▷S4E3 The Heart of a Language: William Cisilino talks Friulano

William Cisilino is the director of ARLeF, an organization that promotes the Friulian language. He is a leading expert and advocate for linguistic diversity. Dr Cisilino and Rose Thomas discuss the health of the Friulano language today, both in northeastern Italy and around the world. He teaches Rose Thomas a Friulian saying and poem. They discuss intergenerational transmission, the connection between biodiversity and linguistic variation, the cultural functions of idioms, and who gets to decide if there's a difference between a language and a dialect. 

Ascolta in italiano / Listen in Italian

Learn more about Friulano at the ARLeF website: https://arlef.it/

Follow ARLef on Instagram and YouTube @AgjenzieARLeF
Instagram @agjenziearlef

 

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Two notes: 1. Pope Francis was still living at the time of this recording. 2. The story that US President Kennedy accidentally called himself a donut while visiting Berlin is a widespread misconception, one that Rose Thomas learned had been debunked after recording this episode. If you accidentally refer to yourself as a pastry while practicing a new language, we encourage you to embrace mistakes as part of the language-learning process!

 
 

Music composed by Ersilia Prosperi for the band Ou: www.oumusic.bandcamp.com

Produced and recorded by Rose Thomas Bannister

Audio and video edited by Giulia Àlvarez-Katz

Audio assistance by Steve Silverstein

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▷S4E4 How to Swirl with Glasvin Founder David Kong

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▷S4E2 Love from Solid Rock at Lokanda Devetak