What it costs to pass down a language
This Is Uncomfortable
Marketplace
4.6 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2026
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Author and journalist Aymann Ismail wants his kids to grow up with a real connection to their Egyptian roots, including speaking Arabic. For his family, that means committing to a private Islamic school -- and figuring out how to afford tuition.
Reema sits down with Aymann as he walks through his family budget and the financial trade-offs that decision requires. They talk about what’s at stake for him, financially and culturally, and why holding onto Arabic feels especially urgent right now.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's easy to know you want to make a change in your life, but it is hard to actually do it. |
| 0:05.4 | How to Be a Better Human from TED is a podcast for when self-help feels too daunting or just not for you. |
| 0:10.8 | I'm Chris Duffy, the host of How to Be a Better Human, and trust me, I do not have it all figured out. |
| 0:15.1 | But join me as I talk to experts about actually attainable ways we can try to improve our lives. |
| 0:22.0 | Whether it's facing fears, |
| 0:27.1 | setting boundaries, cleaning your house, or all sorts of other topics. Find how to be a better human wherever you get your podcasts. I won't get another chance to help them learn Arabic |
| 0:34.6 | for the sake of them be connected to this massive heritage that they're |
| 0:38.6 | inheriting. So in that context, it has to happen now. And if you're going to ask me, |
| 0:44.4 | how important is it that they get that connection? I'm going to tell you it's everything. |
| 0:50.5 | I'm Rieh Makhreis, and welcome to This Is Uncomfortable. Like a lot of kids of immigrants, I grew up with parents who tried really hard to hold on to our culture. |
| 1:00.0 | Like every Sunday, they drove me and my siblings to Islamic school, and every summer they could afford it, they'd send us abroad to be with family to learn Arabic. |
| 1:09.0 | While I'm not a parent yet, I do think a lot about what kind of things I'd want to pass on |
| 1:13.9 | someday and what it would take to actually do that, not just emotionally, but financially. |
| 1:19.2 | Which is what I'm talking about this week with journalist Aman Ismail. |
| 1:23.5 | Amon is a writer and podcast host at Slate, where he reports on politics, religion, and parenting. |
| 1:29.0 | He also came out with a memoir recently called Becoming Baba, which is about how he navigates |
| 1:33.5 | identity and fatherhood as a Muslim American. |
| 1:36.6 | Aman and his wife have two small kids, and recently they've decided that it's really important |
| 1:41.6 | that they send them to Islamic school, even though it's going to cost them a lot more than they'd like. Amen agreed to sit down with me and walk through |
| 1:49.4 | his family budget, line item by line item, and talk openly about what it costs emotionally and |
| 1:54.8 | financially to hold on to a sense of belonging right now. Amen, welcome to the show. Hi, Rima. Wow, what an intro. You must do this |
| 2:05.0 | for a living or something. I'm excited to talk with you, especially because we come from similar |
... |
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