The Lamp of Empathy

Does the whole world speak English? Not quite, not even in France, if you really want to do business. Meet Ben Macklowe, a New York City kid, who grew up as a monolingual English speaker, until he messed up big time and then took matters into his own hands. Now he’s passing The Gift on to his baby boys. The following 14 minutes may light your path:

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Benjamin Macklowe, President, Macklowe Gallery

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America the Bilingual partners with America’s hard-working language teachers — The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and its Lead with Languages campaign.

This episode was written by Steve Leveen, and producer Fernando Hernández, who also does sound design and mixing. Our editorial consultants are Maja Thomas and Mim Harrison; research assistance is from Alma Flores-Perez. Our graphic arts are created by Carlos Plaza Design Studio.

Music in this episode by:

Kevin Macleod — Beach Party

freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_Ma…er/Beach_Party

Kevin Macleod — Rite of Passage
freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_Ma…ite_of_Passage

Kevin Macleod — Quasi Motion
freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_Ma…r/Quasi_Motion

Kevin MacLeod — I Knew a Guy
freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_MacLeod/Jazz_Samp

Kevin Macleod — Baltic Levity
freemusicarchive.org/music/Kevin_Ma…/Baltic_Levity

Jason Shaw- Jenny’s Theme
freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Sh…___________-45

Thanks for listening. Our next episode, up in two weeks, is about another English monolingual who learned French, but following a very different journey.

(Follow me on Twitter and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on upcoming episodes.)

cecilia constantine2017-12-05T18:20:14-05:00

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You’ve just met one of the first recipients of a
Conversation Corps grant.

The ConversationMultilingual Mainers brings together college and grade school students in conversation, speaking in languages other than what is, for most of the youngsters, their native English. The college students serve as role models for the children, who see—and hear—that speaking another language is a good and natural thing to do.

Concept: Introducing young students (PreK-2) to world languages and cultures in meaningful and consistent ways can reduce bias and promote multilingualism among this new generation.

Execution: Through a partnership between Bowdoin College and a local elementary school in Brunswick, Maine, language students from the college serve as language instructors for the children. They use a customized curriculum designed to build the children’s intercultural competence as it increases their language proficiency. Exposing the children to world languages and their cultures in this way can foster tolerance and inclusiveness. Both are powerful deterrents to harmful stereotyping.

Outlook: Year 2 of the curriculum got under way with the 2021-22 school year. Bowdoin professor Margaret Boyle, its creator, is now considering ways that Multilingual Mainers could support professional development for teachers.

Reading Tip: If you’re reading to young children, check out Libros for Language and Diverse Book Finder for age-appropriate titles that celebrate different languages and cultures. One picture book that Multilingual Mainers works with is Alma and How She Got Her Name. “We’re using it to build lesson plans around the concept of family identity,” Margaret says.

The Lamp of Empathy

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