Word For Word with Sophia Smith Galer

The languages that shaped Roy Bualuan

Roy Bualuan - better known online as human1011 - grew up in Indiana with Lebanese Arabic, French and English in his life. He studied physics at Notre Dame, picked up Modern Standard Arabic as a language requirement, and emerged from that first class with a surprise: the Arabic he'd grown up with and the Arabic he was now being taught were almost entirely different languages. In this episode, Roy and Sophia get into the sociolinguistic patchwork of Lebanon - where French, English, and Arabic code-switch in the same sentence - as well as his linguistics explainers and OF COURSE the dragon language that he made up. Because why not? Follow Roy under "human1011" all over the internet! If you want to buy my book, How To Kill A Language, that's here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729 This is a Viralect original podcast created by Sophia Smith Galer. This episode was filmed by Omar Mehtab, edited by Abraham Dein and Seren Jones was the Executive Producer. Head to www.viralect.com to find our services and tools, and if you've got an iPhone, search "Sophiana app" in the App Store and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD.

The languages that shaped Zing Tseng

Zing Tseng - journalist, author, and co-host of BBC's Good Bad Billionaire - grew up navigating Mandarin classes in Singapore, a Cantonese-speaking home, and the glorious linguistic chaos of Singlish.  In this episode, she and Sophia trace the languages that shaped her: from a teacher who told her "foreigners speak better Chinese than you do," to discovering, decades later, on a trip to her ancestral village in Xiamen, that she was far more fluent than she'd ever believed.  They get into why Singlish is a Creole (and why that matters), the colonial logic behind Singapore's "Speak Good English" campaigns, what billionaires and language learning have in common, and why ordering a coffee in textbook-perfect sentences will get you nowhere fast. If you want to buy my book, How To Kill A Language, that's here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729 [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729] If you want to buy Zing’s amazing book Forgotten Women, that’s here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9781914240690 [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9781914240690]  This is a Viralect original podcast created by Sophia Smith Galer. This episode was filmed by Omar Mehtab, edited by Abraham Dein and Seren Jones was the Executive Producer.  Head to www.viralect.com to find our services and tools, and if you've got an iPhone, search "Sophiana app" in the App Store and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD.

The languages that shaped Susie Dent

Dictionary Corner's secret weapon isn't English - it's German!In this episode of Word For Word, lexicographer, broadcaster and word detective Susie Dent joins Sophia Smith Galer at Casa Italiana in Clerkenwell to talk about the languages that made her - and made her one of the most trusted voices on the English language in Britain.Come for the etymology of "muscle" (hint: squeak squeak) — and stay for the revelation that diarrhoea and the River Rhine share the same root.Susie reflects on growing up defending her love of German to a grandmother who lived through the war, how a rainy afternoon at Oxford University Press and a dusty etymological dictionary changed the course of her career, and why she said no to Countdown - more than once. Susie's mystery thriller Guilty By Definition was an absolute blinder of a book, and I highly recommend you read it - buy it here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9781804183977If you want to buy my book, How To Kill A Language, that's here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729This is a Viralect original podcast created by Sophia Smith Galer. This episode was filmed by Omar Mehtab, edited by Abraham Dein and Seren Jones was the Executive Producer. Head to www.viralect.com to find our services and tools, and if you've got an iPhone, search "Sophiana app" in the App Store and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD.

The languages that shaped Hind Hassan

Speaking Iraqi Arabic opened doors in the field - while her Hull accent raised eyebrows in the newsroom. In this episode of Word For Word, multi-Emmy award-winning journalist Hind Hassan joins Sophia Smith Galer to talk about how her languages have shaped her life and work. Hind reflects on growing up as an Iraqi in Hull and shares how speaking Iraqi dialect transformed her reporting on the ground - unlocking trust, intimacy, and access - while her Hull accent exposed the class biases embedded in British media. The conversation moves through Arabic diglossia, the differences between dialect and modern standard Arabic, and the unexpected ways language can both connect and isolate. Hind also opens up about code-switching, losing parts of her accent, and the emotional tension between sounding “professional” and sounding like yourself. Come for poetic Iraqi motherisms - and stay for the chip spice. Follow Hind on Instagram here to stay up to date with her new reports and documentaries: https://www.instagram.com/hanood7sn/ [https://www.instagram.com/hanood7sn/]  You can order my book How To Kill A Language here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729 [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729] This is a Viralect original podcast created by Sophia Smith Galer. This episode was filmed by Omar Mehtab and Seren Jones was the Executive Producer. Head to www.viralect.com [http://www.viralect.com/] to find our services and tools, and if you’ve got an iPhone, search “Sophiana app” in the App Store and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD. Chapters 01:10 — What’s in a name? Arabic naming traditions 06:05 — Two languages, two worlds 12:16 — Learning standard Arabic 18:34 — Growing up Iraqi in Hull 20:05 — Hull dialect & chip spice  28:00 — Accent bias in journalism 33:13 — Language as connection in reporting

The languages that shaped Sathnam Sanghera

Sathnam Sanghera can remember pretending to speak English on his first day at school, lest he give away that he could only speak Punjabi. Today, he’s the prolific writer behind numerous works including Empireland, Empireworld, The Boy With The Top Knot and Marriage Material. In this episode of Word For Word, journalist Sophia Smith Galer speaks with the author and broadcaster about how language, empire, and migration intertwine. Sathnam reflects on growing up between Punjabi and English in Wolverhampton, and realising later in life how deeply empire shaped the language he writes in. They discuss the strange afterlives of languages in diaspora communities, why immigrant families often preserve “time capsule” versions of their mother tongues, and how Punjabi words have quietly entered everyday English. The conversation also explores the contradictions of empire: how English could be both a tool of domination and a global bridge between cultures. Sathnam’s forthcoming book on George Michael - Tonight The Music Seems So Loud - can be bought here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9781035063871 [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9781035063871]  You can order my book How To Kill A Language here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729 [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/9780008723729] This is a Viralect original podcast created by Sophia Smith Galer. This episode was filmed by Omar Mehtab and Seren Jones was the Executive Producer. Head to www.viralect.com [http://www.viralect.com/] to find our services and tools, and if you’ve got an iPhone, download the Sophiana app and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD. Chapters 00:00 – Growing up between Punjabi and English 05:30 – Diaspora languages and “time capsule” Punjabi 12:30 – Empire, English and borrowed words 25:00 – Accents, shame and linguistic identity 41:30 – Writing across cultures and curiosity 56:00 – Sophia’s language nerd quiz 01:02:00 – Why multilingualism enriches society