Jackie Reber (Senior Consultant at Lighthouse)

The first person I interviewed for my project was a Senior Consultant at Lighthouse (legal services in Seattle Washington), Jacqueline B. Reber. She was a linguistics major who speaks varying levels of Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, French, and English, she also did her dissertation on the concept of low resource languages with a focus on the Creole language. I chose to interview her because of a combination of her background in linguistics as well as her consultant work with different companies which I believe may help me find further subjects for my project. Being a Multi-lingual growing up in the US but having traveled to many different countries we are very similar in that regard so that then when talking about either the multilinguistic codeswitching and how that can effect the attention brought on a story, product, or brand, it was my thought that she may have already encountered said example, Even when not focusing on that aspect of my project I was sure that her background in linguistics, traveling and her many languages would allow an insight into the what others thought of the newly introduced apple live translation earwear.

The conversation began with a discussion and explanation of what my project was on I then asked her question on what exactly she does for her job. We then talked about the implications of the Apple translation earwear and Dr. Reber’s ideas on the limitations of such a device due to the sociolinguistic context and having to take that into account. What was most surprising is more on the fact that I had not thought more about the limitations of smaller companies in talking about comparing the cost of a translator vs the profit made from including the linguistic codeswitching in business or brand. She also brought in this brilliant point when I asked her about what would offset the benefits of translanguaging or codeswitching in brand advertising, to which she said, “I probably would. I mean, if you are reaching more people, like, I think the question is, are the people that we’re reaching by code switching, people that we would not reach by not codeswitching? Because Codeswitching usually implies that people speak both languages. And so if everybody speaks the one, then are you really increasing your reach by involving codeswitching or is that simply, explaining or inviting a different aspect of the, the like in-groupness, I guess, is what I’m kind of trying to say, like, are you actually reaching more people with the message broadly, or are you saying you guys in particular, come on in. And so, both of those varied factors, I think, have different economic outcomes.

New information that I gained from speaking with Jackie was information, when talking about the new apple air pods and the flaws that could be a factor. We spoke on what went into communication, due to how seldom we talk about how communication is made up of more than verbal language, and how other factors that go into consideration like your toning, how you stress different syllables, words, or even sounds. There is also the background. “I don’t think they have that level of background, context, knowledge, world building, that’s included. And so, I think there’s an opportunity for a lot of what goes into language to be lost because people, I don’t of languages just like other words I’m Saying.” This Information I am hoping to use as a more introductory aspect of my project, as well as a build on the flaws that could be seen in the new live translation ear-wear as well as the complexity of language. The information on the positives and negatives that could be associated with linguistic codeswitching in marketing was a point I had not further explored in my project thus far so this was eye opening and is a point I may have to further build upon and ask my other interviewees about as well.

Simon Hauschildt (Physiotherapy Praktikant)

I interviewed Simon Hauschild, a student, doing his practicum in a Physiotherapy firm, while also engaging in his social media influencer life which he began 6 years ago. The interview was conducted on Monday at 2:00 EST and 8:00 CET. I interviewed him because of both the work he has done building his social media image which he has and continues to use to get great opportunities working with Adidas Germany as well as forming his own connections to eventually, after the end of his practicum, having his own clients and then creating his own physiotherapy business. Our commonality is found through our mutual age and being soccer players that are of African decent and he lives in Bonn Germany, about an hour from where I used to live in Cologne. I hoped that by interviewing him that he would be able to aid me in not only seeing how someone with a high following platform has used it to garner attention on his future brand as well as other opportunities like that of working with Adidas Germany.

We talked about the policies that adidas has with the promotion of their products and how they use multilinguistic codeswitching in order to reach the largest amount of people. He talked about anglicism and how that is more easily able to garner the attention of the younger generation who finds it the use of English words and other languages as more interesting. Something interesting that Simon revealed to me over the zoom interview was when we were talking about the youth engagement in using slang in Germany and he stated, “ Ich merke dass in der jugendsprache immer mehr. Also klar, englisch war sowieso schon immer teil der jugendsprache. So worter wie {…} und kringe oder real oder for real, weil {…}. Das sind so sachen, die halt auch normal in der, {….} in der deutschen Jugendsprache. Aber tatsaechlich, was mir auch aufgefallen ist, dass ja vor allem auch arbische worter, die haeufig auch im islam fallen, mitterweile auch eine wichtigkeit in der deutchen sprache gefunden haben.” [I have noticed that in youth speak {slang} there is always more. I mean of course English was always a part of youth slang. So words like {….} and cringe or real or for real, because I know that those are things that are normal in the german language. But actually what I have began to notice is that before anything else, Arabic words which are found often in Islam are also mainly a important part of the German language.] This made me realize how closely one has to, even in the largest companies pay attention to the ever changing slang of the youth, and that in Germany it’s become even more normalized to linguistically code switch.

Tim Robathan (Senior Manager of Viator)

The third interview was with Tim Robathan, a manager of destination specialists Viator, a branch of Trip Advisor. I chose to interview him because I had heard about him from my mother and hearing that he worked for a large international company, I believed that there could be a lot of things I could learn from his company and how they market to the global audience. While working in a global company, Tim Robathan also loves to travel and has lived in multiple different countries.

The conversation began with us getting to know one another, background information, and then evolved to the introduction of my project, and how I hope for him to be able to aid in completing it. We then talked about how his company markets, and advertises, as well as communicates with those who come in for consulting or want to get the best experience that they can from their trips. New insights that surprised me were, “English is often the primary business language. But for a lot of conversations, it helps to have a native speaker. So, for example, we have an Italian speaker working with all the two operators in Italy.” As well as, “…but a big majority of the, products are displayed in Japanese language on the side, but if that particular tour operator perhaps is trying to target, say, US travels, then that will also have those products displayed in English, or they might have dual versions or multiple versions, depending on what the target market is.

Some added information that I gained while speaking with Robathan was on the marketing strategies and the connection that he has with those working in their marketing department. Although he held connections and knew of the data gathered from after the campaigns were put forth, he did not have the data himself, so I asked him to connect me to someone that would, to which he agreed and replied that he would search for some sources. All this information stemming from a global brand and company gives me great insight into a company that holds higher value and enough money to buy translators and multilinguals to then show me whether it is worth having multilingually codeswitched campaign material and advertisements.

Bangaly Camara (Influencer/ Entrepreneur

My second interview was with a Guinean American TikToker named Bangaly Camara, who I found during the research portion of my project. He is an entrepreneur who also likes to tell stories in Mandinka and English which I felt connected well with my Project, The way in which his perspective and lived experiences complement my own are that we are both Guinean, Americans and so we are connected through three languages, he lives in New York and is looking to create his own brand that connects his identities.

The conversation began with talking about our connection and my interest in his brand of storytelling. He then introduced himself and the work that he does, not only for his brand but his storytelling as well. I then gave him some suggestions on how he could further spread his stories and then through also his brand. Some new insights I got from our conversation was on the starting of a new brand and business from scratch, and so then what work and what doesn’t at the start of one’s brand, “So I did that and the marketing just fell flat because I was pandering to Hooper audience that I didn’t care about, you know what I’m saying? That’s why I say, you always gotta find, you gotta find a true/ the truest link because, it flopped here. But when I went to Africa, I was in Guinea this past year, I was selling a couple of them over there.” It was a great insight into a smaller brand and how he is learning the ropes on his own and learning from the mistakes and shortcomings.

Some new information that I gained from speaking with Bangaly was that although he does not innately focus on the statistical data of the attention he garners from either speaking solely, in Malinke, English or a combination, he does see that, “But I have notices that the videos that state off with Malike, like with me, with the speaking Malinke, those are the videos that tend to grab attention rather than just speaking straight up.” This will inform the future of my project because by following Bangaly’s progress with this trend and using its stories to tell the story of its products we can more simply see in real time how my project comes into play in the world of marketing. I also received confirmation from him that if I need a skit from him later on that I want to use for my project, once I have a clear idea, he would be more than happy to help me with it, so that makes a great connection.