15 Min Language Story | Norah Jones

One Word, One Vowel, One Big Lesson About Language

A Trip Back to Her Father’s Roots

At fifteen, Norah traveled for the first time to what was then Yugoslavia (modern-day Croatia), the homeland of her father, a refugee immigrant who had fled during World War II. Although she grew up hearing Croatian songs and phrases around the house, she didn’t speak the language — and she was painfully shy.

While visiting the city of Split with her parents, Norah decided to do something brave: go shopping alone to find an anniversary gift for them. Armed with a single memorized phrase in Croatian — “I’m only looking” — she stepped into shop after shop, hoping it would help her navigate the experience safely.

And it worked.
Sort of.

When One Vowel Changes Everything

Each time a shopkeeper approached her speaking rapid Croatian, Norah stood a little taller and confidently said the phrase she had practiced. Each time, the shopkeeper froze… and backed away.

She thought they were impressed — or surprised — that an American teenager was speaking Croatian.

That evening, when she proudly told her father about her success, he listened carefully and then gently corrected her.

What she meant to say was “Ja samo gledam” — I’m only looking.

What she had actually been saying was “Ja samo gladam” — I’m only hungering (and alas, the implication in meaning of the structure of that short sentence, grammatically….)

One vowel.
A completely different — and, ahem, suggestive — meaning.
And suddenly, the shopkeepers’ reactions made a lot more sense.

What Language Really Does

Norah didn’t die of embarrassment.
No one laughed at her.
No one treated her badly.

Instead, people recognized that she was trying.

That experience became a turning point — not just in how she viewed language, but in how she understood people. She went on to learn more Croatian, connect deeply with her family’s history, and eventually devote her life to teaching and advocating for language learning.

Her takeaway is simple, powerful, and deeply human:

Language is designed to connect people.
It’s not about getting every word right — it’s about caring enough to try.

An Invitation to Be Brave

Later, as a teacher, Norah found joy in her students’ mistakes — not because they were wrong, but because they meant students were pushing past fear, building courage, and connecting with others.

Language, she reminds us, is not a test you pass or fail.
It’s a bridge.

So here’s the question she leaves us with:

What’s your linguistic embarrassment moment?
And if you haven’t had one yet — maybe it’s time to go make one.

You might be surprised by how much you grow.

Transcript

Norah Jones (00:05)

Hi, I’m Nora Jones. I am the creator and host of the podcast, It’s About Language with Nora Jones. And I want to tell you my 15-minute language story today. It’s based on the fact that my dad is a refugee immigrant from Croatia, originally Yugoslavia. And when he arrived in the United States and got acclimated and learned English and got married, and then my mom and dad had me,

he didn’t teach me the language, but he kept sitting downstairs and singing Croatian songs and he would use little phrases every once in a while and I just, I my dad was from this place that I had never had a chance to be in before. And as a matter of fact, what happened was that we would take some time off on vacations in the summers and stuff like that and we would go maybe to the beach if we could afford it or play in the backyard or…

But one summer I said to my dad, why don’t we go see my grandmother? Because my grandmother and my cousins still lived in Yugoslavia.

Croatia was in the country of Yugoslavia at the time. My dad said, my gosh, that’s a phenomenal idea. So we did. At age 15, for the first time, I got a chance to go to Yugoslavia so I could meet my grandmother, my cousins, my uncle. It was phenomenal. But there’s something you needed to know about this 15-year-old. Not only did I not know the language,

I was extremely shy. I didn’t like being around people. I didn’t like walking in front of people. I didn’t like talking to people unless I knew them. I was extremely shy. That’s a good thing to keep in mind for the next part of the story. We went to a city north of my dad’s town or village, the city of Split. Maybe you visited it.

In the city of Split, there was lots to do, lots of things to see, and it happened to be my parents’ anniversary. Well, they decided that they were going to have a nice dinner that night, and of course I would be there too as their daughter, and I decided that I was going to go and buy a gift in the city of Split all by myself, even though I was shy, and even though I didn’t know the language.

But I decided that I would practice the phrase in Croatian for I’m only looking. I figured that that way anybody in the shop would leave me alone and I could just look for myself and be safe. So I practiced it. Practice the phrase I’m only looking.

That afternoon, I said to my parents, I’ll be back in a little while. And I went into the city of Split and I went to a shop that had some items that I thought might be of interest to purchase from my parents. I walked in. Sure enough, this man came from the back. He starts talking Croatian and I don’t understand Croatian, but I had memorized I’m only looking. So I stood up just a little bit taller and I looked at him and I said in Croatian, I’m only looking.

And he stopped.

His eyes flew up a little bit and he backed up. He left me alone. It worked! I was so excited. My Croatian phrase worked. There was hope.

So I looked around the shop and I didn’t see something I wanted for my parents. So I left that shop and I went to another shop nearby that had items that I thought might be of interest. I walked in and just a little more fortified this time.

Sure enough, the man came from the back, speaking rapid Croatian, and I stood just a little taller and said with just a little bit more confidence, I’m only looking.

He too, surprised, moved back a little bit, left me alone. Just like with the first man that came out, I thought, you know, I clearly look like an American, I have an American accent, and yet I’m speaking Croatian, so they’re probably surprised. But the most important thing was that he left me alone. So I looked around the shop and I didn’t find anything there. I went to two more shops and the exact same thing happened. Walked in.

Here comes the man out to help me, speaking things I don’t understand. I say I’m only looking. He leaves me alone. how my confidence was building. Fifth store I go in and this time after having done those preliminaries, I found what I was looking for for my parents. I gestured how to get it all wrapped up and it was wrapped up.

That evening, my parents were at dinner and I joined them, of course. As we were eating, I said, happy anniversary and here’s a gift. Well, they were both totally surprised at the gift and delighted, but my father in particular was really amazed because here his daughter had gone shopping in a strange town without knowing the language.

So he said, well, how did you do it? I said, well, I practiced the phrase, I’m only looking, and I went into each of the shops and that way they left me alone and I could look around. And after a while I found what I was looking for. And my dad said, that’s powerful. That’s awesome. That’s extremely cool. All right, so, but what I want to do is want to hear what you were saying.

And he closed his eyes, I can still see it. He closed his eyes and leaned back like he wanted to hear his daughter finally saying some words in Croatian.

now, before I say what I said, some of you listening to this 15 minute story may in fact know Croatian. If you do, I ask you to be merciful at this moment, okay? I’ll also ask you to realize that the implications that I’m going to share are among…

various implications, but these were the ones that especially concerned my father at the moment. Okay, for those of you that don’t know Croatian, here we come.

So what was I saying in Croatian? I said, well, when I walked in the store, I ja samo glada.

Well, my dad’s eyes went up.

My dad backed up a little bit even though he was sitting in a chair.

My dad got an interesting look on his face.

⁓ I thought. And my dad said, well.

In order to say I’m only looking in Croatian, you would say, Ja samo gledam.

Ja samo gledam.

what I had been saying was yesamo gladam. Not gladam, but gladam.

Я самоглядам means I’m only looking, but я самогладам means I’m only hungering.

Not the healthiest thing for a 15-year-old young woman to be saying when entering into stores by herself.

Now I know why they were backing up. And I’m grateful they were.

Now I know how one syllable sound, one vowel sound in this case, can change the meaning of something completely. Doesn’t sound like much when you’re first learning a language, but it means everything to the people that know it. And here’s something else I learned.

I didn’t die of linguistic embarrassment. I didn’t die.

There were good people that were in that store and they knew that I was trying to communicate.

They could tell that I was nervous. They could tell that I was shy because they were good people in the city of Split in Yugoslavia when I was 15.

Ya samo gledam.

I learned that phrase perfectly. As a matter of fact, I have here a little trophy crystal my father had made for me where I had my name and then the incorrect phrase, in quotes, for me to remember forever.

I went on to learn enough Croatian that I could enjoy my family. I went on to learn enough Croatian that I could learn the stories of my grandmother, my uncle, my cousins, the history of my dad’s country from which he had to flee during World War II. I learned enough from the experience to recognize that

Language is designed to connect people. It’s not the exact words, although it’s helpful if you know them. It is rather that you’re trying, that you are seen as wanting to connect, that you are seen as caring. Caring enough to go shopping, caring enough to talk to the proprietor, caring enough to be there as a family member.

Language knits people together. And that’s one reason why after that experience and really realizing I could live through it, that I continue to take languages because I personally find them to be a lot of fun. I find them to be like a game. I find them to be a connection, certainly with

cultures, but I’m especially fascinated just by the sounds and the ways that languages go together. But whether or not you have that kind of interest in language like I did, just language is pure thing, knowing that language is about connecting to people makes all the difference in the world.

After that, I stumbled into education as I’ve described on a podcast where I was interviewed by Stephen Sacco. But

When I had students in my classroom, what I enjoyed doing was listening to their mistakes, enjoying their learning, rejoicing when they pushed on through their concern and making sure that they were connecting up with people, connecting up with themselves, with their own courage, with their own way of pushing through their shyness.

their own way of pushing through their personal fears about themselves and about others. And that’s what language does. I found out there are great people around the world and I found out that language brings us together. And then I taught hundreds and hundreds of students the same thing and they still tell me so. So think about it. What’s your linguistic embarrassment moment? Or if you haven’t had one yet,

Please go out and make one happen. You’ll be glad you did. You’ll see how you grow.

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