Language supposedly has all these rules.

Most of us never have to think about those rules, but the hidden hand of language guides

nearly every interaction we have with other people, determining whether we connect, entertain,

confuse, insult, or dazzle the people we communicate with.

In Radio Lingo, the new podcast from Duo Lingo and Crooked Media, we explore how language

shapes our world and how our world shapes language.

I'm Amadella Yuckwer.

I'm an audio journalist and James Beard Award winning writer.

I am an awe-void language.

It's complexity and it's simplicity.

The way we can use it to create both distance and understanding.

I'm going to be your guide.

Join us as we take you on a linguistic journey.

From Crooked Media and Duo Lingo, this is Radio Lingo.

New episodes of Tuesdays on your favorite podcast apps.

It was November 2017, and 19-year-old Matina Razafimaifa was in her second year of university

in Paris.

Though she was studying in France, Matina is actually Malagasy or Malgache, which is

what people from the island of Malagascar are called.

In all their life, Matina had always loved school.

I loved going to school and learning.

I went to Malgache, I went to school in primary school in Malagascar, until I was 10.

...