Linguist Julie Sedivy on losing first language Czech – and getting it back again

In the recently published Memory Speaks, the linguist Julie Sedivy explores the deep connections between language, memory, identity and migration. As well as drawing on science, the book is also something of a memoir. Sedivy’s own family left Czechoslovakia when she was just two and when they settled in Canada she gradually lost most of her Czech. However, as a “heritage language learner” she has managed to reconnect with her mother tongue in recent years. She spoke to me remotely from her home in Calgary.