Conversation with

Conversation with… ANNA SOBEL

Anna Sobel, director of Talking Hands Theatre, has developed PuppetSpeak, a video-based program that teaches languages through puppetry. Sobel envisions PuppetSpeak as a way to infuse remote education with “fresh energy, just as educators and parents are casting around for ways to keep kids engaged in learning one year from the start of the pandemic.”

The languages offered in the videos are Spanish, French, Hebrew, Hindi, and English, all languages that Sobel speaks.

She says the design is based on the latest developments in memory research, and begins with immersion in the language by watching a dramatic scene with no translation, after which the viewer repeats words or phrases while hearing and seeing what each word means.

To increase cultural awareness, the backgrounds for each set are actual photographs from the country one is learning about. Sobel says she developed the program as a response to the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

PuppetSpeak subscribers sign up and receive an access code that they can use to log in to the program on any device. Currently still building the program, Sobel emails subscribers the video of the week on Monday mornings. Soon she plans have the full program up on the site, so new subscribers will be able to log on any time and learn at their own pace.

Sobel lives in Shutesbury with her husband, musician and music producer Brian Bender and their two small children.

She recently filled the Mass. Jewish Ledger in on how she came up the idea of PuppetSpeak and how it helps teach children to become “citizens of the world who speak one another’s languages.”

JEWISH LEDGER: Tell me how and why you developed this program based on the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. What were you seeing and experiencing that made you want to do this?

ANNA SOBEL: The riots that day were so completely shocking, and such a wake-up call to the prevalence of racism and xenophobia. In the aftermath, as I saw close-ups of the flags and the t-shirts the rioters had as they desecrated the Capitol, I understood, too, how much antisemitism also played a part in the events that day. My wheels started spinning right away, thinking, what tools do I have that could stem the tide of hate in this country? My own anti-racism work since the killing of George Floyd last summer also played a part in which languages to include; I wanted to lift up languages spoken in countries with non-white majorities, such as Mexico and India. And including Hebrew seemed like the right thing to do to combat antisemitism -- I don’t know of a multilanguage program for children that offers Hebrew. The idea for a puppet language program had come to me just before New Year’s, and this seemed like the time to launch it.

JL: How long did it take you to develop this new program and who are your customers? AS: I started building the program immediately after that. It’s been kind of insane, since we have small children at home, so there have been a lot of late nights and long hours getting everything ready. The subscriptions are trickling in slowly, but the few I have are super enthusiastic. I love hearing from families that their kids are repeating the new words at dinner or re-enacting the scenes with their stuffed animals. I have several homeschool families

who built it into their routine, logging in three days a week, as I recommend, to review the week’s video. A couple of families are doing both Hebrew and Spanish. One family is doing the Hebrew program in preparation for a year they’ll spend in Israel. The preschool class at CBI’s Hebrew school is doing the program, as is the whole Hebrew school at Beit Ahavah.

JL: Why did teaching different languages become the focus? Is it about more than learning a language? AS: The main goal of the program is really to counteract the phenomenon of the ‘Ugly American,’ who has little understanding of other cultures and only speaks English when abroad. In addition to the language, I try to convey a sense of the culture by setting specific scenes in the appropriate place within the country. So a scene between two monsters in French takes place among the gargoyles at Notre Dame; in Hebrew it’s by the Dead Sea next to a creepy dead tree; in Spanish it’s in a graveyard; in Hindi it’s among sculptures of monsters guarding a temple; and in English it’s in an abandoned mine in Appalachia. Selecting the photographs is a whole other aspect of the program, which is so much fun for me as I revisit places I’ve traveled to, and it adds another dimension of fun and learning, especially during these COVID times when travel is so limited.

The other thing I should say it’s really about is humor! I have so much fun writing the episodes and making them super silly. After so many years doing shows for young children, I have a fair idea of what kids find funny. And the idea is to make you laugh so hard you’ll want to watch each video again and again, until, BINGO! you’ve learned all the words.

JL: Do you speak all of the languages that are being offered? Have you taught languages before? AS: I do, and others as well. I started with Latin in 6th grade, and that gives you a wonderful understanding of the structure of languages, and it turns out the more languages you learn, the easier it becomes. When I travel, it’s very important to me to learn the language and to stay long enough to get more than just a cursory feel for the place. Some of my longer visits include living in France for three months at age 15, in Israel for six months at age 19, and in India for a year at age 24. At times I’ve thought of working as a translator or a linguistics professor, but mostly I just really enjoy speaking languages with native speakers— and, not to brag here, but I especially love surprising people by speaking their native language without an American accent, which I think just comes from being a puppeteer and a student of accents and voices. It just flies in the face of what people think about Americans! In terms of teaching, I’ve mainly taught Hebrew, which I’ve done for many years, but I’ve performed puppet shows and theater shows in both French and Spanish since college, and was on a television show with puppets that was in Hindi when I lived

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