ASHA: Welcome to Growing up Powerful with Rebel Girls!

JESTINE: Jestine here.

ASHA: And I’m Asha. And we’re two best friends trying to figure out this thing called life.

For this mindfulness break, we’re going to do something a little different.

JESTINE: Yeah, we’re going to hear from rebels all over the world and they’re gonna teach us how to say “hello, how are you?” in their native languages.

ASHA: I love this meditation. Even if I don’t get all the words right, just making the sounds feels like a way to connect to other people.

JESTINE: And here’s a fun fact. Learning new languages increases your brain’s volume, density and connectivity.

ASHA: Is that true? I just think it feels good.

JESTINE: Right?

ASHA: All you have to do is listen and repeat whatever you hear.

JESTINE: Ready to give it a try?

TRANSITION
followed by satellite/telephone sound

SPEAKER 1: ¿Hola, cómo estás? (beat) My name is Eunice and I’m calling from Bogota, Colombia. Did you know there are more than 260 million people who speak Spanish as their first language?

JESTINE: Wow. I did not know that. Can you repeat it one more time please?

SPEAKER 1: ¿Hola, cómo estás?

ASHA: Thank you so much. Rebels, feel free to try this on your own.

SPEAKER 1: ¿Hola, cómo estás?

JESTINE: Gracias!

SPEAKER 1: De nada.

satellite/telephone sound

REYNA: Hi kamusta ka? (beat) My name is Reyna and I live in Luzon, which is part of the Philippines.

JESTINE: Ooh I’ve always wanted to go to the Philippines.

REYNA: It’s a pretty amazing place. There are so many beaches and volcanoes and mountains.

JESTINE: It’s like a string of islands, right?

REYNA: Exactly. I think we have more than 1700 islands in the Philippines. And so we don’t all speak exactly the same language because we live in different areas and have different dialects and slang…but we all understand each other and appreciate each other.
Magkakasama tayo!
That means, we’re in this together!

ASHA: Thank you so much, can you say the phrase one more time?

REYNA: Magkakasama tayo!

JESTINE: Rebels, feel free to repeat it too.

ASHA: Thank you so much!

REYNA: Walang problema! That means no problem.

satellite/telephone sound

SPEAKER 3: Namaste, aap kaise hain. (beat) My name is Ilina and I live in Jaipur, India. Here is my fun fact: Many words you use in the United States actually come from India, like avatar, pajamas, shampoo, and yoga.

ASHA: No way!

SPEAKER 3: Way.

JESTINE: Now I want to shampoo my pajamas and speak Hindi!

SPEAKER 3: Yes. Please do!

JESTINE: Can you repeat the phrase one more time please?

SPEAKER 3: Namaste, aap kaise hain. That translates to, Hello, how are you?

ASHA: So cool.

SPEAKER 4: Very good. Jaldee hee aap se baat! That means talk to you soon!

JESTINE: Talk to you soon!

satellite/telephone sound

SPEAKER 4: Habari hujambo? (beat) My name is Anna and Habari means “what news?” or “hello!”, and hujambo means “how are you?”

Swahili is spoken in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. You probably know some Swahili already.

JESTINE: Really?

ASHA: I don’t think so…

SPEAKER 4: Have you ever heard of Hakuna matata?

JESTINE & ASHA: What a wonderful phrase!

SPEAKER 4: It really does mean no worries!

JESTINE: That’s so cool!

ASHA: Ack, the song is stuck in my mind now!

SPEAKER 4: (laughs) You’re welcome!

JESTINE & ASHA: Hakuna matata!

satellite/telephone sound

SPEAKER 5: Bonjou koman ou ye? (beat) My name is Estella and my family is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Haiti actually has two official languages — French and Haitian Creole. They can sound pretty similar but they have different alphabets!

ASHA: Oh my goodness, really?

SPEAKER 5: Wi! Repeat after me, Rebels: Bonjou koman ou ye?

JESTINE: It sounds like a song to me.

SPEAKER 5: Yes! It’s also full of homophones, which means lots of words look different on the page but sound alike when you say them out loud. So, we have great tongue twisters like, Peti Pyè pati pou Pari pou peche pwason pou prezidan Petion.

ASHA: Wait, was that a sentence?

SPEAKER 5: In English, it translates to “Little Peter went to Paris to fish for President Petion.”

JESTINE: Oh my goodness I need to learn that now.

SPEAKER 5: Creole is full of fun sounds. Orevwa!

JESTINE & ASHA: Bye! Thank you!

satellite/telephone sound
TRANSITION
CONCLUSION

JESTINE: That was really cool.

ASHA: I know, right? I love sounding out different languages.

JESTINE: It really can be meditative.

ASHA: That was definitely calmer than the Spanish quiz I took last week.

JESTINE: Mmmm hmmm (agreeing).

ASHA: Rebels, I hope you enjoyed this too. Every time you learn new ways to communicate, you’re connecting and putting positive energy out into the world.

JESTINE: Totally. This world needs more of that.

ASHA: And more rebels!

JESTINE: Like you!

ASHA: And like you!

JESTINE: And like you.

ASHA: No, you.This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls.

This episode was narrated by ME! Margaret Ying Drake as Asha, and Imani Parks as Jestine. It was produced and directed by Joy Smith, with Deborah Goldstein and Haley Dapkus. Sound design and mixing by Mumble Media. It was written and edited by Abby Sher. Fact checking by Joe Rhatigan, and Sensitivity Read by Schuyler Swenson. Our executive producers are Jes Wolfe and Joy Smith.

Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi.

A special thanks to the whole Rebel Girls team, who make this podcast possible!

Until next time, staaaay rebel!

If you like what you heard here and want to learn more, check out the newest book from Rebel Girls! Growing Up Powerful: A Guide to keeping confident when your body is changing, your mind is racing, and the world is…complicated. With stories from rebels all over the world and guidance from some brilliant experts, this book is our newest bff. Order your copy of Growing up Powerful today on Amazon or anywhere you purchase books!