This past week, I was standing in my local pharmacy in the Los Angeles area, chatting in English with my Mom, when a gentleman, also wearing a face-mask, urgently approached us in Spanish. Because this never really happens to us as African American women, my Mom and I were pleasantly surprised. In fact, it's more common that we're assumed to be non-Spanish-speaking. By the time we left the pharmacy, circumstances had made it clear that the man--let me refer to him as Miguel (a pseudonym)--had approached us out of necessity. He was having trouble filling out the health consent form required for getting the vaccine, and needed help. Still, we wondered if anything about our appearance or demeanor had encouraged him to seek our assistance, particularly because there were others in the area that he might have consulted instead. Maybe we just seemed friendly and least likely to judge or reject him?  

Miguel wore a baseball cap, and had a clipboard and pen in hand. He appeared kind. Walking toward us, he said: "¿Ustedes están aquí por la vacuna de covid?" (Are you here for the COVID vaccine?)

The area between us was separated by a cordon that roped off a few chairs to maintain social distancing. The chairs marked the casual perimeter of the vaccine waiting and observation area, just beyond the pharmacy's main counter and cashier desk. 

My Mom and I looked at each other, and she deferred to me. And that was when the conversational Spanish skills I learned during the year I lived in Mexico City (and which I rarely get the chance to use nowadays), kicked in. I coaxed my brain into action. "Sí, pues claro," (Yes, of course) I replied. "¿Támbien usted?" (You, too?)

Miguel was very friendly, and seemed happy to be responded to in Spanish! So, we moved closer to take in more of what he was saying. Once we were within a more audible range, he began to speak more excitedly, gesturing to the page affixed to the clipboard in his hands. My Mom and I were close enough to see he was pointing to the pharmacy's standard COVID-19 Immunization Consent Form, with questions like, "Are you sick today?" and "Have you ever fainted or felt dizzy after receiving an immunization?"

The consent form was just like the one we had completed 15 minutes earlier, except his page was printed in Spanish. Likely because we had entered the pharmacy speaking English, my Mom and I were not offered this alternative language option. Truthfully, we didn't even know that the pharmacy had Spanish-language consent forms, but the fact that they were available was a good thing. 

Miguel pointed to the Spanish-language health form on his clipboard, and continued speaking Spanish. He explained that when the pharmacist had originally given him the health form in English, he had told them he was unable to read it. And so he had been given the Spanish version. But he was having trouble understanding this form, as well. Miguel asked: ¿Me pueden ayudar? (Can you help me?)

As our conversation unfolded, there were more clues that although Miguel was able to speak Spanish, he had difficulty reading the language on the consent form. He also appeared to have difficulty with writing. 

Immediately, it struck me, based on my experience with speakers of languages other than English, that Miguel was probably multilingual in other languages, possibly Indigenous languages that he could navigate without difficulty. It was important to me to relate to him with respect for our multilingual world. But at the moment, I was faced with the challenge of figuring out how best to help him. So, what should we do when language and literacy form practical barriers to public health measures? Let me share what I was able to do...

By Elise Riley & Miki Gilmore

On Sunday, November 8, 2015, 10:30 AM, we attended the Germantown Monthly Meeting. The community gathers every Sunday for Meeting for Worship, a religious service that is conducted in silence and is open to anyone. During Meeting for Worship, community members stand and speak when they feel moved by the spirit of God.

Midway through the scheduled gathering,  a woman stood up to speak about the racial disparities in Philadelphia's K-12 schools. She specifically made mention of the prestigious Germantown Friends School and another local school, Kelly Elementary School. Compared to the Friends school, Kelly Elementary is in a very poor state.

​The woman at the Quaker Meeting was noticeably upset while talking, and continued her speech for over ten minutes. In the midst of this woman speaking, another person stood up silently. Then, sensing her time was coming to a close, the very same woman addressed the room thus: “Does anyone hear me?” Another person replied, “We hear you, we hear you”. This person and the one who stood up while the woman was talking were performing an act called eldering, which is when a longstanding member of the community expresses their disapproval of somebody’s behavior. 

By Sophia Zaia, Tinuke Akintayo, & Lekey Leidecker

Listen to the wind chimes, and you can hear the peaceful wavelength of this community. This video is about Serenity House, a North Philadelphia community center, and home for homeless youth and recovering substance abusers. The residential center is operated by Arch Street United Methodist Church. We interviewed O, a resident and caretaker of Serenity House since 2010. She talked with us about the mission of Serenity House and her work creating a calm and peaceful environment in a neighborhood which has been described as “one of the poorest ghettos in Philadelphia.” Spending time at the hospitality home operated by Serenity House, we experienced a beautiful and welcoming community environment.

By Emma Kates-Shaw & Allie Drabinsky

Together, we worked in our sociolinguistics course this semester to investigate the meaning of "atmosphere" in the coffeehouse Hobbs, which is located just off of Swarthmore's college campus. This video project began with a few hours spent talking over coffee, discussing with one another what stood out to us as linguistic markers in the space.

By Jamie A. Thomas

I've learned so much from working with video from my fieldwork, and deliberately formulating it for a public audience, that I've begun to incorporate it into my teaching. This semester, my students have been engaging the Philadelphia community to learn more about how signs, symbols, and communication connect our everyday lives. Students in my introductory course in sociolinguistics at Swarthmore College come from all over the country, and from other institutions in the area, Bryn Mawr College, Haverford College, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Our theme has been linguistic landscapes, the physical and imagined dimensions of language use that intersect with and govern our daily practices. In class, we've discussed the linguistic landscape of digital speech communities within Twitter and Yik Yak. We've also touched upon the very real ways in which we use words and multiple ways of speaking to connect in the classroom, in our homes, and in other settings, such as restaurants, libraries, coffeeshops, and Quaker meetings. 

Using our discussions as a foundation, I've guided students in my introductory course in sociolinguistics in methods in qualitative interviewing, field research, and visual anthropology, to enable them to conduct interviews and work collaboratively to compose videos on their original research. Their semester-long research culminated in new short videos for the #LanguageStory project, and exemplify another key component I value in research: Openness and adaptability. For many of these students, this was their first experience in soliciting interviews out in the field, and putting together a cohesive visual + digital story to detail their insights.

In the next few posts for the blog, I'll be featuring the collaborative written and visual composition of student teams from my class. I'm so very proud of their efforts. Their deeply reflective videos explore multiple, intersectional aspects of life in the Philadelphia area, and offer critical insights on:

• Gentrification & the Gayborhood
• Knitting as a community practice
• Communication in Quaker Meetings
• The role of mural arts in generating community
• Change in North Philadelphia
• Coffeeshop atmosphere
• Asianness and Chinese Cuisine

What I love most about these videos is how they illustrate the strong observational skills these students have developed over the semester, and are the shared vision of between 2 and 3 student researchers. I look forward to sharing their work here, and to the conversations and discussion I hope their work will generate. These discussions will carry the hallmark of #LanguageStory's purpose as a visual + digital project deeply rooted in engaged research, and the power and significance of language, from the learner's point of view.