Taly Levinsky: A Linguistics Student of Many Tongues and Many Talents

Name: Taly Levinsky

Major: Linguistics (third-year)

Hometown: Nazareth Illit, Israel

Hobbies: Car sing-a-longs, adventures and clogging her arteries with mac and cheese bites Hidden talents: Painting, piano and the cha-cha

Likes: Warm walks on the beach and cold bananas Dislikes: Cold walks on the beach and warm bananas

What got you into linguistics?

Initially what got me started was my ability to speak three languages, and I wanted to use that to my advantage at some point in my life. When I got into linguistics, I really didn’t think I’d have to learn things like phonology and syntax ‘cause I thought “Oh I speak three languages, I’ll do this no problem! I can fake a French accent!” And then, it turns out, it was a lot harder than that.

So you don’t have a career goal in mind upon completing your degree in linguistics?

I do, because I googled things that I could do with a linguistics degree and, thankfully, I found speech-language pathology. No, what got me interested in that field was actually my brother. My brother is six years old and has a disability where he can’t talk very well and he requires extensive speech therapy. It is something that is directly coming from my family and it influenced my decision to study it, knowing that I want to help him in the future.

Now you speak three languages; English, Russian and Hebrew. Does your brother also speak those languages?

Yes, actually. He started off with Russian, because that is what we primarily speak at home. When we vacation to Israel, we switch to Hebrew because we’re trying to assimilate to our surroundings. But he speaks English at school and we just mix the three languages at home. So say in a single phrase, we could have all three languages mixed.

Do you remember it being difficult learning your second and third languages?

I don’t remember learning Hebrew because I was only about four. When I actually moved here to Canada when I was seven, I had no knowledge of English other than “hello” and “my name is…”. Whenever someone would ask me a question in English and I didn’t know what they were saying, I would say “I don’t know what you said, but my dad knows”. In order for them to get answer, I would just divert them to my dad to answer for me. But once I started school, I learned English pretty quickly.

Do you remember much about your transition to Canada, other than the language aspect?

I remember it was very hard. It was very difficult to leave my friends behind. I would ask if we were ever going back, and the answer would be “I don’t know, probably not. We don’t know”. It was kind of like going into outer space. I didn’t know what Canada was, I didn’t even know what continents were.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favourite car sing-a-long song?

A Whole New World

Dream vacation destination?

Bali

Favourite midnight snack?

Nesquik cereal, and probably about five bowls of it followed by three grilled cheese sandwiches with avocado and bacon. Now I’m hungry.

I hear you’re always up for midnight food runs, what are some of your favourite places?

Ok so, I like Rocko’s (in Mission) because clogged arteries are actually my passion. I like Naam (in Kitsilano) because it makes me feel good about myself that I’m eating healthy stuff. Probably also pizza, because it’s a really feel-good food and it’s something that you can eat on the go, in the bed, on the bus, while you’re walking your dog. It’s a very versatile food.