, at americathebilingual.com

Support for the America the Bilingual project comes from the Levenger Foundation.

Music in this episode, “Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, was used with a Creative Commons Attribution License. Our thanks to Epidemic Sound for helping us make beautiful music together.

October is Bilingual Child Month, a good reason to revisit one of the country’s major success stories in bilingual education for children. Their secret? Start kids early, use a broad definition of biliteracy, and give every school district the power to pick the languages. Meet some of the powerhouse educators behind North Carolina’s impressive rise in bilingual schools, in Episode 42 of the America the Bilingual podcast: https://www.americathebilingual.com/42-north-carolina-a-dual-language-success-story/.

The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL — The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL—The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

This episode was written by Mim Harrison, the editorial and brand director of the America the Bilingual project, and edited by Fernando Hernández, who also does the sound design and mixing. Steve Leveen is the executive producer and host. The associate producer is Beckie Rankin, who studied at Wake Forest with Mary Lynn Redmond. The team at Daruma Tech powers our website.

Our Social Media Maestro is Caroline Doughty. Graphic arts are created by Carlos Plaza Design Studio. Meet the America the Bilingual team—including our bark-lingual mascot, on Americathebilingual.com

Support for the America the Bilingual project comes from the Levenger Foundation.

Music in this episode, “Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, was used with a Creative Commons Attribution License. Our thanks to Epidemic Sound for helping us make beautiful music together.

For anyone older than 20 who's learning a language, the all-new Episode 45 of the America the Bilingual podcast is one you won't want to miss. We tapped a slew of global language teachers and asked them for their best tip on learning a language as an adult. In the podcast, you’ll hear their advice—sometimes based on their own experience of learning another language when they were older. You'll also find a handy way to remember all the wisdom they impart.

The America the Bilingual podcast is part of the Lead with Languages campaign of ACTFL — The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

This episode was written by Mim Harrison. Fernando Hernández is the Podcast Editor. Our Social Media Maestro is Caroline Doughty. Graphic arts are created by Carlos Plaza Design Studio. Beckie Rankin is associate producer of the podcast.

Music in this episode, “Quasi Motion” by Kevin MacLeod, was used with a Creative Commons Attribution License. Our thanks to Epidemic Sound for helping us make beautiful music together.

If you like this episode, please share with a friend and subscribe on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. And check us out on Facebook. We’d love to hear from you.

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.

Hear Ed’s story set against the backdrop of the forces that are drowning out Spanish and other heritage languages in America. And hear what some dedicated language teachers are doing to promote a healthy bilingualism among young people.

This episode was written by Steve Leveen, and producer Fernando Hernández, who also does sound design and mixing. Associate producer is Beckie Rankin. Mim Harrison is the editorial and brand director for the America the Bilingual project