Why does the Croatian spoken in diaspora families change, and who keeps it alive? These episodes by linguist Tihana Klepač, explain how heritage languages are lost at home, why a grandmother's Croatian did not stay frozen when she emigrated, and what diaspora learners are never told about Standard Croatian. The loss is nobody's fault, and family Croatian is not behind the times: it is an archive, leaving at the ordinary speed at which people leave.
The One Who Wouldn’t Switch
How Heritage Languages Are Lost at Home—And Who Saved Them
Nobody let Croatian go
Why your grandmother's Croatian did not stay frozen the day she left, and the science of a loss that turns out to be nobody's fault
Two Hundred Words for a Swamp
Your family's Croatian is not behind the times. It is an archive, and it is leaving at the ordinary speed at which people leave
Your Grandmother Had Two Croatians. You Only Inherited One
What diaspora learners are never told about Standard Croatian — and why it changes everything
The Price of Flour
What people brace themselves for when they send me a letter to translate, and what they actually receive