We Linguistically
What We Are Loving!

What We Are Loving!

The hidden history of “Hand Talk”
Have you heard of Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL)? Neither had we. As one of the first signing languages, PISL was created out of necessity to communicate between tribes who didn’t share a common verbal language. Not surprisingly, PISL was forcefully stripped away, losing the language and its history. Through resilience, the language lives today through a few. Hear more about PISL and the few who are keeping this language alive.
@geecheegodess
Akua Page is a language activist using Tik Tok to preserve, uplift, and educate on Gullah Geechee, an endangered creole language spoken in the coastal areas of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Check out this video to learn more about Akua and Gullah Geechee.
Sak Tzevul
Rock music is made to break barriers and question society, which is precisely what Sak Tzevul does. The band from Mexico started as a way to empower and push back against the extinction of Tzotzil—the indigenous Maya language. Taking a stand against Spanish being the dominant and valued language, offering empowerment to others to use and feel proud of Tzotzi . Listen to their hit song, Sts’umbeyel ta yo’ otan skolel alnich’an- “Raices y alas”

Family language creators edition!

@thatdeafamily
Deaf mama to Ev [deaf]  + jabez [hoh}. Wifey to deaf husband with cochlear implants
@learnalanguage4fun2day
We are a: Colorful, Musical, Multilingual homeschool family
@msaprilwu
New mama raising a baby in Eng/中文,/Español in the U.S. Bilingual parenting tips  & resources. Mandarin Dual immersion teachers. MA in Bilingual Ed
Renata Flores
Merge classic sounds from the Andes with trap and hip hop and you’ll get a cover from Renata Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian artist passionate about bringing Quechua to the forefront. A quick google search of the song title “Maria Parado de Bellido” will tell you a bit about how Renata connects her art to her roots. Also, her music is awesome! Enjoy!
Nawatlahtolli trilingual dictionary
As language-lovers and advocates for indigenous languages, we are overly excited about this virtual trilingual Nahuatl, Spanish, and English dictionary. This free application is available in the App Store and Google Play Store and contains definitions for several Nahuatl varieties, including Ancient Nahuatl, Chicontepec, Veracruz Puebla Norte & Guerrero. Thanks to Nahuatl Language collective for sharing this wonderful resources. To download, search “Nawatlahtolli” in the App Store or “Nawatl itlahtol” in Google Play Store.
Up in the North Pole, the Artic
Talk about inspiration! Students from Chapel Hill’s Wise Elementary School, a dual-language program in Texas, researched, wrote, and publish a bilingual book titled “Up in the North Pole, the Artic”. Can you imagine being a young child and having not just your language identity validated but also what it produces? Our inner child lives vicariously and rejoices!

Tik Tok creators edition!

“Just like any other emotion, there is always a time and a place for anger. For instance, when a native English speaker learns another language, people think Oh my god, you’re so educated; you learned another language, that’s so impressive. But when millions of non-white immigrants move to this country and learn English but speak it with an accent from their native tongue, they are mocked and relentlessly ridiculed for it. They don’t get the same praise that English speakers get for learning another language. So yeah that makes me kind of angry.”
“I have everything to gain as a native English speaker from learning a second language. Whereas billions of people across the world, and millions of immigrants specifically who are not native speakers of English, have to learn English just to be on a level playing field. To get jobs, to provide for their family, to take advantage of government resources, education resources etc. This is all due to linguistic supremacy and the chokehold that the English language has on the global economy.”
“Just a reminder that if a student or an adult isn’t able to language all that they know in English, it does not diminish their brilliance, but if you think it does. It does make you a linguistic oppressor”

This episode of “Anything for Selena” explores our complicated relationship with language. The misguided idea of English as the “safe” language, as the requirement for belonging, and the moment we realize what we’ve actually traded for this false sense of safety. How we choose to identify and access our ancestral/mother language, as this podcast host says, is our birthright. We need to remember that.

ASL-signing characters at the center of their own stories. Yes, please! There was a lot to love about CODA but some of our favorite scenes were the performance ones and seeing Ruby’s family navigate hearing-able environments. Have you watched it yet?

As immigrants, this book resonated with us in many ways, the constant struggle of being both too American and not America enough. Of wanting to escape our families yet needing to understand them. Of assimilating and struggling to fit into a culture that does not respect who we are, our language, and values. The complexity and dichotomy we often feel are at the forefront and excellently reflected between the two main characters Mina and Margot.
RA has been around for about a decade now and apart from amazing journalism, it’s a great way to connect back with what’s going on in Latin America. The podcast is fully in Spanish and it’s a great way to stay immersed for those of us in the higher fluency stage.
We want to see more movies like Minari on the big screen! A story of a Korean-American family in Arkansas navigating the path to the so-called “American dream”. Told from the perspective of the family, mostly in Korean. The Oscars decided to add Minari to their Foreign film category. Don’t even get us started on how we feel about that.
Omar Offendum perfectly blends English, Arabic, Spanish, spoken word, and rap to depict his emotional tie to Syria, a place connected to him by heritage and one he feels strongly about giving a voice to.