Language Chats

Page-turners for language lovers: our favourite books about language & travel

Need a recommendation for something new to read?
In this episode, we chat about our favourite books about language, travel or both (and a few books that we’re planning to read soon)! From novels that whisk you away to another place where you find yourself surrounded by new sounds and experiences, to non-fiction reads about how language is changing and where it has come from, let us tell you a bit about the language- and travel-related reads that have inspired, enlightened and delighted us over the last few years.
 
You’ll find links to all the books we mention in the show notes below.
 
Have a great book recommendation? Share it with us on the Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook or contact us here.
 
Episode Links
Because Internet: Understanding how language is changing by Gretchen McCulloch
Ep #039 - Enthusiastic about linguistics: A chat with Gretchen & Lauren from Lingthusiasm
The Grape Series by Laura Bradbury
Almost French by Sarah Turnbull
All Good Things by Sarah Turnbull
Lingo and Babel by Gaston Dorren
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop
Dreaming in Chinese... and Discovering What Makes a Billion People Tick by Deborah Fallows
Mother Tongue: The Story Of The English Language by Bill Bryson
How Language Works by David Crystal
Languages Are Good For Us by Sophie Hardach
The Yield by Tara June Winch
Empires Of The Word: A Language History Of The World by Nicholas Ostler
How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention by Daniel Everett
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker
I Heart Rome by Maria Pasquale
Ciao Bella!: Six Take Italy by Kate Langbroek
Still Life by Sarah Winman
La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italy and the most Enchanting Language in the World by Dianne Hales
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Not A Year Off: The Story Behind Language Stories by Lindsay Williams | Language Stories podcast
 

Embracing passion for language as self-care: A chat with Elfin from @allaboutitalian

What place does a passion for languages have in your life? How can we better experience a language and a culture more fully as learners, especially if we don’t live in a place where the language is spoken?
In this episode, we speak with Elfin Waters from All About Italian, who is an Italian language coach based in Cremona, Italy. Elfin helps people who are passionate about Italy to nurture their connection to the country and the language through TV shows and language immersion retreats. With her friends and fellow teachers Silvia and Barbara, she also co-hosts the podcast Con Parole Nostre which is centred on genuine conversations between friends in Italian.
Elfin shares her story with languages with us, her thoughts on how enjoying the things that bring you joy and passion are an important way to care for yourself, the positive impact of multilinguals and language learners on a community, using TV series as a tool for language learning, and more.
Have any thoughts that you would like to share with us or with Elfin? Join the conversation on our Facebook group Language Lovers AU Community, follow us on Instagram @languagelovers.au or send us a message.
Episode Links
All About Italian
You can find Elfin on Instagram at @allaboutitalian
Elfin’s Coffee Break with Montalbano sessions
Con Parole Nostre podcast

Learning, living and working in Asia: A chat with Jess from @aussieinasia

We love hearing about the experiences of Australians who are living abroad and have the opportunity to use other languages day to day!In this episode, we chat with Jess (you might know her as @aussieinasia on Instagram or Mindful Lang on YouTube) who is currently teaching English in South Korea. She tells us about her experiences of learning Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Arabic, her path to living, studying and working in Asia, her goals for this year and some of her learning tips.Have any questions for Jess or for us? Let us know!Episode LinksYou can find Jess on Instagram @aussieinasia | YouTube: Mindful LangJoin the Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook to take part in the March 2022 #DabbleChallenge!

Connection & Community through Women In Language: A chat with Lindsay Williams

t’s a pretty great feeling when you discover and meet other people who share the same interests as you, right? Women in Language is the virtual place where we first got in touch with each other and realised that, yes - there are other people just like us, who love languages too!Now coming up to its fifth edition, Women in Language is an online event created to champion, celebrate and amplify female and non-binary voices in language learning, organised by Kerstin Cable (Fluent Language), Lindsay Williams (Lindsay Does Languages) and Shannon Kennedy (Eurolinguiste). The 2022 event is coming up on 4-6 March and tickets are now on sale!In this episode of Language Chats, we speak with Lindsay about this year’s event and how the amazing community around this fun, exciting and accessible online event has grown over the years.Will you be attending Women in Language? Let us know!Episode LinksGet your ticket to Women in Language 2022 here!Ep #029 - Sharing the voices of Women In Language: A chat with Kerstin from The Fluent Show

Ep #060 - Low pressure, low commitment: Let’s dabble together in March!

Happy New Year, language lovers! We’re back for 2022 and looking forward to another great year of Language Chats!To get things started on an exciting note, in this episode we’re announcing something fun for our community - a low-pressure, low-commitment language challenge which was suggested by one of our members (and past Language Chats guest), Evan, which will be focused on having a dabble in a new language. Why dabble alone when you could dabble at the same time as others and share the experience? There’ll be more info on this coming via our Facebook group, so join here if you’re interested in having a dabble with us in March! Episode LinksWordle - A daily word game - this is the original English version but there are versions in many other languages popping up online!Language Chats Ep 23 - Russian, French and long-term goals in mind: A chat with Evan WaltersLanguage Chats Ep 59 - Reflections: Looking back on our language learning in 2021Join the Language Lovers AU Community on Facebook to take part in our Dabble Challenge in March!Language Chats Ep 7 - Dabbling: Why It’s Ok To Not Commit

Reflections: Looking back on our language learning in 2021

How do you feel about your language learning in 2021? Did you reach the goals that you set out to achieve, or did this crazy year throw you just as many curveballs as 2020? In this episode of Language Chats, we’re reflecting on our language learning this year and how this might impact our plans for 2022. We chat about how we feel about the year as a whole, what worked for us and what didn’t, as well as what we are thinking of aiming towards for next year.This is our last episode for 2021, so we’d like to also say a big THANK YOU to you for joining us and tuning into Language Chats! If you haven’t already, stay in touch with us by following us on Instagram and Facebook, or by joining the Language Lovers AU Community. We wish you a safe and happy festive season and look forward to recording more fun episodes in 2022!Episode LinksLanguage Chats Ep #038 - Looking back to look ahead - our language plans for 2021Terrace House (TV series in Japanese)

Unwrapped! Christmas Gift Ideas for Language Lovers

It’s getting to that time of year… It’s almost Christmas! Are you thinking about what language-related goodies you’d like to find (or put) under the Christmas tree, or which ones you can gift to a language lover who lives further away?In this episode of Language Chats, we’re talking about what we’d like Santa to bring us (*hint hint* friends/family/significant others) as well as gift ideas for language lovers like us, whether they are near or far.What language-themed gifts would you like to give or receive this festive season? Let us know! And a big thank you to the members of our Facebook group Language Lovers AU Community for sharing their thoughts on this with us too.This episode is not sponsored - all ideas and recommendations are purely based on our personal opinions!Episode LinksItalki Gift CardsNativSharkThe Cultured KidThe Language TV ClubMemriseuTalkLingoDeerClozemasterFree to Feed - MelbourneLingo Mama - Wiradjuri Language Trip (28 April – 1 May 2022)To Asia, With Love by Hetty McKinnonDestination Flavour by Adam LiawIrregular Endings - Printable Bilingual Calendars & Notepad Templates Say What With Friends - Language card games@wiradyuri - Wiradjuri Bali Yarra (Baby Talk) flash cardsThe Language Lover’s Puzzle Book: Lexical perplexities and cracking conundrums from across the globe by Alex BellosLingo by Gaston DorrenBabel by Gaston DorrenEp #056 - Not just textbooks: Structure in language learningBabel: The Language MagazineGræs Magazine

Foreign Language TV Series - What We’re Watching in 2021

Need something new to watch? Despite those childhood warnings about getting square eyes, we still both watch an almighty amount of TV and we particularly love watching series in other languages (so it’s educational, right?).In what has become an annual tradition for Language Chats, we’re chatting about what we’ve been watching this year - from light-hearted Scandinavian series to French reality TV, drama to documentaries, we’ve covered some serious multilingual viewing in 2021! What have you been watching? Let us know here, in our Facebook Group or Instagram.Episode LinksNB: we’ve noted where you can currently (Nov 2021) watch these series in Australia. If you are located outside Australia, you may need to look a little further to find where these shows are available for you to view!Rita - Danish (Netflix)Welcome to Sweden - English / Swedish (SBS On Demand)Nailed It - English (SBS On Demand English / with Vietnamese subtitles) How Tippi Hedren made Vietnamese refugees into nail salon magnates - BBC NewsNew Gold Mountain - English / Cantonese (SBS On Demand)The Parisian Agency / L’Agence - French (Netflix)Destination Flavour Japan - English (SBS On Demand)Squid Game - Korean (Netflix)Netflix hit show 'Squid Game' spurs interest in learning Korean - ReutersThe Sleepers - Czech (SBS On Demand)The Serpent - English / Dutch / French / Thai (Netflix)The Durrells - English / Greek (The youngest Durrell (Gerald) wrote My Family and Other Animals in 1956 - If you haven’t read My Family and Other Animals, do so – preferably with a child - The Guardian)Never Look Away / Werk ohne Autor - German (SBS On Demand)

Not just textbooks: Structure in language learning

How does the word ‘structure’ make you feel in the context of learning a language? The idea of structured learning might conjure images in your mind of textbooks or classrooms, but structure can come in many forms - some more or less effective for different people in a different stages of their learning. In this episode of Language Chats, we’re chatting about our experiences of learning languages in both structured and less structured environments, and the kinds of structure that have worked (and those that haven’t) for us.What experiences have you had of more and less structured language learning? What did you love and what did you loathe? Let us know or share your thoughts on our Facebook group Language Lovers AU Community! Episode LinksDeutsche Welle (DW) - Learn GermanLanguage Chats Ep #002 - Independent vs Class Learning - The Pros and Cons

Leading a bilingual school: A chat with Stanley Wang, Principal of Abbotsford Primary School

Bilingual education is being embraced by more schools, educators and communities in Australia, as its benefits become more established and accepted. Although still a niche part of the Australian educational landscape, there are a number of bilingual schools around the country, which allow students to learn through another language in addition to English. In this episode of Language Chats, we speak with Stanley Wang, Principal of Abbotsford Primary School in Melbourne, the home of Australia’s longest running Chinese-English Bilingual Program. Stanley was also recently awarded the 2021 40 Under 40: Most Influential Asian-Australian Award in the education category.We chat with Stanley about how he became a teacher, bilingual education in general, its benefits and challenges, what it’s like leading a bilingual school and his own personal experiences of learning and enjoying language, including the free online Mandarin Conversation Club (中文之友会) he runs online for adults. What are your thoughts on bilingual education? Do you have any questions for us or Stanley? Let us know!Episode LinksFind Stanley on LinkedInAbbotsford Primary School Abbotsford PS on Facebook中文之友会 (Mandarin Conversation Club)ABC News - Young Australians share how they built careers in the middle of COVID pandemic (2021 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians Awards)华人青年荣获“40位40岁以下最具影响力亚裔澳大利亚人”奖 畅谈奋斗历程