The World in Words 82: The BBC broadcasts in Haitian Creole, and the fall and rise of Yiddish
Eleven days after Haiti’s earthquake, the BBC began daily radio broadcasts in Haitian Creole. We hear how the broadcasts kept Haitians abreast of the news and put them in touch with loved ones. Also, the past, present and future of Yiddish. Once spoken by millions in Europe, it was nearly wiped out in the Holocaust and through assimilation. Today it survives, and not only as the language that gave English klutz, kosher, kvetch and many other evocative expressions. Some older Jews in New York City and elsewhere still speak Yiddish while many younger Jews are pushing for a full-scale revival of the language. Part one of two.
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