America the Bilingual Steve Leveen

This is our second of two episodes on what technology can and can’t do for language learning…and perhaps more important, what technology should and shouldn’t do.
Listen as Steve shares the week he spent in Silicon Valley attending the futuristic technology incubator called Singularity University. He had a chance to ask the high priest of language technology, Ray Kurzweil, how he sees the role of high tech in language learning. Ray’s answer might surprise you.

You’ll be listening to the audio version of Chapter 34 of Steve’s book, America’s Bilingual Century, presented by the award-winning narrator Sean Pratt.

Music is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on using technology for learning a language. That includes the many bilinguals Steve interviewed for Episode 54 of the America the Bilingual podcast. It’s a brief meditation on the merits—and demerits—of language technology.

How much should we depend on language technology to talk for us? What are technology’s limitations? Or is it just we humans who are limited in our thinking of what technology can do?

The role that technology plays in language learning is such a timely and important question that we’re devoting two episodes to answering it. Meet the guests you’ll hear in this episode, the first of two.

Music is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

From sea to shining sea, English is spoken throughout all 3.8 million square miles of the US. Does it make sense to speak anything else?

To answer this question, in Episode 53, Steve takes you on a tour that starts in Little Rock and ends in Montreal, by way of Casablanca and Mali.

Enjoy this seventh free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 37, narrated by Sean Pratt.

Like the music? It’s “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

Want to learn Japanese? Go to Japan. Portuguese? Portugal or Brazil. Hindi? India. Immersion is absolutely the best way to learn another language…or is it? In Episode 52, Steve weighs in, and his answer might surprise you.

Enjoy this sixth free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 36, narrated by Sean Pratt.

Music: “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode, followed by “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

A middle-aged guy named Steve walks into an intermediate-Spanish class for Harvard undergrads, and does a quick assessment of their advantages versus his.

Theirs: They’re smarter. They take tests really well. They’ve had more Spanish. They can hear perfectly fine. They’re highly motivated to get good grades. They seem to relish the mental struggle.

Steve’s: He shows up on time.

And it gets better. Like when Steve teams up with one of the students, Josh Robinson, to do an oral presentation in Spanish on Reggaeton. Steve’s first question to his teammate: “What’s Reggaeton?”

The power of perseverance is on humorous display in Episode 51.

Enjoy this fifth free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 27, narrated by Sean Pratt.

The music is “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode, followed by “West in Africa”

by John Bartmann.

Are there certain best practices for starting your children on a lifelong path to bilingualism? Absolutely, and in Episode 50, Steve shares the three that are most essential. They can work even if parents are not (or not yet) bilingual.

You’ll also meet two families who started their children off as bilingual speakers and one family who wished they had. What caused their paths to diverge?

Enjoy this fourth free audiobook chapter of America’s Bilingual Century by Steve Leveen. You’re listening to Chapter 18, narrated by Sean Pratt.

Support for the America the Bilingual project comes from the Levenger Foundation.
Support for our podcast episodes comes from members of the America the Bilingual Project team, including Caroline Doughty, our audio and digital book maven; Fernando Hernández and his production house, Esto No Es Radio, who provide sound design and mixing; Mim Harrison, our editorial and brand director; Carlos Plaza, our creative director; and Karla Hernandez at Daruma Tech, who manages our website. Meet the entire America the Bilingual team—including our bark-lingual mascot, Chet—here.

Like the music? It’s “Quasi Motion” by Kevin Macleod at the start of the episode and then “West in Africa” by John Bartmann.

We invite you to follow America the Bilingual on Facebook, along with the Lead with Languages campaign run by our friends at ACTFL—The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.