Right now, you are looking at several markings known as letters, and associating them with thoughts and feelings. We can write sadness and your heart sinks in your chest. We can write gratitude and your chest fills with warmth. We can write laughter and the corners of your mouth lift. You’ve learned to interpret and scribble letters as a method by which to understand and be understood by others.

That learned method of understanding sounds different all over the world, and, if we’re called to have greater charity for our fellow beings, our way to understanding starts with learning their method of understanding – their language. 

Today on The Apple Seed, celebrate language in the following stories:

"It Always Pays to Learn a Second Language" by Mitch Capel, from Gran’daddy Junebug: Great Stories for Young Folk (10:06)

Today’s episode of The Apple Seed will celebrate the blessings of learning other languages as storyteller Mitch Capel invites several children to share with each other the beauty of second languages they’ve learned. In a collection of stories called Gran’daddy Junebug: Great Stories for Young Folk, Capel follows this celebration of languages with a story of a courageous mother mouse whose own second language just happens to save her family’s life.

"America, Land of Miracles" by Noa Baum, from Race Bridges Studio (9:19) 

Noa Baum recalls her transition from Israel to American as a young girl, particularly her venture navigating English as a second language. At first, amazed as she is by America, Noa feels lonely in her unfamiliarity with the place. That is… until she is greeted with a warm welcome in a familiar tongue that feels a lot like home. Enjoy the extension of friendship Noa finds in her telling of America, Land of Miracles from a collection of stories called Race Bridges Studio. 

"Fortune Cookies" by Bil Lepp, form Timp 2017 (20:44)

Fortune Cookies is a Bil Lepp story from a collection of stories told at the 2017 Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. In it, Bil recalls an old Chinese friend named Hank, who got a good kick out of messing with the fortunes in the fortune cookies he’d give out at his Chinese restaurant. Let’s have a laugh with Bil Lepp!

"The Empty Pot" by Jill Lamede, from Stories from the Tintagel Storyteller (3:46)

Jill Lamede shares a story about the method by which the next emperor of China is chosen. The Empty Pot is from a collection of stories entitled, Stories from the Tintagel Storyteller. 

Radio Family Journal: "Dodo Bird" (5:41)

When Sam started taking piano lessons he had no idea he was taking the first steps toward learning a language that would enrich his communication with other people for the rest of his life.