AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a hot topic at the moment, and in this episode of Language Chats we’re speaking with Melbourne-based conversation designer Grace Frances, whose work involves training AI assistants to interact with people and the creative aspect of conversational AI.

We chat with Grace about what conversation design is and what it entails, how she found herself working in this exciting new field from a background in linguistics and copywriting, the ethics of working in this space, and the potential opportunities that AI could provide from a language and accessibility perspective.

We hope you enjoy listening (and learning!) from this chat as much as we did! Have a question for Grace or for us? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad.

A guide to conversation design: why, what and how - Conversation Design Institute

What is Natural Language Understanding & How Does it Work? - Simplilearn

The Power of Tech for Good: Why AI Needs a Moral Compass - Grace Frances on Medium

The Evolution of Etiquette: Why Language Matters in Conversational AI - Grace Frances on Medium

Find Grace on LinkedIn

In this episode, we’re speaking with David Hua, Director of Audio and Language Content at SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) Australia, Australia’s multilingual, multicultural and Indigenous media organisation.

We speak with David about his own cultural and linguistic background, what inspired him to get into the media industry, the role that SBS has in modern Australia, what he is most proud of in the work that SBS does, and representation of culturally and linguistically diverse people in Australian media.

This episode was recorded in NAIDOC Week 2023. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia, especially those of the lands on which we recorded this episode - the Wadawurrung, the Wurundjeri and the Cammeraygal people. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. We live and work on land that was, is and always will be Aboriginal country.

Do you have a question for David or for us? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad.

SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) Australia

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Our History - SBS Australia

SBS to broadcast live COVID-19 updates on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand in multiple languages - SBS Australia

SBS Language - News & Podcasts

SBS to serve more multilingual Australians than ever; investing more in Indo-Pacific and First Nations languages - SBS Australia

NAIDOC Week 2023

Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan - SBS Australia

Acknowledgement of Country in your language - SBS Australia

Pitch your podcast idea to SBS - SBS Audio

Media Diversity Australia

David Hua - SBS Corporate | Twitter

In this episode, we’re chatting with Tom Shugg, VIC-based co-founder of Meg Languages.

Meg Languages focuses on creating global citizens and getting students excited about learning a language by providing live Mandarin & Spanish language instruction in classrooms across Australia and around the world.

Tom tells us about how he was inspired by a school trip to China in Year 9, studying Chinese at university and abroad, how Meg Languages came to be, the challenges of finding language teachers in both remote and metropolitan areas, and an exciting new project which the Meg Languages team is working on.

We hope you enjoy this great chat as much as we did! Have a question for Tom or for us? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad.

Meg Languages

About Meg Languages

The School of the Air - ABC Education

Find Tom Shugg on LinkedIn

Love watching movies from around the world? It turns out that Bec goes to the cinema quite a lot and always has a recommendation for a film up her sleeve!

Most of the movies she goes to see are in languages other English - surprise, surprise! - so in this episode, Bec is sharing a few of the international films that she’s watched over the last year or so which might also interest other language- and film-loving folk.

Have a question or want to share your film recommendations with us too? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad!

Palace Cinemas | Australian Movie Theatre & Cinemas

Language Chats Ep #079 - Foreign Language TV Series & Film - What We’ve Been Watching in 2022 (with Lamont from Days of French ‘n’ Swedish)

Language Chats Ep #057 - Foreign Language TV Series - What We’re Watching in 2021

Language Chats Ep #030 - Foreign Language TV Series - What We’re Watching in 2020

Language Chats Ep #003 - Foreign Language TV Series - What We’re Watching

German Film Festival | Presented by Palace

Der Fuchs / The Fox - German

Das Lehrerzimmer / The Teachers’ Lounge - German

Sisi (TV series) - German (currently available in Australia on SBS On Demand)

Corsage - German

Sisi und Ich / Sisi & I - German

Sissi (1955) - German

Alliance Française French Film Festival

November / Novembre - French

Mascarade - French

Scandinavian Film Festival | Presented by Palace

Margrete den første / Margrete: Queen of the North - Danish

Smagen af sult / A Taste of Hunger - Danish

Metsurin tarina / The Woodcutter Story - Finnish

À plein temps / Full Time - French

Language Lovers AU Community

In this episode, we’re speaking with Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori, a London-based languages teacher and author, writing specifically for multilingual children.

Yoshito grew up in France, bilingual in French and Japanese, and learnt English and Spanish at school. His wife is Korean and they are now bringing up their children to be multilingual and multiliterate in their three home languages: Korean, French and English.

We speak with him about his language-filled home environment, his work promoting multilingual parenting and the importance of making language purposeful, and creating a bilingual graphic novel which is adaptable to any home language.

Do you have a question for Yoshito or for us? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad!

Library4Multilinguals

Library4Multilinguals - Youtube

Activities for Multilingual Families - Youtube

Find Yoshito on Instagram: @multilingual_dad | LinkedIn: Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori

In this episode, we’re speaking with US-based Lauren Williams, a speech language pathologist and founder of Polyglot Station and Language TV Club.

As well as working with language day-to-day, Lauren is also a long-time language enthusiast who has studied French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese (and dabbled in others!). We chat with her about her work as a speech language pathologist, her language learning experiences, how Polyglot Station and Language TV Club began and how they have grown.

We hope you enjoy this Language Chat! Have a question for Lauren or for us? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad!

Language Chats Ep #36 - Fascinated by sound: A chat with opera singer and speech pathologist, Sarah Lobegeiger de Rodriguez

Language Chats Ep #73 - From Linguistics to Speech Pathology: A chat with Erin Tibbitts

Polyglot Station | @polyglotstation

Language TV Club | @languagetvclub

Drôle (French language series)

Dark (German language series)

Find Lauren on Instagram: @livingonlanguage

In this episode, we’re speaking with Michelle Parkin, a member of the Language Lovers AU Community! Michelle is a passionate teacher and language enthusiast, who has studied German, French, Italian and Portuguese, and LOVES listening to podcasts!

Michelle tells us about her language learning journey over the years, from learning at school, independent language learning, returning to study languages at university level and her teaching experiences as well. We talk about the many (and varied) resources that she has tried, tested and enjoyed at different learning stages to achieve specific language learning goals.

Have a question for Michelle or for us? Get in touch or join our Facebook group, Language Lovers AU Community, to connect with other like-minded language lovers in Australia and abroad!

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 - Liverpool, UK

For those in Australia, you can watch all the Eurovision 2023 Semi Finals and Grand Final on SBS On Demand

Loreen - Euphoria | Sweden | Live - Grand Final - Eurovision 2012

Women In Language Conference

Duolingo

How To Use Reverse Tree Duolingo To Improve Your Language Learning - ILoveLanguages.com

Coffee Break German podcast

Language Chats Ep #020 - Bite-sized language podcasts for busy people: A chat with Mark from Coffee Break Languages

Easy German podcast

Easy Languages

University of New England (UNE) - Language Courses

Italki

German Uncovered

Drops

Find Michelle on LinkedIn | Instagram @threepointlanguage

Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook

In this episode, we’re chatting with Damian Bolton, an Indonesian language teacher based in Canberra who brings his passion and fascination for languages into the primary school classroom.

Damian tells us about how he came to learn Indonesian after growing up in regional NSW with very little exposure to languages other than English, how an exchange program after high school changed his life, his love for his work as an Indonesian language teacher and what he thinks about the perception that Indonesian is an ‘easy’ language to learn.

If you’d like to connect with other Aussie language lovers like Damian, join our Facebook group Language Lovers AU Community and get involved in the conversation!

Wiradjuri language - Wikipedia

Indonesian matters in our schools - Pursuit - The University of Melbourne

Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook

In this episode, Penny & Bec are chatting about where our interest in language has taken us in life, both literally and figuratively.

We talk about what learning other languages has inspired us to do and how it’s allowed us to have some pretty cool experiences over the years - which have influenced our studies, careers and personal lives - as well as the things that we perhaps wish we had (or hadn’t!) done along the way.

What has language given you the opportunity to do? How has learning another language impacted your experiences and view of the world? Join our Facebook group Language Lovers AU Community and let us know your thoughts!

Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook

Our guest for this episode is Joseph Lo Bianco, Professor Emeritus of Language and Literacy Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne.

We were delighted to have the opportunity to speak with Joe about his career and work on language, culture and literacy education in Australia and around the world. Among many other interesting research projects and advisory roles, in the late 1980s he wrote The National Policy on Languages, Australia’s first explicit and comprehensive language policy, and the first multilingual national language policy in an English speaking country.

Tune in and let us know your thoughts! Join the Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook to take part in the conversation or get in touch with us here.

Professor Joseph Lo Bianco - Find an Expert at The University of Melbourne

Research Gate - Joseph Lo Bianco

Excerpts from The National Policy on Languages (1987) - Multicultural Australia

Australian Education Review: Second Languages and Australian Schooling (2009), Joseph Lo Bianco, University of Melbourne

Find Joe on Twitter @josephlobianco | LinkedIn