In this first episode, I invited Ömer to talk about the difficulties of immigrants to learn the local language. What are the main problems and how do migrants overcome them? Can an immigrant blame themselves for failing to speak the language or can they blame the environment?

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The scientific papers used in this episode:

Gallup's study: https://web.archive.org/web/20140910194152/http://www.imi.ox.ac.uk/pdfs/the-worlds-potential-migrants

Oxford's study: https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Briefing-English-language-use-and-proficiency-1.pdf

American Community Survey: https://apps.urban.org/features/children-of-immigrants/

Bilingualism advantages: https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/10-benefits-bilingualism/

British Council: https://www.britishcouncil.org/contact/press/nearly-half-britons-find-second-language-attractive-potential-romantic-partner

Fouka, Germans: http://www.restud.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/MS25372manuscript.pdf

Berlin school: https://www.berliner-woche.de/charlottenburg/c-bildung/umstrittene-deutschpflicht-neue-diskussion-ueber-verbindliche-regeln-auf-schulhoefen_a112937#:~:text=In%20der%20Herbert%2DHoover%2DSchule,nur%20deutsch%20gesprochen%20werden%20soll.

Homophily bias: https://icproxy.sabanciuniv.edu:2071/science/article/pii/S0014292116300344

Migrant Integration Policy Index: https://www.mipex.eu/key-findings

Isphording - migration drives: https://wol.iza.org/uploads/articles/177/pdfs/what-drives-language-proficiency-of-immigrants.pdf

Critical period hypothesis: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/critical-period-hypothesis#:~:text=The%20critical%20period%20hypothesis%20says,it%20is%20not%20universally%20accepted.

Language and wage: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3590195