Life in a Second Language with Spring Day

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills during the pandemic, interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.This episode features winner of the World Series of Comedy, Tamer Kattan. We get into a broad range of topics: what it was like to move to the US from Egypt as a small child, what role language played in Tamer's rebelling against authority, how adolescence is hard enough without having to learn a second language, how the cultural differences changed the dynamics of Tamer's family and how his later travels "de-Americanized" and ultimately freed his thinking. Tamer is an amazing talent you should check out. He also has an incredible podcast interviewing fellow American Immigrants (with his incredible mother—Kitty) They Tried to Bury Us. Please check him and his podcast out at tamerkattan.com

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills during the pandemic, interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears. Today’s guest is Italian comedian and winner of the So You Think You’re Funny? competition Luca Cupani. A well-travelled linguist proficient in Latin and Ancient Greek, Luca details his experience studying English in Italy and then putting it to use in the UK. We also talk about when we want to “speak without an accent “ and why if he met his Italian wife in English, they probably never would have gotten married. Luca is hysterical. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram  @lucacupaniEnjoy!

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills during the pandemic, interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.This week’s guest is one of the pioneers of Western-style street performing in Japan, Brian Hulse. A jack of all trades, this bilingual juggler and film producer originally from Indiana was the location manager for The Last Samurai and production assistant for the recent Amazon reality show series Making the Cut. Brian has extensive experience both in front of and behind the Japanese and English camera. Brian details how he learned to speak Japanese touring with some of Japan’s most famous and successful comedians and why even though he has learned to say exactly what he wants to express in his second language, it’s probably best he doesn’t.

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.Today’s guest is Nigerian comedian in the UK Benjamin Bello. You may know him better as his onstage persona President Obonjo. We talk about Pidgin English, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and what language he speaks more in the UK than he ever did in Nigeria (Hint— it's not English) We also discuss how growing up in Nigeria and going to school in the UK gave him his start in comedy.Presiden Obonjo is a joy to watch.Please check him out and follow him on social media http://presidentobonjo.co.uk/Instagram: @obonjoTwitter: @realObonjo

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language (especially this episode!) so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.This is the first episode of season two! Spring first gives the lowdown on her wedding over the two week break and you get to hear a particularly flowery and hilarious outburst of profanity that anyone who has helped a parent set up Zoom remotely can relate to. It is a real treat.Today’s guest is the Venezuelan comedian in Australia and friend Ivan Aristeguieta. His bilingual  language journey is an exciting one unlike any we’ve heard on the show. Since love is in the air we also  talk about whether or speaking different languages really causes communication problems. A few minutes of the interview audio quality isn’t great great but stick with it, it gets better and is totally worth it!Please check out Ivan on his website and buy tickets to his online cooking parties here: https://ivancomedy.com.au/Instagram @ivancomedy

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.On this episode Spring talks to a member of the International Theatresports Institute’s Board of Directors, Chris Wells. Chris is a man with many, many hats and expertise. He is fascinating and a delight to listen to. He details the decisions he made in university that gave the start of his career abroad a jump-start. He also has advice for adults that want to learn a second language for the first time. Hint: How you did in school really doesn't matter.Chis currently conducts the Punching Up Workshop. Drawing on his experience in psychology facilitating group sessions, this workshop focuses on finding humor with and about minorities and ethnic groups with your fellow improvisors before it comes up in a show.To find out more visit the In the Moment Impro Workshop official website.https://itmimpro.com/ His narration and moderation wedsite can be found below.http://www.chriswellsnarration.com/I told you he has a lot of hats.Oh, and you can find him on Twitter here:https://twitter.com/chriswellstokyo  

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills, interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.On this episode we talk to the amazing Japanese comedian in the UK and winner of the BBC New Comedy Award, Yuriko Kotani. We talk about her year abroad at a high school in Minnesota, her expectations when she started studying English abroad, and why she has so much respect for translators. Don't worry, we talk about some pretty silly stuff as well.Please check out and  support Yuriko by going to her webpage yurikokotani.com 

Spring Day, an American comedian brushing up on her Japanese skills, interviews people from all walks of life about their experience living, working, traveling, studying and loving in a second language—often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears.This episode features jack-of-all-trades Mish'al "Meesh" Samman. He details his experience growing up speaking Arabic and English at home, learning French, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Indonesian. We talk about the best motivations for learning a language and the unexpected opportunities speaking so many languages brings. We also talk about his appearance on the Late Late Show with James Corden in 2019. Meesh explains why he thinks that clip of himself on the show went viral in Saudi Arabia.Check Meesh out at https://mishalsamman.com/ He is always up to something fun. 

On this podcast, American comedian and fluent Japanese speaker Spring Day talks to people around the world about living, loving, working and studying in a second language, often in adult language so this podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears On this episode, French comedian and writer Arielle Souma details her experience learning English first in Ireland and later in the UK where she has been based for many years. London is where she has raised her son to be bilingual. She also talks about how the French language has changed since she left France and gives her opinions on pronunciation. Arielle is hilarious.Please check her out:Twitter @phatcomedian Facebook at Arielle Souma Comedian Her website is http://www.ariellesouma.com/

Spring Day interviews fellow comedian and American tired of nationalism, David Mills. In this episode David details his experience studying abroad in Bolivia as a teenager learning Spanish, his move to London, a persistent need to travel and how that has shaped him. This podcast may not always be appropriate for young ears. Please follow David Mills on Instagram and Twitter @DavidMillsDeptHis website is http://www.itsdavidmills.com/

Comedian Spring Day talks to people of all walks of life about their experience living, working, studying and loving in a second language often in adult language so this may not always be appropriate for young ears. On this episode—comedian and gamer Jody Bolt talks about learning ASL as a hearing person and the challenges that come with interpreting. Jody also gives advice on how to master the language and details why a universal sign language doesn't exist and never will. Follow Jody Bolt on:Twitter @nevermindjodyTwitch @okayestgamer1  

On the show, comedian and experienced ESL teacher Spring Day has frank and fun talks about living, working and loving in a foreign language often in adult language so this may not be appropriate for young ears. On today’s episode, award-winning foreign language teacher Cat Mince talks about the importance of language immersion. She also details her experience studying abroad in Guatemala just after it’s civil war ended while being taught Spanish by recently retired guerrilla fighters.

On this episode, Romanian comedian and comedy roaster Victor Patrascan talks about how cartoons and music transformed how he learned English, how a bad teacher created a mental block the size of Germany and how it feels to forget words in his native language when “back home” in Romania. Check out Victor at http://victorpatrascan.com/

Comedian, experienced ESL instructor and fluent Japanese speaker, Spring Day, speaks with people from around the world and all walks of life about their experience studying, traveling, living, working and loving in a foreign language. Today's guest is Irish comedian and writer Naimh Marron talking about her experience having to study Irish, why it's a handy language to know on holiday and how Tina Turner helped her pass her French exams. For more info on Naimh,  check out her website https://www.niamhmarron.com/