Mutlilingual identity: diversity of languages and ways of being
Scientific American magazine published an article about how speaking various languages can alter the personality of the speaker:
Polyglots Might Have Multiple Personalities
People take on different character traits depending on which language they are using
This...
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...
Why female foreign language students or speakers may not practice or show their languages
Multilingual women, where are you?
In late January, I had a Skype call with Benny Lewis for about two hours to discuss our language learning trajectories and I asked him why there were more male...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Being Bilingual May Boost Your Brain Power
Last week, National Public Radio (NPR) reported a story, Being Bilingual May Boost Your Brain Power, that bilingual children may have more brain power and that Alzheimer's disease may be delayed or averted if one...
How languages change the psychology of multilinguals
Steve Kaufmann, of LingQ, invited Tetsu Yung and I on his podcast to discuss how we change psychologically when we speak in different languages and the politics of learning certain languages.
For years, I've felt...
Primero Hay Que Aprender Español. Ranhou Zai Xue Zhongwen.
A quiz: If a person who speaks three languages is trilingual, and one who speaks four languages is quadrilingual, what is someone called who speaks no foreign languages at all?
Answer: an American.
Primero Hay Que...
