Today the Language Scientists are back to present the last episode of Series 3! It's been so interesting to have the chance to revisit some of the topics from this season. In this episode, we discuss some of our favourite insights and thoughts about this series. We discuss the differences in fluency a heritage speaker has in the home compared to their fluency in the majority language and how language learning is never finished: we are all learning new words everyday! We also discuss how we should ask other people and look to our community to help us share our home language with our children. Marie even shares a "firework" moment when her children started talking to each other in the home language. We don't want to stop at the home, either! let’s make schools a multilingual context where children can fully express their identities in any language they like.

And what's next for Series 4? Listen to the podcast to find out our ideas or go to our website to tell us what you would like to hear about!

To find out more behind-the-scenes information about this topic or about our podcast, please visit our webpage, languagescientists.dmu.ac.uk. This is where you can go to ask questions, leave comments, or even participate in our current research! We'd love to hear from YOU.

Follow Dr Zavaleta and Dr Bisson on twitter: @dr_klzavaleta and @mjbisson

Or get in touch via email: language.scientists@dmu.ac.uk

Follow our Instagram page @the_language_scientists

Why do “The Language Scientists” keep saying that Leicester is a great location to discuss multilingualism? In this episode, Dr Kaitlyn Zavaleta interviews Dr Michelle Harrison, a lecturer in French & Francophone studies at University of Leicester to discuss multilingualism in Leicester. In addition to discussing Dr Harrison’s experience working with Leicester’s Golden Mile and the many languages found here, she describes, a new collaborative project, “Diaspora Leicester in Translation: Living Heritage and Memory in Sayings, Poems and Songs”. This is a new project collecting and comparing sayings, poems, and songs from the many languages found in Leicester.

To find out more behind-the-scenes information about this topic or about our podcast, please visit our webpage, languagescientists.dmu.ac.uk. This is where you can go to ask questions, leave comments, or even participate in our current research! We'd love to hear from YOU.

To read about Dr Harrison’s research, please visit: https://le.ac.uk/people/michelle-harrison

To read about Diaspora Leicester in Translation, visit: https://dlit.le.ac.uk/

Follow Dr Zavaleta and Dr Bisson on Twitter (X): @dr_klzavaleta and @mjbisson

Follow Dr Harrison on Twitter (X): @michelleannehar

Follow the DLiT Leicester project on Twitter (X) @DLiTLeicester Instagram @dlitleicester or Facebook @DLiTLeics

Or get in touch via email: language.scientists@dmu.ac.uk

Follow our Instagram page @the_language_scientists

What does it mean to be "bilingual"? How can we encourage and support parents to raise children bilingually? In this episode, Dr Kaitlyn Zavaleta talks all-things-bilingual with Professor Antonella Sorace from the University of Edinburgh and Founding Director of "Bilingualism Matters", a non-profit organisation that brings bilingualism research findings to the general public. This episode provides an excellent overarching view of the benefits of bilingualism. Join us to hear Professor Antonella Sorace's summary of new research and insights into bilingualism.

To find out more behind-the-scenes information about this topic or about our podcast, please visit our webpage, languagescientists.dmu.ac.uk. This is where you can go to ask questions, leave comments, or even participate in our current research! We'd love to hear from YOU.

To read about Bilingualism Matters and find more resources to support your multilingual family, visit https://www.bilingualism-matters.org/. To hear more about Professor Sorace's work, visit https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/antonella-sorace. For the most recent updates, follow Professor Sorace and Bilingualism Matters on X (Twitter): @AntoSorace and @BilingMatters

Follow Dr Zavaleta and Dr Bisson on twitter: @dr_klzavaleta and @mjbisson

Or get in touch via email: language.scientists@dmu.ac.uk

Follow our Instagram page @the_language_scientists