Magnificent Diversity – an interview by Elfy Jo of Musical Magic

My great friend Joke, aka Elfy Jo, a multicultural polyglot magical musician, recently interviewed me on her radio show. The conversation careers around topical hairpin bends, as it always does on Joke’s red sofa in Guangzhou – usually with the assistance of a G&T.

We talk about our shared love of languages, discuss the power of coaching and delight in human diversity. Along the way, we explore attitudes towards silence in different cultures, as well as cultural expectations of language learners. We also add a quick sprinkling of Dutch loanwords into English, some of which are quite surprising.