Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. One of the most fun things about

different languages are words and concepts that exist in one language, but not in the other. And what

that says about those different speakers. For example, the Indonesian word Tanggung, right, can

imply a concept of an awkward amount of something.

My mom would use it a lot to talk about when there's a weird amount of food left after a meal.

So, you know, like everyone's full, but there's not enough to say for leftovers tomorrow.

I'm not really sure we have a word for that in English or what that says about our respective

approaches to food. But anyway, that idea, the different attitudes inherent to languages,

is something that comes up in today's interview. It's with author Zhu Hei Kim. Her debut novel,

Beasts of a Little Land, is a big, ambitious one covering the history of Korea post-Japanese occupation.

And Kim told NPR's Alyssa Ndwarney about how knowing both English and Korean

helped her access different parts of her brain as a writer.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Author Juhay Kim says she had to learn to write twice.

The first was in Korean, her native language and the country of her birth.

She learned to write Korean at the age of two by looking over the shoulder of her older sister.

But when she moved to Portland, Oregon, at the age of nine, it was a different story.

I was dropped into this environment without any English.

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