podcast #28: Piñata politics, the Chinese-American generation gap and the bilingualism industry

In this cast, an explanation of piñata politics– and why that approach won’t work on election day. Then the political and linguistic divide between Chinese immigrant voters and their Chinese-American offspring. Then two hits on speaking two languages: Oregon votes on bilingual education, while more American parents chose to raise their children bilingually. We round off this episode with a tough-to-translate French phrase. Listen on iTunes or here.

podcast #27: A-Z of the U.S. presidential election, part dos

 It’s the second half of our presidential election alphabet. We pick it up with N, for nuclear/nucular energy. Then it’s on to Spanish language ads, Chinese language ballots, and the Canadian who wishes he were American — but perhaps just on election day. Listen on iTunes or here.

podcast #26: A-Z of the U.S. presidential election, part one

This week and next, we’re alphabetizing the presidential election campaign. A is for Auma, B is for Bangladesh — and you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear the rest. Among the issues: Islam, political cliches, and foreign versions of Joe Six-Pack. Listen on iTunes or here.

podcast #25: negotiating in Arabic, Arab-American writers and the Arabization of The Simpsons

It’s Arabic week at The World in Words. First, how Arabic and Hebrew both help and hinder Middle East negotiations. Then, Arab-American writers and the words they have to use post 9/11. Finally, The Simpsons gets an Arabic language makeover — and a cultural makeover too. That plus our inauguaral hard-to-define foreign word segment (a title for this please, listeners…). Listen on iTunes or here.

podcast #24: The Joy of Spanglish, and a Swedish-American spat on insularity

We have two takes on Spanglish this week, along with many fine examples of America’s fastest-growing language. First, Ilan Stavans explains why he is translating Don Quixote into Spanglish. Then, Bill Santiago explains why he delivers much of his stand-up comedy in Spanglish. In non-Spanglish news, we consider the charge from a Nobel Lit Prize judge that American writers are too insular…because they don’t read enough translated fiction. Listen on iTunes or here.