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Hello! My name is Susanna. I'm Richard.
And now you're going back to Sarajevo. What are you doing in Sarajevo?
We're in the airport in Poznan, Poland. We’ve been together in Poznan for 3 days speaking in many languages with Luca (Lampariello).
I live in California.
I am in Sarajevo for three weeks making a documentary film about a Bosnian Jewish man who,
during World War II, spoke in the ancient Judeo-Spanish language that has many names (Ladino, Spaniolit, Djudio).
He spoke in this language to communicate with an Italian soldier and an American pilot.
He was free during the war.
Because he could communicate with the American pilot and Italian soldier, he wasn't sent to the concentration camps.
He didn't go to the Jasenovac or Auschwitz concentration camps.
This is important to me because many people think that it's not important to be multilingual.
But in this film, we can see that being able to speak another language saved this boy's life in World War II.
It's important that we see how important it is to know other languages.
Maybe in 40-50 years, this language won't exist anymore because the majority of people who speak this language are over 50 years old.
I wrote my book, Language is Music, about how to learn foreign languages through songs.
Maybe there won't be any people who will speak Ladino, but we will still be able to hear this language in songs.
This is very important for our culture.
I haven't spoken in this language (Bosnian/Serbo-Croatian) for 11 years, so it's sort of hard for me to speak.
You're doing well. 22 00:02:53,866 --> 00:02:54,866 Thanks
How is life like now in Sarajevo? It's so different.
When I first came to Sarajevo 12 years ago, there were many NATO soldiers everywhere.
Now there are no foreign soldiers, just a few Bosnian ones. But there aren't many foreign soldiers.
But where in you're in the historic Ottoman section of the city, you see plenty of foreign tourists and tour buses.
There are signs everywhere for hostels and hotels.
When I lived in Sarajevo, there weren't any hostels.
I am very happy for Sarajevo that there are tourists in Sarajevo now.
It's such a beautiful city.
When I lived in Sarajevo, I used to go on long walks in the hills.
Sarajevo has a heart. It has a soul.
When you're in the historic part of the city, you feel the soul of the city.
Even the tourists who don't speak the language, can feel it.
Even though I haven't lived in Sarajevo for eleven years, it's still a part of my life.
I am very happy to be in Sarajevo and to see those tourists.
When I moved to Sarajevo 12 years ago, my family and people I knew in California,
They said "You're going to Sarajevo? There's a war there!".
Even though the war had been over since 1996 and I got there in 2000, four years after the war.
It seems like many people don't know how beautiful Sarajevo is.
They only think of the war.
People should know how beautiful Sarajevo is.
The Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo almost 30 years ago.
Thank you! Have a good trip! Bye!