Sathnam Sanghera: What Punjabi showed him about the English language

Sathnam Sanghera can remember pretending to speak English on his first day at school, lest he give away that he could only speak Punjabi. Today, he’s the prolific writer behind numerous works including Empireland, Empireworld, The Boy With The Top Knot and Marriage Material. In this episode of Word For Word, journalist Sophia Smith Galer speaks with the author and broadcaster about how language, empire, and migration intertwine. Sathnam reflects on growing up between Punjabi and English in Wolverhampton, and realising later in life how deeply empire shaped the language he writes in. They discuss the strange afterlives of languages in diaspora communities, why immigrant families often preserve “time capsule” versions of their mother tongues, and how Punjabi words have quietly entered everyday English. The conversation also explores the contradictions of empire: how English could be both a tool of domination and a global bridge between cultures. Sathnam’s forthcoming book on George Michael - Tonight The Music Seems So Loud - can be bought here: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/97810... You can order my book How To Kill A Language here: ⁠https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13258/97800... This is a Viralect original podcast created by Sophia Smith Galer. This episode was filmed by Omar Mehtab and Seren Jones was the Executive Producer. Head to ⁠www.viralect.com⁠ to find our services and tools, and if you’ve got an iPhone, download the Sophiana app and take advantage of your free month using the code WORDFORWORD. Chapters 00:00 – Growing up between Punjabi and English 05:30 – Diaspora languages and “time capsule” Punjabi 12:30 – Empire, English and borrowed words 25:00 – Accents, shame and linguistic identity 41:30 – Writing across cultures and curiosity 56:00 – Sophia’s language nerd quiz 01:02:00 – Why multilingualism enriches society