Word For Word with Sophia Smith Galer

Word For Word with Sophia Smith Galer

Word For Word is a podcast about storytellers and the languages that made them. Each episode, award-winning journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer sits down with writers, artists and creators to explore the words behind their work: the languages they grew up with, learned, lost and gained that formed their imagination and creative practice. New episodes weekly.

Episodes

  1. Mar 24

    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/  You can order my book How To Kill A Language 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 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. 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

    1h 8m
  2. Mar 17

    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  You can order my book How To Kill A Language 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 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, 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

    1h 8m
  3. Mar 10

    The languages that shaped Maryam Moshiri

    Many know BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri for her ability to steer BBC news programmes through light and shade, helping us understand the world through its darkest moments as well as find a bit of relief and humour. But did you know she's also trilingual? In this episode of Word for Word, journalist Sophia Smith Galer talks to Maryam Moshiri about the languages that shaped her life - from speaking Farsi at home as the child of Iranian immigrants to becoming fluent in Italian after falling in love with Rome and its culture.Maryam shares how growing up bilingual influenced the way she sees the world, why she once felt embarrassed hearing her parents speak Farsi in public - something that changed as she got older. She also reflects on studying Italian at university, living in Rome, and shows us how 'news voice' isn't just about tone, but about breathing. You can order my book How To Kill A Language here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-kill-a-language-power-resistance-and-the-race-to-save-our-words-sophia-smith-galer/bc2b75402744da38?ean=9780008723729&next=t Or Amazon: https://amzn.to/4shmq0e 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 to find our services and tools, and if you’ve got an iPhone, download Sophiana and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD at https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sophiana-script-video-maker/id6742998989 00:00 — Growing up between languages 04:39 — Farsi, English, and becoming bilingual 12:38 — Falling in love with Italy and learning Italian 25:03 — Do languages actually help in journalism? 27:08 — How language shapes identity and personality 54:21 — Why learning languages still matters today

    1h 8m
  4. Mar 3

    The languages that shaped Len Pennie

    Len Pennie doesn’t feel entirely at home in English or in Scots. So she writes in both. In this episode of Word For Word, poet and broadcaster Len Pennie joins journalist Sophia Smith Galer to explore what it means to live between languages. From growing up immersed in Scots without stigma, to discovering the shame and suppression surrounding, Len reflects on how a language can be celebrated on stage yet punished in the classroom and wider society.They open up on the politics - and inaccuracy - of calling Scots a “dialect,” the sanitising of Robert Burns, and why Len refuses to include a glossary in her books. The conversation moves through bilingual identity, monolingual privilege, and the complicated question of who “has the right” to claim a language. Len also shares how learning Spanish became both a refuge and a reminder of trauma, as well as how different languages can unlock entirely different versions of ourselves. Follow Len on social media at @misspunnypennie and find her poetry collections in my Bookshop link, along with other books on language and identity that I have loved reading: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/how-to-kill-a-language-and-friends?&new-list-page=true You can order my book How To Kill A Language in the same spot, as well as from Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-kill-a-language/sophia-smith-galer/9780008723729 Or Amazon: https://amzn.to/4shmq0e 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 to find our services and tools, and if you’ve got an iPhone, download Sophiana and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD at https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sophiana-script-video-maker/id6742998989.00:00 – Living between languages08:18 – What’s Scots?15:00 – Sanitising Burns & who gets to use Scots20:48 – Falling in love with Spanish, and language trauma28:00 – Monolingualism, privilege and language hierarchies39:30 – Feeling like different people with different languages 48:10 – Sophia’s language nerd quiz01:00:50 – The future of Scots: “Government-Subsidised Grannies”

    1h 6m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Word For Word is a podcast about storytellers and the languages that made them. Each episode, award-winning journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer sits down with writers, artists and creators to explore the words behind their work: the languages they grew up with, learned, lost and gained that formed their imagination and creative practice. New episodes weekly.

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