Season 1
Back in Mainland China: Reflections on “Worth” + New Heritage Language Substack Series | Ep. 34
I recently went back to mainland China for the first time in 15 years. Not as a student. Not through the lens of my family. Just… as myself. This episode isn’t a travel blog recap. It’s a set of reflections on what's changed in the last decade and a half. The journey of embracing who I am , show...
Multilingual Kids. International Families. Intertwining Cultures. Everyday Life. (Jovana T) | Ep. 33
What does multilingual family life actually look like? In this episode, Michelle speaks with Jovana, host of the @realmomstalking podcast and Serbian mother living in Germany with her Cuban husband, about raising three children across four languages: Serbian, Spanish, German, and English. Their conv...
Intercultural Love Is Beautiful. It’s Also Work. (Inside Our Multilingual Marriage) | Ep. 32
In this bilingual Valentine’s episode, Michelle and Yann reflect on intercultural love inside their multilingual marriage. Through parallel responses in French and English, they explore how language, culture, and identity shape listening, conflict, boundaries, and emotional expression. They unpack t...
Between Two Cows – A Personal Conversation with the Unpaid Intern (Yann T.) | Ep. 31
What happens when we slow down and talk about language without shortcuts ? In this episode, Michelle is joined by Yann (yes, WeCultivate’s unpaid intern!) for a personal conversation recorded early in their journey of working together. They reflect on Yann’s experience growing up in France, learning...
Language Learning – More Compassion, Less Shame (Jonathan H.) | Ep. 30
In this episode, Michelle is joined by Jonathan H., an English teacher with over 25 years of experience teaching across countries, systems, and learning contexts. Their conversation explores how shame often enters language learning early through schooling and exams, and how it continues to shape adu...
Holiday Episode 2025 – Community Stories on Family, Language, and Culture | Ep. 29
Holiday Episode 2025 brings together community stories on family, language, and culture from across the WeCultivate community. Nine voices share reflections on navigating complex family dynamics shaped by culture, migration, language, and lived experience — offering honesty, nuance, and perspective ...
It’s Not the Language. It’s the Assumptions. (Martha S.) | Ep. 28
What if the hardest part of learning a language isn’t the grammar or practice, but the assumptions people make about you before you even speak? In this episode, Martha and I talk about how judgments around accent, identity, and personality shape the language journey far more than most of us realize....
At Home, An Outsider (Sonia M.) | Ep. 27
What does it mean to call a place home when that same place refuses to see you as one of its own? In this deeply personal conversation, Sonia — a Black Italian creative who grew up in Italy and spent years abroad — joins Michelle to unpack how identity and belonging collide when culture, language, a...
Tough on Yourself? That's Not Growth. (Trainer POV) | Ep. 26
Being self-aware doesn’t mean being self-critical. In this Trainer POV episode, Michelle breaks down why “being tough on yourself” isn’t the same as growth and how both language learners and multilingual professionals can shift from judgment to genuine awareness. Learn how to spot the difference bet...
Deep South Korean: Owning Voice, Facing History (April W.) | Ep. 25
In this episode of WeCultivate: The Pod , Michelle sits down with April , a Korean transracial adoptee and creator of Deep South Korean . Together, they explore what it means to own your voice —accent, story, and all—while unpacking the layered realities of growing up Asian in rural West Virginia. T...