Spy

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...
Lemonade pitcher with lemons

Making lemonade from lemons, turning the burden of being a polyglot into a skill...

I wrote a blog post for my Polyglot Project Podcast interview about why I believe it's imperative for people to learn foreign languages. It's based on my family's history leaving the former USSR. Here it...
video

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...
Eating mutton fat soup for breakfast

Being in limbo: Difficulties of a Russian heritage language speaker going to a Russian...

The limbo land of being a heritage language speaker is one I’ve been inhabiting most of my life. It’s only recently that I’ve known the term “heritage speaker”, referring to those of us who...
Turkish festival

Multilingual ≠ not a racist or a terrorist

I'd like to think that those who are multilingual are less likely to become racists and revert to deadly extremism because communicating with people in other languages opens one’s mind and introduces one to...

Hiding behind a multilingual mask

Being surrounded by various languages at the UN and then being forced to speak Portuguese, I had to think about what to do with my language knowledge and stop hiding.  United Nations, “It’s your world”...
Crown Princess Masako

Famous Women who speak foreign languages, Do you know of any?

As I am thinking of ways to promote women and girls learning foreign languages and showing their linguistic prowess, I compiled a list of famous and powerful women who are multilingual. Some of them use...
People communicate online in different languages communication concept

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 California beaten by Rhode Island, offering trilingual school

I live in Silicon Valley where Mandarin Chinese is widely spoken by the large Taiwanese and mainland Chinese community in the area. However, the schools in Cupertino only offer Mandarin immersion programs from Kindergarten...
Susanna Zaraysky in scrubs in front of painting of the brain

Is a polyglot’s brain different?

Listen to this new Subtitle podcast episode "Is a polyglot's brain different?",  to find out the answer. You'll also learn about my language-learning story and about the brains of people who speak many languages. I did...
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