Sisters Only Language Summit Recap

Sisters Only Language Summit Recap

This past weekend we held the second Sisters Only Language Summit and it was everything we could have asked for. Obviously, it’s difficult to condense a whole day of programming but I’ll give it a shot. Let’s do a short recap!

 

Raising Multilingual Children with Tiara Harris aka Chocolate Sushi Roll

I don’t have any kids myself but a lot of our past attendees said they’d love to hear from mothers who are actively teaching their kids to be multilingual. Enter Tiara aka Chocolate Sushi Roll. She’s raising both of her children to be fluent in Japanese! Even though the presentation was focused on kids, I had a few takeaways for myself.

You can find more awesome videos about how she’s teaching her kids to be multilingual on her Youtube channel.

 

Total Immersion: How to Go from Absolute Beginner to Fluent Abroad with Shahidah Foster

If you’re a black woman in the language space then you’ve probably heard about Shahidah. Not only did she reach German fluency without formal teaching, but she was also able to reach her long-term goal of working abroad in Germany. Her presentation had excellent advice on how to get your language game up to par for making the transition.

You can find out more about her absolute amazingness at Black Girls Learn Languages.

 

Panel Discussion: How to Get started on your language learning journey.

One of our missions for the summit is “Expanding the Community of Multilingual Black Women.” And this includes women who don’t yet speak another language. Panelists spoke about their experiences getting started with language learning, as well as how being a Black woman specifically affected those experiences. It was much needed and you should definitely check them out:

 

Morenita mommy

Errol is a trilingual copywriter and translator who is raising her son trilingual in Spanish, English, and Japanese.

 

Speaking Tongues Pod 

Elle Charisse is the creator of Speaking Tongues Pod where she has conversations with multilinguals on varying topics.

 

Ethnic Ties

Acacia is the founder of Ethnic Ties, a company that offers personalized language and culture-based travel assistance for those who want to be prepared when going abroad.

 

African Language Presentations

Although many of us are learning European languages, there was a desire to highlight more languages from the African continent. And your presenters definitely delivered. I have a couple of lessons to book! We had presentations on:

Shona

Pamela Vera presented on Shona history and language.

Amharic

You can learn Amharic with Yeabsira over on iTalki.

Swahili

Glory presented on Swahili. She’s also knowledgeable about touring Tanzania!

Zulu

Thando gave us a history of isiZulu. Definitely check out her Youtube where she gives tips on learning the language. You can also book a lesson with her!

 

Turn Your Language passion into profits with Tamara Marie

I was lucky enough to be present when Tamara first conceptualized Spanish Con Salsa and since then she’s grown it into something truly great. She dropped some priceless gems about building a business in the language space.

You can check her out at Learn Spanish Con Salsa and also take a minute to listen to her podcast!

 

Language proficiency test prep by……..Moi!

And finally, there was yours truly. I did a presentation on things you should do to prepare yourself for a proficiency test. I know the world is uncertain right now but if you wanted to certify for work or school then it’s the perfect time to get your studying in.

 

If you missed the summit live, (and you are a Black woman) you can still purchase recordings HERE.

Polyglot Gathering Berlin

Polyglot Gathering Berlin

If there’s one thing Polyglots are great at doing (besides being willing to tackle any language know to man), it’s forming a strong sense of community. I had the privilege of attending the Polyglot Conference in New York City last October and I can say that it was easily one of the best weekends of my life. I’m not, by nature, a super social person. My anxiety ramps up even more when speaking my L2 comes into play. But for the first time I was surrounded by people who were just like me. They had the same kinds of goals and ambitions, and they had the same passion for language. To be honest, it was surreal at first. For the longest time, I thought I was just some kind of freak of nature.

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