Why the CIA needs me and other 1st and 2nd generation immigrants for language...
I keep getting messages from the CIA on Linked In because they need 1st and 2nd generation immigrants to fill their huge need for foreign language speakers.
According to this Reuters article, U.S. spy agencies...
Susanna Zaraysky speaking in 7 languages
I've had several requests to post a video of my speaking in all the languages I know. I've been so busy getting media attention for my books that I haven't made any of my...
Multilingual identity: I have to speak all my languages to be ME
So far, I've written about language learning and the importance of being multilingual. But I haven't covered a much more personal and psychological element of being a polyglot: my multilingual identity. I joke that...
Speaking in Tongues documentary on public television
Speaking in Tongues is a documentary about raising multilingual children. I just saw it on public television in the US and it's excellent. It shows the controversy over bilingual education and how and why families...
Speaking your native (heritage) language despite ridicule
It’s assumed that just because I grew up speaking Russian that it was always easy for me to speak Russian. No way!
My parents’ Soviet immigrant friends liked to talk about how well their children...
Will there be more military linguists when homosexuals can serve in the military?
As I was driving home and listening to the news on the radio about the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell", the military's ban on homosexual military service people, I realized that this may...
How to raise a bilingual or multilingual kid
I am typing this just after having a trilingual conversation with my nephew who just came back from Ecuador. When I speak to him in Russian, he responds in Spanish. When I speak to...
Why It’s Smart to Be Bilingual: The brain’s real super-food may be learning new...
A recent article in Newsweek, Why it's smart to be bilingual, shows some positive and negative elements of multilingualism. I didn't know that those who know more than one language may have a reduced vocabulary...
Multilingual San Francisco: You don’t have to leave your town to learn a new...
No more excuses about not having the money to go to the country of the language you want to speak. If you live in a metropolitan area, you are likely to find ethnic, cultural...
Special “foreigner treatment”: please no! I’m a heritage speaker.
Usually, I don’t want to attract attention to my not being a local by asking for special treatment when I am in a Russian speaking country. Because as soon as I tell...
