Introducing: ‘A Language I Love Is…’


There’s a new linguistic podcast out there!


Friends, linguists, podcast pros, lend me your ears! Being committed to bringing the joys of linguistics to a wide audience, and motivated by the continuing decline of Twitter, I am thrilled to announce that I now have a podcast!

It’s called A Language I Love Is… and it’s my audio avenue to broadcast linguists’ love for languages through entertaining and educational episodes. I am its host and the format of each episode is to offer one guest the space to introduce and discuss thoroughly one language of their choosing. Together host and guest discuss and delight in that particular language through three open-ended questions:

  • What is your story and connection to this language?
  • What do you love about this language?
  • What is something you want the audience to know about this language?

It’s still very early days, but I am over the moon with the positive response and support for ALILI so far. It’s currently available on Acast, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can listen here:

Portuguese and Marco Neves – A Language I Love Is…

And we’re back! Series 4 of ALILI launches itself at the ears of language lovers everywhere, and it’s the Portuguese language that’s leading the charge. My guest is Marco Neves, scholar, translator and author, and a devoted champion of Portuguese in all its forms. Our conversation tackles some big topics and ideas. For example, where did Portuguese come from? (Linguistically as well as geographically, that is.) Where has it reached in the world of today? And what is the Lusophone community doing with the language? And how, strange to say, could Portuguese have become ‘Spanish’?Support the language-loving mission by joining the ALILI Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs⁠⁠⁠⁠Marco’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@marconevesMarco on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcofranconeves/?hl=enMarco’s Substack: https://marconeves.substack.com/Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Prof. Marco NevesAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Acoustic Guitar by William KingArtwork: Willow Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. Portuguese and Marco Neves
  2. Series 4 Teaser!
  3. Chitimacha and Daniel W. Hieber
  4. Modern Irish and Liam Ó Duibhiolla
  5. Italian and Sophia Smith Galer

I’m hoping to have a schedule of one episode per week, and to date I have managed four episodes and four beloved languages:

  • Scots
  • Akkadian
  • Old Saxon
  • Sanskrit

It’s looking all a bit historical at the moment, which isn’t a surprise considering my friends and my own academic interests, but episodes about living languages are absolutely welcome and currently in the planning. I should also say that this is very much not a show about me. It’s a means to let people share their love for language, and as such it is is dependent on its guests. So, if I get in touch with an invite, or if you want to volunteer yourself, please do consider it!

I’m hoping to share links on this site as each new episode comes out, so watch this space. I hope you will give it a go and help ALILI to grow. All listens, recommendations and subscriptions are very much appreciated.

Danny x



5 responses to “Introducing: ‘A Language I Love Is…’”

  1. Danny: This is a great idea! I’ve already subscribed on Apple Podcasts. Would you consider an episode on some of the Celtic languages now extinct such as Gaulish? I really enjoyed your essay because of the connection to my Italian heritage (my mother’s maiden name means “Gallic” in Italian).

    Sending best wishes from Los Angeles and hoping that your dissertation is coming along well.

    Dr. Mike Mullard

  2. […] September 5, 2023 Introducing: ‘A Language I Love Is…’ […]

  3. […] somewhat preoccupied for the past two months, and so haven’t dedicated time to this site. The jump into the world of podcasting has taken a lot of effort, and yet the website hasn’t been far from my thoughts. So, for this […]

  4. […] If you’d like to hear from other people who are openly enthusiastic about linguistics, A Language I Love Is… is a great podcast where scholars of specific languages (both modern and historic) go into why they […]

  5. […] A Language I Love shares insights into the world’s languages. Each episode has a simple formula: one host, one guest, one language, and three key questions. […]

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