April 24, 2026 • 36 mins
In this Season 3 episode of Teach Me Something, hosts DJ Prostyle and Penny Dellas sit down with Professor Lisa Karakas, a beloved Berkeley College faculty member who has spent more than 30 years teaching English and Media Communications.
With a passion for helping students find their voice, Lisa has dedicated her career to strengthening the skills that shape communication: writing, reading, speaking, research, and now AI literacy. Her work bridges traditional English studies with the evolving world of media and digital storytelling.
From classroom lessons to career preparation, Lisa shares how language, curiosity, and creativity remain at the heart of every successful communicator. She also reflects on her own journey—from studying English and TESOL to inspiring generations of students at Berkeley College.
Outside the classroom, Lisa is a nature photographer, violinist, roller-coaster enthusiast, and science fiction lover, bringing the same sense of curiosity and adventure to her teaching that she brings to life.
🎧 This episode explores how the power of words can shape careers, build confidence, and open doors across every industry.
🎧 New episodes every Wednesday!
Be sure to subscribe, share, and leave a review if you enjoy the show!
📺 Watch full episodes on the @1035KTU YouTube
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@djprostyle | @pennydellas
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's up. This is DJ pro Style and this
is Penny tell Us and this is teach Me Something.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Brought to you by Berkeley College.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
And we are back. Hello. This is teach Me Something
where experience meets elevation.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I am DJ pro Style and I am Penny tell Us.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Are you ready, Penny?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm ready. I feel like it's been forever in a day.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It has a day because we are in season three.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Season three, Ladies, Penny, Today, I have to focus. Okay, yes,
I can't say, I can't say, we can't stutter on
any words.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Feedback from the audience has been they just want to
get filtered us.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah, they level no, but today's guests is today's guest.
He's going to point out our crutch words. She is,
our brain farts, she is.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And you know what, after the feedback that we received
from our in studio live episode to launch.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
This season, we need to let go, let go, let go.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Just let go and has the has the I mean,
we'll talk about it later, but hopefully some of the
inspirational words of you finding a man during the live
episode helped out. All Right, we'll get an update soon.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
We'll get up that yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Now let's get in Today's all right, let's get into
it because we are so excited. So this podcast came
up because of a program that we have at Berkeley
College media Communications, and it is such an honor to
have one of our professors that teaches media communications and
is on the development committee for the program here with
(01:39):
us today. Lisa here, Hello, Hello, Hello, I'm so happy
to be here, very excited.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Are you ready? You see the kind of energy we have, right.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I am so ready.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
We are so loud.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
We were hanging out on the lobby before this, so
she kind of you know.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
I got the feel for it.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
It's a lot of brotherly love. Love sometimes is subjective, true,
and you should that.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I could do a PhD dissertation on that.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Right, But Lisa, you have thirty plus years in academia, yes,
and very long side of academia.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You take beautiful portraits.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Oh, thank you, Yes, team.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I follow her on socials and it's just inspiring, the
nature photography that you do. It's just it's the power
of storytelling. Right. We do an absolutely and branding and
you do it through photography and literature.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
You have this y Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I observe.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
The pandemic really got me into that a lot because
it was so quiet here in Manhattan, and I was
able to walk and really listen, and I realized just
how much there is here that usually goes unnoticed so much.
So much we just kind of go through our lives
and we don't realize just the ecosystem that exists around us.
(02:59):
So the pandemic open my eyes to that, so and
I bring that into my classes too, So that's fun.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's there's a photograph that you took of a bee pollen.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, and you see the bee like its full body
so detailed, and for me, my whole life because I'm allergic,
ill feared them, of course. And then I was able
to see that photograph and see it in a different lighting,
so changing perspective to.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Get a little nervous.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
No, that's nice.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Actually had a calming effect on you, it did, that's good.
I used my macro lenses for those.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I probably like the winter then, because there's no like bugs.
You don't like the winter.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's so sad and gloomy.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well, it's been like this winter. Let's hurry, this has
been at least now it's warming up right, So it
is HM.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So let's warm up to the notion of how you
got into higher education.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Oh well, both my parents were teachers. A lot of
my family members are teachers, and when I was young,
in addition to photography and teaching, I'm also a musician.
I played the violin. I've been playing since I was young.
I performed a lot in chamber groups and orchestras, and
there were a lot of international people there in you know,
(04:13):
a lot of the violinists along with me were from
other countries. They didn't always understand what the conductor was saying,
so they would ask me. They would say, Lisa, what
did he just say?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
What was that?
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I didn't get it? So I was always explaining to
them what the conductor had just said. And sometimes the
conductor would look and I'd say, I'm just explaining. So
I realized I'd love to help people with English. I've
always loved reading, and yeah, I've been a voracious reader.
I still am. And since I enjoy doing this, just naturally,
(04:47):
I realized I can make a career out of it.
And I was very excited to learn that I can
make a career out of teaching international people. How to
speak English and improve their speaking skills, and then that
kind of branched off into teaching at Berkeley. So it's been,
you know, a long road, but I just so much
fun for me. Every day I go up in front
(05:08):
of people. I love it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah, after thirty something years, I still enjoy what I do.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I'm very fortunate, beautiful. Well it's passionate purpose.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, well this is great because I definitely want to
learn how to speak English. You seem to be.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
So far, so good.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I should be bilingual. It's funny. I am. I am bilingual.
We'll talk about that. The languages.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, should be try.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, I try, try, try, try. Work out for me.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
That's a good one.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I grew up in a household where you know, my
mom is Greek, my dad's Dominican, right, so my mom
was like they're going to learn Greek, and my dads
like they're going to learn Spanish. And then I didn't
learn it either.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Oh it's funny because they didn't switch back and forth
when you were young like they did.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
And that's I think, Well a couple of things. My
sister learned it. I didn't. I guess my mind, you know,
my mind wandered off and I was like, yeah, yeah, whatever,
I'm just going to play with these toys over here.
But I will say I think that speaking another language
starts from home. But but they should only speak that
language at home, right where if you're speaking English else
at your home, it makes it harder to learn. Like
(06:18):
I found that, Like on the Spanish side, a lot
of kids they own their parents only spoke to them
in Spanish, right, Or even on the Greek side, like
my mom, you know, her parents only spoke to them
in Greek. Because you're going to learn English at school
and around and out and about, so at home you
should speak the language.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So it's like you're being immersed in it. It's it's
almost like immersion.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Because my wife speaks multiple languages. You were telling you
that it's a bunch of languages, and I'm like, oh,
our kids, you know, they still only speak one, but
they kind of get on, you know, and it's because
we speak English at home. But she blames it on me.
She's like, well, I can't speak If you can't speak the.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Only one, it's difficult.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
You have to stuff.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
My house was just chaos because, like my dad spoke
Greek and English, right, and then my mom was primarily
Spanish and then English, right, both immigrants to this country.
And but then my mom's dad it was Italian and Spanish,
(07:22):
and then my mom's mom was Portuguese. So we didn't understand. Yeah,
we did not understand that they were all different languages.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Well, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
We just would kind of intertwine. Incredible a sentence in Spanish.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
My brother could not differentiate language until like five or six,
but he carried the Greek and the English, and then
I was opposite. I carried Spanish English, and then we
kind of flipped at one point.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
That's incredible how the brain works, isn't it. Yeah, I
just tie them all together.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
And it's funny how you you actually know everything right,
So like I find it with myself if I travel
somewhere like I spent. I remember one time we spent
like three weeks in Dominican Republic, and my Spanish was
a one because we were staying somewhere where they only spoke,
so course there wasn't an option.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
It's interesting, yes.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Crazy, how good I can speak. And I came home
and I was like, I can't say anything an Yeah,
we spent We stayed in when I was like ten,
We stood in Greece up in the mountains for like
a month the whole summer, so almost like a month
and a half and literally like you couldn't say one
word in English. They didn't understand anything. Wow, I had
to learn, and.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
We learned how you were thrown right into it.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So that's still in the backyard. So I understand all
the languages. I think mentally, as you get older, you're
so self conscious of saying something wrong that the.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Fear of making mistakes. That's something I tried to instill
in my students, and that can actually piggyback into the
whole a I roam because I try to tell my
students that making mistakes is okay. It's a safe space
to do that, and that's how people learn, yes, and
that's why some people tend to turn to AI to get,
you know, to submit this polished, almost artificial sounding writing
(09:16):
because they're afraid of making mistakes. I really instill in
them that it's okay, and I love giving feedback and
then they feel more comfortable and then I get their
own voice and their own writing, and it's wonderful. Makes
me happy.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah, yeah, I could totally see that being the case.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Because you chat GBT everything.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
No, no, it's no, it's a totally different what she's saying.
So I could use a different example, and I use
it with my wife all the time, and so like
we go to the same places all the time, and
she'll still put on navigation to get there and I'm
like that you don't know how to get here yet,
and I always tell her, don't use it, and then
(09:57):
so like I find myself. Basically, what I'm trying to
say is for me to learn how to get from
point A to B, I won't use navigation.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
So you can input that because the day I do.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
It wrong, after I do it wrong one time and
I fix that mistake, like you're saying now now I
know it forever. I don't need navigation every time. You
never learn. So it's the same concept. I get it.
Oh absolutely, just start blurring out multiple languages and if
I say it wrong, it is what.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It is, It is what it is. What language do
you dream in?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I was just about to ask podcasts going in a
completely different direction, but it's all media communications.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
What do we dream in?
Speaker 4 (10:33):
For me? English? Well, but the two of you know
so many languages. What languages do you dream in?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
They say that, like your primary is what you dream in,
and by day I mean studies.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
English. Okay, what about you?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I dream in all three. It depends what I'm dreaming.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Like I have dreams with my dad and we'll be
speaking English and then I'll go to Greek.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
That's incredible. Yeah, that really is do either you're reading music,
I don't. That's another language.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
That is a completely that's another language.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
So if you read music, I never thought about that,
it's a language.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
My son is on the same kind of level. Like
he's reminds when you were talking, like because he plays
the violin, he plays the piano, He studies, he studies languages.
He's like all into reading.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
He's creative, creative.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
To bring on, we.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Spoke about this, he would baby, Yeah, he'll come on
here for his book. How old is he writes books?
He's nine, He's wrote he wrote already two books.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Like he's very right brain.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Is that what it is? He's right?
Speaker 5 (11:40):
So memory, the left brain.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Is so much research on the right brain very analytical.
The left brain, I think, and then the right brain
is the more creative side, and.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
He happens when you're in the middle.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
That's the best of both worlds. I already know that.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
But going back, you know, I mean, you're strengthening our
minds as you're sitting here, which is awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This is like a class, guys, it's open.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
You know, we're auditing a class. But you've helped students
strengthen their writing, their speaking, their research and communication skills.
Why are these skills still so critical in today's media
driven world?
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Whether they're the bedrock for everything. We need to have
a strong foundation in those skills and then use technology
to enhance what we already have, not to substitute for it.
So we need to be able to write a coherent
sentence or express our thoughts without a bot helping us out.
(12:42):
We need to be able to code switch when we speak,
so we can be more casual if we're talking, for example,
to a group of high schoolers, and be more formal
if we're presenting to a group of board members for
a corporation. We need to be able to do that.
From what I always like to say, the best bot
of all, which is up here our brain. Nothing can
(13:05):
even come close to what's up here. So if we
learn those skills, and it's getting harder to get people
to learn them now, it's becoming more of a challenge,
but it's still doable. You learn those skills, you can
flourish and just do anything. And I firmly believe that,
and that's what I teach in my classes, whether it's
my on site classes or my online classes. And I
(13:28):
kind of tweak things as we go along. When the
students are speaking, if they use, for example, a double
negative in a professional speech, I'll tell them about it afterwards,
try to open up their eyes to that and say, well,
when we have to use professional English, we don't want
to do that. If they use a lot of fillers
what did you call them?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Oh, like those.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Right brain farts. So those those extra little.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Things that if we use them we want to.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It would be like a or something.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Like like like if I could be a multi billionaire,
if I got a nickel or even a dollar or
a penny for every time I heard, Like.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
When I took public speaking at Berkeley, Professor Cowen was
my pence, and they would mark up how many times
we use the fillers. We would have the head of
our censor of academic success come in and judge us.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Oh wow, it's almost like toast masters.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
They do, yes, and they would count the fillers.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Wow, we talked about that, Yes we did so, yep,
I did the same. So in my earlier days on
radio when they would air check all the time, I
remember sitting down someone and they were like, hey, so look,
this is obviously this word and I want to say
it was or something or maybe it was like like
or something like that. They're like, this is your crutch word.
And we went and he we counted how many times, like,
(14:49):
oh my god, like in one talk break, I'm saying
it like eight times in this hour?
Speaker 5 (14:53):
What hour?
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You said it like forty five times? And they're like,
let's work on that. So then I started and then
we'd go back and count and and you start thinking.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Like and they decreased.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
They decreased because once you know exactly, you know, now
you're trying to talk correctly without saying anything like that
like the you know what I mean, you know what.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
I'm saying all those type of things.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Those fellers lot on this podcast, you say, yeah, editing,
that's the agreement.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I remember being younger and people will always say right,
I remember that. How would I know you keep saying.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Right and.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Delightful New York accent?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, still says I.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
We love that word.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
I don't hear it that much anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Oh, Alexander, as someone who teaches within the media communications program,
how have you seen careers in media evolve? Oh wow
over the past few decades. I mean it has transcended,
It really has.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Back in medieval times when I started teaching, cell phones
weren't even out yet, so media we automatically thought about
the anchors on TV or the newscasters on the radio,
and that was pretty much it. The folks who sat
and wrote and printed out the New York Times and
other publications. And then came cell phones and things got
(16:28):
quicker and faster. But when things really rocketed up was
when the Internet came out, and that became oh wow,
that changed the whole landscape. Everything became instantaneous, and of
course they started putting more satellites up into orbit to
deal with all this technology. And then once the smartphones
(16:48):
came along, where you had a whole recording studio right
in your hand. I mean, that's when social media started
taking off. And I mean I remember when my Space
first started. That's might speak. I think I still have
a defunct account somewhere in my space.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
And people knew what it meant when you were either
that top eight or not.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Yes, that's right exactly. So once that happened, you know,
we became more and more connected, and then people started,
you know, they started incorporating likes and dislikes, and we
started getting followers, and then it became almost I guess
we can say glorified ego hit in a way. I
(17:32):
know it appeals to our egos and our sense of
wanting to be out there and validated. And then we
just and then came the whole thing with the becoming
content creators. And it's just it's accelerating rapidly. Some of
my students, they are so advanced and they have so
many different accounts, they have so many different ways they
(17:53):
get themselves out there these days, and it's pretty incredible.
But I always tell them they still need the educational
foundation to be really taken seriously and to learn all
the skills that go into doing that effectively. Yeah, that's
how I've seen things evolve.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And talking about evolving and talking about technology, with technology
rapidly changing, how we communicate. You've recently incorporated AI literacy
into your teaching, So how do you see AI shaping
the future of communication and education.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Well, I see it being able to polish us up,
to help us streamline our thinking, to help us organize
our thoughts. But again, like I said earlier, we should
not use it to replace our voices and our humanity,
and I.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
See in our brains exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Yes, I see it going in that direction a little bit,
and it makes me a little bit worried. So we
still have to I mean, I use it as a
supplement to enhance my coursework. I work with instructional and
designers at Berkeley and we figure out and there's also
a great AI committee at Berkeley that works on this
and we do talk about it a lot. But in
(19:02):
terms of relying solely on AI, not really the way
to go. So it involves a lot of reflection on
our own thought processes as we use AI in conjunction
with our own thoughts.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, that's being in school young like, and this is
obviously before like you're saying, the cell phones took off
and there being the Internet with Google and ways to
answer everything you possibly could think of right online. I
remember when just a calculator was Remember those days and
it was so looked at as frowned upon, like you're
not allowed to bring a calculator. Yes, if you're.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Doing technology, that's right the advance.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Forget how to do math.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Calculator was the type of thing you learn how to
do math, and now forget that.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
To memorize those tables, I remember those days. Use your
fingers and we used.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
To have little cheat sheets sometimes too.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I learned how to infractions.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I still do that on my kids. I make sure
that no, no, no, I just make sure that they still
take out a pad and they write down everything excellent
when they're doing all My kids are really good at math,
and they just break down all. You know, I want
to see how they got the answer. And that's always
made sure, you know, what's interest making sure they want
to see.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
How you have to show the work you do got
the answer behind.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
That's right, And that's it's rebounding back to kind of
rocking it old school in a way. Since there's so
much technology out there now, a lot of professors and
and also teachers, I know that they don't allow cell
phones and whatnot in elementary and high school all that.
But in college, we're telling folks to put the devices away.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Here's a pen and paper.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
They say, oh, can I have a pen because nobody
carries pens anymore.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
So here's a pen, here's some paper.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Let's get our thoughts down from here to.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
There, back to analog, back to analog.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
And I love seeing their handwriting because everything's typed. I
love seeing people's personalities.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
And not many of them no scripts.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
When I'm teaching and I'm writing on the board, I
write in script. I don't write just in print. And
someone raised their hand in class and asked, miss b
what language is that? Are you writing in Greek? I
said no, I thought they were punking me. I was
(21:21):
waiting for like Ashton Kutcher and now we're aging ourselves
and like where's the cameras? But no, they didn't know
what script was. So no, they're not I heard that.
That is not obligatory. They're not teaching it anymore.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It's teaching.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
It's very sad, right, So when they sign their names
it's print. Wow, So not everyone, but you know there
are some that do know script.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
And it's kind of becoming a lost art.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Two different things, right, But yeah, that's interesting that they
we should be bringing.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
You know, life tools back, like how to me?
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I think we are going to bring my Sondy here
for an episode and really like what are they like?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (22:06):
Remember that show Are you Smarter than?
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Like?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Let's are we smarter than Baby Pro?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
He's definitely the wrong one to pick.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
To go, but it's a segment.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
He's gonna make us look terrible. At least please I
can come back.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
And we can bring Baby Pro and and really see.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
He answers them like whatever, Oh cool.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
We can bring in a keyboard. That would be so cool.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Oh, that's so fun.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
It's interesting how dependent on technology we have become. Oh yes,
as a society at least you know, in the first world, right,
because it's not a global m HM circumstance. But it's
definitely interesting when our phone dies and it's what are.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We going to do? Are we going to call? What number?
Did I memorize?
Speaker 4 (22:52):
I don't know where to go without a mask or
even their own phone numbers. People are starting to forget
like my phone numbers because we don't say it very often.
It's in our phones, you know. And another thing I
try to work on in all my classes not only
public speaking is eye contact and active listening. These are
skills that are becoming rare and precious these days. And
(23:14):
being able to not that creepy kind of eye contact
where you don't blink like the New York City subway
stare that some people give you no, no, no, not
like that. But just showing that we are listening, that
we are quieting our minds and focusing on what people
are saying is a really really important skill, and I
try to foster that. I tell my students to put
their their devices away, and sometimes they glower and look
(23:35):
at me, but then they realize, hey, all right, I'm
going to focus on this. I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Try the language the sign of respect.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Yes exactly exactly. And some of them have never done
that before. They are just they're always looking down, always
splitting their attention. And when we're speaking, even to the
boring bits we want to, you know, make sure that
we practice listening and asking follow up questions and showing
interest in others. That's super, super important and that actually
(24:03):
gets people promoted, sometimes even more often than just a
four point zero gpa are on their transcript yep, yep.
So these skills are becoming more and more important. The
fancier technology gets, the more our base humanity becomes rare
and precious and important. When I gave the commencement speech
(24:24):
at Berkeley two years ago, I said something very similar,
and I believe that, and I think, yeah, the totally
digital generation that's coming up, that might be a totally
new concept for them, but still it's still going to
be super important.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Technology is needed. I mean, you know, when we go
back to you know, mid century of fork wass technology
right advancements, But it's needed. We just have to learn
not to be codependent exactly, have an independent thought.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Have independent thoughts, like my dad Owys used to say,
everything in moderation. Yes, in order to go into media communications,
we have to be tech savvy, of course, but we
sprinkle in a little bit of our own humanity too,
and whammo is the full package.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Yeah right, yeah, Yeah, it's constantly going to evolve, so
one way or another, we always have to figure out
a way to evolve with it. Yes, and I'm sure
you're teaching you have to figure out a way to
combine everything to Oh.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Boy, I tell you it's the last few years being
thrust into fully online during the pandemic and then to
have AI come out just right after that. Our brains.
I mean, it's good for my old noggin, but I
mean it's not easy because some people who have been
doing things a certain way. Change is scary. Stepping out
of our comfort zones is scary. When you're in front
(25:45):
of a group of people, trying something new is scary.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
But I always say it's always good to.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Be honest and transparent and say this is my first
time trying this. If I make a boo boo, just
let me know. And again our humanity always show that humanity.
It's super important. Say you're such a vibe, Well so
were you. It takes one to know one, and.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
What you do is so important, by the way, because
it's fascinating just sitting here listening, because these are like
I wish I could take a class like now you can.
Jesus kind, I finished it, but I was saying, not
that I still cannot, or not that I won't in
the future, because that is a plan. But I would
(26:25):
love to learned because I got put into the music
my music career, and I got on radio when I
was in high school. So like when I came out,
I went right into career I'm in. But nonetheless, like
learning how to speak and how to you know, eye
contact and to carry yourself in a certain manner when
you're speaking to certain people, like you're saying, whether you're
(26:46):
speaking to a classroom with ten year olds or whether
you're speaking in front of a boardroom and peers and adults,
Like there's different times to come across different.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Ways exactly, and your message also.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Right, like your message has to be you know, on radio.
It's like with me when I'm doing sales reads or
reads you know for a client, Like you have to
know when to emphasize certain words when not to and
also not to be monotone, how to vocal techniques.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Those are thought groups, focus words. I mean, those are
all things that we focus on.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I learned a lot of that just being on radio.
Fis amazing just to go to a classroom and.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
To get the terminology for everything that you've been doing
all along. That's what's so cool about. For example, teaching grammar,
I had to learn how to teach grammar, even though
I'm fluent in English. I had to learn what a
prepositional phrase is, what this is, what that is, and
I didn't know until I started teaching it, so you
would learn, Wow, there are vocabulary terms for all these
(27:44):
things that I've been doing. Naturally, It's like a whole
new world that's neat.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
I can't wait.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
I can't wait to see you on my class list.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
You have to do. I feel like you have to
go and talking about AI and all that stuff, and
I'm not sure how much time we have left. But
it's like, oh, you just can't. You can't rely on
that stuff, like you have to do it in person.
Like I know, there's a lot of courses you could
take online, which are great because there's a lot of
people who don't have the time, and we get it. Yes,
that's a whole other everyone's schedule doesn't allow you to
do things, but being there and getting the energy and
(28:15):
it's just such a different, such a different, It is different.
The one thing that I don't think AI will ever replace.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
It won't at least is the energy of.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
A person, like you know, the human centric side. You know,
you can read something, but if somebody tells you something,
you'll understand how they're It's like you're saying, what's up? Right?
What's up? Can mean so many different things said the
context at what point?
Speaker 3 (28:41):
So interpretation is subjective and that is one of the
greatest issues with written communication. You know the intent in
which you're delivering a message, but you cannot control the recipient.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Oh my god, I just thought of a great Because
Penny loves to do these like skits for like TikTok
and stuff, We're going to do one where I'm going
to be like at home chilling and I'm gonna be
She's gonna hit me with something like important, and I'm
gonna be like, hey, what's up. She's going to read
it differently, Hey, what's up?
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Like, Oh, that.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Would be I would love to do something like that
in my classes.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Getting I want her to like read the answer is
all angry and I'm just like nonchalant about her.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Like and the Oscar goes to, that would be great,
That would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
I can't I love this for us.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
We have gotten so off topic on this episode, but
it's all good stuff. And you know, what we're doing
right now is experiential learning. Yes, sitting here in this podcast,
in this booth and learning from you and experiencing through
our challenges and how we can rectify some of those things.
So m h, why is experiential learning so important, especially
(30:02):
with this program.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Well, to get people out like like you're doing right
now with me, to get people to see how careers
in media communication work, what it looks like in the
real life, beyond a video that they'll see on YouTube
about it, or something that they read in their eText
about it, or something that we pontificate about the professors
(30:24):
talk about in class. Yes, that's a great word, isn't it.
I love that word pontificate. So it's for example, having
some students come here and watch how these podcasts are
done would be awesome, or even watch of the podcasts,
or getting guest speakers in or that's really a very
very vital part of a media communication program, or either
(30:47):
you know, even any other major So this is Manhattan,
I mean, and also you know, Berkeley has locations in Jersey.
There's a lot going on, There's a lot that we
can do, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
So I'm very excited to see what will develop and
what will grow out of all this.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah, we're very excited to see what waits for us
in season three.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Me too.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
We're going to be doing some surprises along the season,
So it's going to be a fun time, so tune
in and follow us through season three.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
We did not get through most of these questions, but
we kind of indirectly answered.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
The funny thing is because so like earlier, we were
talking and she brought up the fact that you're a
photographer and you take these amazing pictures, which we're going
to talk about. I want to know your Instagram and stuff.
Psycho follow Oh sure, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you brought
up that you're a violinist and you play the violin,
but I didn't know you were a roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I don't know if either of you love your coasters,
but I am a huge coaster fans.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Adrenaline rush, what is it?
Speaker 4 (31:52):
Yeah, I think you know, it's kind of like a
once you're over that first hill or the first launch,
depending on the type of coaster you go on, that
feeling that that rush is unbelievable. Have not yet, My
nephew wants to.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I'm surprised jumping and all that I'm getting older. I
just like I don't even care about like I'll only
get on a roller coaster if like I have to
win my kids like, we're gonna go to Disney.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
Oh great, they have a lot of fun stuff there.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
There's nothing too crazy there, but about.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Six Flags Great Adventures. You got to get back there.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Well, they're not big enough yet for that. Well I
think maybe they're starting to.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Get to the building. A new one, record breaking one
coming up. Twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Liam's in the studio. Liam, do you like roller coasters?
Speaker 5 (32:35):
Liam said yes.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Yeah, almost died on one, so no for me.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
Oh no, no, yeah, you know they don't want that.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Roller coaster and Cony Island, Oh these fires ago. I
got to hear this years ago. So they dared me
to go on the roller coaster because I am the
I'll hold all the bags at the bottom. I'm the
mom of the group, right, and blame my horoscope. So
I get on the roller coaster like we're scared of heights,
and it's like two people at a time, right, that's
(33:04):
what it's all. And again on the roller coaster and
I'm like, I'm not feeling I'm not feeling this, and
the top wouldn't click and I told the guy it's
not clicking. And right at the end of clicking, they
started the thing and you know it goes over the
water and you come back and the thing was flying
up and I almost final destination myself.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
Where was this? Now this was an island.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Yeah, you just have bad luck.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Oh my gosh. So it wasn't discipled because it doesn't
go over the water.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Maybe it was the one that went over water.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, yeah, definitely an interesting time. But that, you know,
talking about legacy and how I'm still here, you know,
because God wanted me.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
To be here to do this podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
I can't wait to find out her word.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
But very simple word. But you have the honors.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Okay, Normally any would ask this, if you could describe
what you want your legacy to be remembered as in
one word? What would that word be? And we're expecting
like a word that think of from you.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
No, it's very very simple, and it's something we already
talked about. The word is listen, okay, and that is
the foundation for just everything. I mean, we need to
listen to others in our lives. We need to listen
to what's going on around us, and we need to
(34:35):
quiet our minds and even listen to ourselves and what
our bodies are telling us, our minds are telling us,
and so many of us. We're listening all the time,
but we're listening at.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
A very shallow level.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
We need to deepen that and work on that, and
I think that we'll just enrich our lives and the
lives of people around us. I think that's very important.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
I love that. That's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
That's grant you, and we hope that you continue to
listen to us.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
I will like it on one O three.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Five k T you right, also the iHeart app. You
can listen to us wherever you stream your podcast. You
can also watch pro on YouTube under one O three
five K T you, or you can listen to us
on Sundays on WOR seven ten Talk Radio.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Well, before you go, and thank you for being here.
So let everybody know, you know how they can reach
out to you via social media. They want to see
your pictures of the you know, the b and.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Oh yes, yes, well you can follow me on Instagram
at I'll say it slowly because I don't have it,
you know projected here l S K P I C
S twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Awesome, Yeah, you know, all right, Well, thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
This has been a podcast episode of Teach Me Something
Podcast with Penny Dolls.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
And DJ pro Style, presented by Berkeley College.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Your potential is our promise.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
That's right, See you next time.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Hey, thanks for listening. Tune in next
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Week for all new episode of Teach Me Something, brought
to you by Berkeley College.
Hey, what's up. This is DJ pro Style and this
is Penny tell Us and this is teach Me Something.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Brought to you by Berkeley College.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
And we are back. Hello. This is teach Me Something
where experience meets elevation.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I am DJ pro Style and I am Penny tell Us.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Are you ready, Penny?
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Are you ready?
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I'm ready. I feel like it's been forever in a day.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
It has a day because we are in season three.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Season three, Ladies, Penny, Today, I have to focus. Okay, yes,
I can't say, I can't say, we can't stutter on
any words.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Feedback from the audience has been they just want to
get filtered us.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yeah, they level no, but today's guests is today's guest.
He's going to point out our crutch words. She is,
our brain farts, she is.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And you know what, after the feedback that we received
from our in studio live episode to launch.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
This season, we need to let go, let go, let go.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Just let go and has the has the I mean,
we'll talk about it later, but hopefully some of the
inspirational words of you finding a man during the live
episode helped out. All Right, we'll get an update soon.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
We'll get up that yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Now let's get in Today's all right, let's get into
it because we are so excited. So this podcast came
up because of a program that we have at Berkeley
College media Communications, and it is such an honor to
have one of our professors that teaches media communications and
is on the development committee for the program here with
(01:39):
us today. Lisa here, Hello, Hello, Hello, I'm so happy
to be here, very excited.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Are you ready? You see the kind of energy we have, right.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I am so ready.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
We are so loud.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
We were hanging out on the lobby before this, so
she kind of you know.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
I got the feel for it.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
It's a lot of brotherly love. Love sometimes is subjective, true,
and you should that.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I could do a PhD dissertation on that.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Right, But Lisa, you have thirty plus years in academia, yes,
and very long side of academia.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
You take beautiful portraits.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Oh, thank you, Yes, team.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I follow her on socials and it's just inspiring, the
nature photography that you do. It's just it's the power
of storytelling. Right. We do an absolutely and branding and
you do it through photography and literature.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
You have this y Yeah, awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I observe.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
The pandemic really got me into that a lot because
it was so quiet here in Manhattan, and I was
able to walk and really listen, and I realized just
how much there is here that usually goes unnoticed so much.
So much we just kind of go through our lives
and we don't realize just the ecosystem that exists around us.
(02:59):
So the pandemic open my eyes to that, so and
I bring that into my classes too, So that's fun.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's there's a photograph that you took of a bee pollen.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, and you see the bee like its full body
so detailed, and for me, my whole life because I'm allergic,
ill feared them, of course. And then I was able
to see that photograph and see it in a different lighting,
so changing perspective to.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Get a little nervous.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
No, that's nice.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Actually had a calming effect on you, it did, that's good.
I used my macro lenses for those.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
I probably like the winter then, because there's no like bugs.
You don't like the winter.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's so sad and gloomy.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Well, it's been like this winter. Let's hurry, this has
been at least now it's warming up right, So it
is HM.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So let's warm up to the notion of how you
got into higher education.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Oh well, both my parents were teachers. A lot of
my family members are teachers, and when I was young,
in addition to photography and teaching, I'm also a musician.
I played the violin. I've been playing since I was young.
I performed a lot in chamber groups and orchestras, and
there were a lot of international people there in you know,
(04:13):
a lot of the violinists along with me were from
other countries. They didn't always understand what the conductor was saying,
so they would ask me. They would say, Lisa, what
did he just say?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
What was that?
Speaker 4 (04:24):
I didn't get it? So I was always explaining to
them what the conductor had just said. And sometimes the
conductor would look and I'd say, I'm just explaining. So
I realized I'd love to help people with English. I've
always loved reading, and yeah, I've been a voracious reader.
I still am. And since I enjoy doing this, just naturally,
(04:47):
I realized I can make a career out of it.
And I was very excited to learn that I can
make a career out of teaching international people. How to
speak English and improve their speaking skills, and then that
kind of branched off into teaching at Berkeley. So it's been,
you know, a long road, but I just so much
fun for me. Every day I go up in front
(05:08):
of people. I love it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
So that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah, after thirty something years, I still enjoy what I do.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
I'm very fortunate, beautiful. Well it's passionate purpose.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, well this is great because I definitely want to
learn how to speak English. You seem to be.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
So far, so good.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I should be bilingual. It's funny. I am. I am bilingual.
We'll talk about that. The languages.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah, should be try.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, I try, try, try, try. Work out for me.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
That's a good one.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
I grew up in a household where you know, my
mom is Greek, my dad's Dominican, right, so my mom
was like they're going to learn Greek, and my dads
like they're going to learn Spanish. And then I didn't
learn it either.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Oh it's funny because they didn't switch back and forth
when you were young like they did.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
And that's I think, Well a couple of things. My
sister learned it. I didn't. I guess my mind, you know,
my mind wandered off and I was like, yeah, yeah, whatever,
I'm just going to play with these toys over here.
But I will say I think that speaking another language
starts from home. But but they should only speak that
language at home, right where if you're speaking English else
at your home, it makes it harder to learn. Like
(06:18):
I found that, Like on the Spanish side, a lot
of kids they own their parents only spoke to them
in Spanish, right, Or even on the Greek side, like
my mom, you know, her parents only spoke to them
in Greek. Because you're going to learn English at school
and around and out and about, so at home you
should speak the language.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
So it's like you're being immersed in it. It's it's
almost like immersion.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Because my wife speaks multiple languages. You were telling you
that it's a bunch of languages, and I'm like, oh,
our kids, you know, they still only speak one, but
they kind of get on, you know, and it's because
we speak English at home. But she blames it on me.
She's like, well, I can't speak If you can't speak the.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Only one, it's difficult.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
You have to stuff.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
My house was just chaos because, like my dad spoke
Greek and English, right, and then my mom was primarily
Spanish and then English, right, both immigrants to this country.
And but then my mom's dad it was Italian and Spanish,
(07:22):
and then my mom's mom was Portuguese. So we didn't understand. Yeah,
we did not understand that they were all different languages.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Well, that's amazing.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
We just would kind of intertwine. Incredible a sentence in Spanish.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
My brother could not differentiate language until like five or six,
but he carried the Greek and the English, and then
I was opposite. I carried Spanish English, and then we
kind of flipped at one point.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
That's incredible how the brain works, isn't it. Yeah, I
just tie them all together.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
And it's funny how you you actually know everything right,
So like I find it with myself if I travel
somewhere like I spent. I remember one time we spent
like three weeks in Dominican Republic, and my Spanish was
a one because we were staying somewhere where they only spoke,
so course there wasn't an option.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
It's interesting, yes.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Crazy, how good I can speak. And I came home
and I was like, I can't say anything an Yeah,
we spent We stayed in when I was like ten,
We stood in Greece up in the mountains for like
a month the whole summer, so almost like a month
and a half and literally like you couldn't say one
word in English. They didn't understand anything. Wow, I had
to learn, and.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
We learned how you were thrown right into it.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
So that's still in the backyard. So I understand all
the languages. I think mentally, as you get older, you're
so self conscious of saying something wrong that the.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Fear of making mistakes. That's something I tried to instill
in my students, and that can actually piggyback into the
whole a I roam because I try to tell my
students that making mistakes is okay. It's a safe space
to do that, and that's how people learn, yes, and
that's why some people tend to turn to AI to get,
you know, to submit this polished, almost artificial sounding writing
(09:16):
because they're afraid of making mistakes. I really instill in
them that it's okay, and I love giving feedback and
then they feel more comfortable and then I get their
own voice and their own writing, and it's wonderful. Makes
me happy.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah, yeah, I could totally see that being the case.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Because you chat GBT everything.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
No, no, it's no, it's a totally different what she's saying.
So I could use a different example, and I use
it with my wife all the time, and so like
we go to the same places all the time, and
she'll still put on navigation to get there and I'm
like that you don't know how to get here yet,
and I always tell her, don't use it, and then
(09:57):
so like I find myself. Basically, what I'm trying to
say is for me to learn how to get from
point A to B, I won't use navigation.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
So you can input that because the day I do.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
It wrong, after I do it wrong one time and
I fix that mistake, like you're saying now now I
know it forever. I don't need navigation every time. You
never learn. So it's the same concept. I get it.
Oh absolutely, just start blurring out multiple languages and if
I say it wrong, it is what.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It is, It is what it is. What language do
you dream in?
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I was just about to ask podcasts going in a
completely different direction, but it's all media communications.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
What do we dream in?
Speaker 4 (10:33):
For me? English? Well, but the two of you know
so many languages. What languages do you dream in?
Speaker 3 (10:39):
They say that, like your primary is what you dream in,
and by day I mean studies.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
English. Okay, what about you?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I dream in all three. It depends what I'm dreaming.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Like I have dreams with my dad and we'll be
speaking English and then I'll go to Greek.
Speaker 4 (10:56):
That's incredible. Yeah, that really is do either you're reading music,
I don't. That's another language.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
That is a completely that's another language.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
So if you read music, I never thought about that,
it's a language.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
My son is on the same kind of level. Like
he's reminds when you were talking, like because he plays
the violin, he plays the piano, He studies, he studies languages.
He's like all into reading.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
He's creative, creative.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
To bring on, we.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Spoke about this, he would baby, Yeah, he'll come on
here for his book. How old is he writes books?
He's nine, He's wrote he wrote already two books.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Like he's very right brain.
Speaker 5 (11:36):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Is that what it is? He's right?
Speaker 5 (11:40):
So memory, the left brain.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
Is so much research on the right brain very analytical.
The left brain, I think, and then the right brain
is the more creative side, and.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
He happens when you're in the middle.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
That's the best of both worlds. I already know that.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
But going back, you know, I mean, you're strengthening our
minds as you're sitting here, which is awesome.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
This is like a class, guys, it's open.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
You know, we're auditing a class. But you've helped students
strengthen their writing, their speaking, their research and communication skills.
Why are these skills still so critical in today's media
driven world?
Speaker 4 (12:22):
Whether they're the bedrock for everything. We need to have
a strong foundation in those skills and then use technology
to enhance what we already have, not to substitute for it.
So we need to be able to write a coherent
sentence or express our thoughts without a bot helping us out.
(12:42):
We need to be able to code switch when we speak,
so we can be more casual if we're talking, for example,
to a group of high schoolers, and be more formal
if we're presenting to a group of board members for
a corporation. We need to be able to do that.
From what I always like to say, the best bot
of all, which is up here our brain. Nothing can
(13:05):
even come close to what's up here. So if we
learn those skills, and it's getting harder to get people
to learn them now, it's becoming more of a challenge,
but it's still doable. You learn those skills, you can
flourish and just do anything. And I firmly believe that,
and that's what I teach in my classes, whether it's
my on site classes or my online classes. And I
(13:28):
kind of tweak things as we go along. When the
students are speaking, if they use, for example, a double
negative in a professional speech, I'll tell them about it afterwards,
try to open up their eyes to that and say, well,
when we have to use professional English, we don't want
to do that. If they use a lot of fillers
what did you call them?
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Oh, like those.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Right brain farts. So those those extra little.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Things that if we use them we want to.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
It would be like a or something.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Like like like if I could be a multi billionaire,
if I got a nickel or even a dollar or
a penny for every time I heard, Like.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
When I took public speaking at Berkeley, Professor Cowen was
my pence, and they would mark up how many times
we use the fillers. We would have the head of
our censor of academic success come in and judge us.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Oh wow, it's almost like toast masters.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
They do, yes, and they would count the fillers.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Wow, we talked about that, Yes we did so, yep,
I did the same. So in my earlier days on
radio when they would air check all the time, I
remember sitting down someone and they were like, hey, so look,
this is obviously this word and I want to say
it was or something or maybe it was like like
or something like that. They're like, this is your crutch word.
And we went and he we counted how many times, like,
(14:49):
oh my god, like in one talk break, I'm saying
it like eight times in this hour?
Speaker 5 (14:53):
What hour?
Speaker 1 (14:54):
You said it like forty five times? And they're like,
let's work on that. So then I started and then
we'd go back and count and and you start thinking.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
Like and they decreased.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
They decreased because once you know exactly, you know, now
you're trying to talk correctly without saying anything like that
like the you know what I mean, you know what.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
I'm saying all those type of things.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Those fellers lot on this podcast, you say, yeah, editing,
that's the agreement.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I remember being younger and people will always say right,
I remember that. How would I know you keep saying.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Right and.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
Delightful New York accent?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, still says I.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
We love that word.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
I don't hear it that much anymore.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Oh, Alexander, as someone who teaches within the media communications program,
how have you seen careers in media evolve? Oh wow
over the past few decades. I mean it has transcended,
It really has.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Back in medieval times when I started teaching, cell phones
weren't even out yet, so media we automatically thought about
the anchors on TV or the newscasters on the radio,
and that was pretty much it. The folks who sat
and wrote and printed out the New York Times and
other publications. And then came cell phones and things got
(16:28):
quicker and faster. But when things really rocketed up was
when the Internet came out, and that became oh wow,
that changed the whole landscape. Everything became instantaneous, and of
course they started putting more satellites up into orbit to
deal with all this technology. And then once the smartphones
(16:48):
came along, where you had a whole recording studio right
in your hand. I mean, that's when social media started
taking off. And I mean I remember when my Space
first started. That's might speak. I think I still have
a defunct account somewhere in my space.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
And people knew what it meant when you were either
that top eight or not.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Yes, that's right exactly. So once that happened, you know,
we became more and more connected, and then people started,
you know, they started incorporating likes and dislikes, and we
started getting followers, and then it became almost I guess
we can say glorified ego hit in a way. I
(17:32):
know it appeals to our egos and our sense of
wanting to be out there and validated. And then we
just and then came the whole thing with the becoming
content creators. And it's just it's accelerating rapidly. Some of
my students, they are so advanced and they have so
many different accounts, they have so many different ways they
(17:53):
get themselves out there these days, and it's pretty incredible.
But I always tell them they still need the educational
foundation to be really taken seriously and to learn all
the skills that go into doing that effectively. Yeah, that's
how I've seen things evolve.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
And talking about evolving and talking about technology, with technology
rapidly changing, how we communicate. You've recently incorporated AI literacy
into your teaching, So how do you see AI shaping
the future of communication and education.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
Well, I see it being able to polish us up,
to help us streamline our thinking, to help us organize
our thoughts. But again, like I said earlier, we should
not use it to replace our voices and our humanity,
and I.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
See in our brains exactly.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
Yes, I see it going in that direction a little bit,
and it makes me a little bit worried. So we
still have to I mean, I use it as a
supplement to enhance my coursework. I work with instructional and
designers at Berkeley and we figure out and there's also
a great AI committee at Berkeley that works on this
and we do talk about it a lot. But in
(19:02):
terms of relying solely on AI, not really the way
to go. So it involves a lot of reflection on
our own thought processes as we use AI in conjunction
with our own thoughts.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, that's being in school young like, and this is
obviously before like you're saying, the cell phones took off
and there being the Internet with Google and ways to
answer everything you possibly could think of right online. I
remember when just a calculator was Remember those days and
it was so looked at as frowned upon, like you're
not allowed to bring a calculator. Yes, if you're.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Doing technology, that's right the advance.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Forget how to do math.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Calculator was the type of thing you learn how to
do math, and now forget that.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
To memorize those tables, I remember those days. Use your
fingers and we used.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
To have little cheat sheets sometimes too.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
I learned how to infractions.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
I still do that on my kids. I make sure
that no, no, no, I just make sure that they still
take out a pad and they write down everything excellent
when they're doing all My kids are really good at math,
and they just break down all. You know, I want
to see how they got the answer. And that's always
made sure, you know, what's interest making sure they want
to see.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
How you have to show the work you do got
the answer behind.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
That's right, And that's it's rebounding back to kind of
rocking it old school in a way. Since there's so
much technology out there now, a lot of professors and
and also teachers, I know that they don't allow cell
phones and whatnot in elementary and high school all that.
But in college, we're telling folks to put the devices away.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Here's a pen and paper.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
They say, oh, can I have a pen because nobody
carries pens anymore.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
So here's a pen, here's some paper.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
Let's get our thoughts down from here to.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
There, back to analog, back to analog.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
And I love seeing their handwriting because everything's typed. I
love seeing people's personalities.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
And not many of them no scripts.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
When I'm teaching and I'm writing on the board, I
write in script. I don't write just in print. And
someone raised their hand in class and asked, miss b
what language is that? Are you writing in Greek? I
said no, I thought they were punking me. I was
(21:21):
waiting for like Ashton Kutcher and now we're aging ourselves
and like where's the cameras? But no, they didn't know
what script was. So no, they're not I heard that.
That is not obligatory. They're not teaching it anymore.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
It's teaching.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
It's very sad, right, So when they sign their names
it's print. Wow, So not everyone, but you know there
are some that do know script.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
And it's kind of becoming a lost art.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Two different things, right, But yeah, that's interesting that they
we should be bringing.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
You know, life tools back, like how to me?
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I think we are going to bring my Sondy here
for an episode and really like what are they like?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (22:06):
Remember that show Are you Smarter than?
Speaker 3 (22:08):
Like?
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Let's are we smarter than Baby Pro?
Speaker 1 (22:11):
He's definitely the wrong one to pick.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
To go, but it's a segment.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
He's gonna make us look terrible. At least please I
can come back.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
And we can bring Baby Pro and and really see.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
He answers them like whatever, Oh cool.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
We can bring in a keyboard. That would be so cool.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Oh, that's so fun.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
It's interesting how dependent on technology we have become. Oh yes,
as a society at least you know, in the first world, right,
because it's not a global m HM circumstance. But it's
definitely interesting when our phone dies and it's what are.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We going to do? Are we going to call? What number?
Did I memorize?
Speaker 4 (22:52):
I don't know where to go without a mask or
even their own phone numbers. People are starting to forget
like my phone numbers because we don't say it very often.
It's in our phones, you know. And another thing I
try to work on in all my classes not only
public speaking is eye contact and active listening. These are
skills that are becoming rare and precious these days. And
(23:14):
being able to not that creepy kind of eye contact
where you don't blink like the New York City subway
stare that some people give you no, no, no, not
like that. But just showing that we are listening, that
we are quieting our minds and focusing on what people
are saying is a really really important skill, and I
try to foster that. I tell my students to put
their their devices away, and sometimes they glower and look
(23:35):
at me, but then they realize, hey, all right, I'm
going to focus on this. I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Try the language the sign of respect.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Yes exactly exactly. And some of them have never done
that before. They are just they're always looking down, always
splitting their attention. And when we're speaking, even to the
boring bits we want to, you know, make sure that
we practice listening and asking follow up questions and showing
interest in others. That's super, super important and that actually
(24:03):
gets people promoted, sometimes even more often than just a
four point zero gpa are on their transcript yep, yep.
So these skills are becoming more and more important. The
fancier technology gets, the more our base humanity becomes rare
and precious and important. When I gave the commencement speech
(24:24):
at Berkeley two years ago, I said something very similar,
and I believe that, and I think, yeah, the totally
digital generation that's coming up, that might be a totally
new concept for them, but still it's still going to
be super important.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Technology is needed. I mean, you know, when we go
back to you know, mid century of fork wass technology
right advancements, But it's needed. We just have to learn
not to be codependent exactly, have an independent thought.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Have independent thoughts, like my dad Owys used to say,
everything in moderation. Yes, in order to go into media communications,
we have to be tech savvy, of course, but we
sprinkle in a little bit of our own humanity too,
and whammo is the full package.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Yeah right, yeah, Yeah, it's constantly going to evolve, so
one way or another, we always have to figure out
a way to evolve with it. Yes, and I'm sure
you're teaching you have to figure out a way to
combine everything to Oh.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Boy, I tell you it's the last few years being
thrust into fully online during the pandemic and then to
have AI come out just right after that. Our brains.
I mean, it's good for my old noggin, but I
mean it's not easy because some people who have been
doing things a certain way. Change is scary. Stepping out
of our comfort zones is scary. When you're in front
(25:45):
of a group of people, trying something new is scary.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
But I always say it's always good to.
Speaker 4 (25:50):
Be honest and transparent and say this is my first
time trying this. If I make a boo boo, just
let me know. And again our humanity always show that humanity.
It's super important. Say you're such a vibe, Well so
were you. It takes one to know one, and.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
What you do is so important, by the way, because
it's fascinating just sitting here listening, because these are like
I wish I could take a class like now you can.
Jesus kind, I finished it, but I was saying, not
that I still cannot, or not that I won't in
the future, because that is a plan. But I would
(26:25):
love to learned because I got put into the music
my music career, and I got on radio when I
was in high school. So like when I came out,
I went right into career I'm in. But nonetheless, like
learning how to speak and how to you know, eye
contact and to carry yourself in a certain manner when
you're speaking to certain people, like you're saying, whether you're
(26:46):
speaking to a classroom with ten year olds or whether
you're speaking in front of a boardroom and peers and adults,
Like there's different times to come across different.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Ways exactly, and your message also.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
Right, like your message has to be you know, on radio.
It's like with me when I'm doing sales reads or
reads you know for a client, Like you have to
know when to emphasize certain words when not to and
also not to be monotone, how to vocal techniques.
Speaker 4 (27:12):
Those are thought groups, focus words. I mean, those are
all things that we focus on.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
I learned a lot of that just being on radio.
Fis amazing just to go to a classroom and.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
To get the terminology for everything that you've been doing
all along. That's what's so cool about. For example, teaching grammar,
I had to learn how to teach grammar, even though
I'm fluent in English. I had to learn what a
prepositional phrase is, what this is, what that is, and
I didn't know until I started teaching it, so you
would learn, Wow, there are vocabulary terms for all these
(27:44):
things that I've been doing. Naturally, It's like a whole
new world that's neat.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
I can't wait.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
I can't wait to see you on my class list.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
You have to do. I feel like you have to
go and talking about AI and all that stuff, and
I'm not sure how much time we have left. But
it's like, oh, you just can't. You can't rely on
that stuff, like you have to do it in person.
Like I know, there's a lot of courses you could
take online, which are great because there's a lot of
people who don't have the time, and we get it. Yes,
that's a whole other everyone's schedule doesn't allow you to
do things, but being there and getting the energy and
(28:15):
it's just such a different, such a different, It is different.
The one thing that I don't think AI will ever replace.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
It won't at least is the energy of.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
A person, like you know, the human centric side. You know,
you can read something, but if somebody tells you something,
you'll understand how they're It's like you're saying, what's up? Right?
What's up? Can mean so many different things said the
context at what point?
Speaker 3 (28:41):
So interpretation is subjective and that is one of the
greatest issues with written communication. You know the intent in
which you're delivering a message, but you cannot control the recipient.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Oh my god, I just thought of a great Because
Penny loves to do these like skits for like TikTok
and stuff, We're going to do one where I'm going
to be like at home chilling and I'm gonna be
She's gonna hit me with something like important, and I'm
gonna be like, hey, what's up. She's going to read
it differently, Hey, what's up?
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Like, Oh, that.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Would be I would love to do something like that
in my classes.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Getting I want her to like read the answer is
all angry and I'm just like nonchalant about her.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Like and the Oscar goes to, that would be great,
That would be awesome.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
I can't I love this for us.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
We have gotten so off topic on this episode, but
it's all good stuff. And you know, what we're doing
right now is experiential learning. Yes, sitting here in this podcast,
in this booth and learning from you and experiencing through
our challenges and how we can rectify some of those things.
So m h, why is experiential learning so important, especially
(30:02):
with this program.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Well, to get people out like like you're doing right
now with me, to get people to see how careers
in media communication work, what it looks like in the
real life, beyond a video that they'll see on YouTube
about it, or something that they read in their eText
about it, or something that we pontificate about the professors
(30:24):
talk about in class. Yes, that's a great word, isn't it.
I love that word pontificate. So it's for example, having
some students come here and watch how these podcasts are
done would be awesome, or even watch of the podcasts,
or getting guest speakers in or that's really a very
very vital part of a media communication program, or either
(30:47):
you know, even any other major So this is Manhattan,
I mean, and also you know, Berkeley has locations in Jersey.
There's a lot going on, There's a lot that we
can do, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
So I'm very excited to see what will develop and
what will grow out of all this.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Yeah, we're very excited to see what waits for us
in season three.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Me too.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
We're going to be doing some surprises along the season,
So it's going to be a fun time, so tune
in and follow us through season three.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
We did not get through most of these questions, but
we kind of indirectly answered.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
The funny thing is because so like earlier, we were
talking and she brought up the fact that you're a
photographer and you take these amazing pictures, which we're going
to talk about. I want to know your Instagram and stuff.
Psycho follow Oh sure, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you brought
up that you're a violinist and you play the violin,
but I didn't know you were a roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I don't know if either of you love your coasters,
but I am a huge coaster fans.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Adrenaline rush, what is it?
Speaker 4 (31:52):
Yeah, I think you know, it's kind of like a
once you're over that first hill or the first launch,
depending on the type of coaster you go on, that
feeling that that rush is unbelievable. Have not yet, My
nephew wants to.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
I'm surprised jumping and all that I'm getting older. I
just like I don't even care about like I'll only
get on a roller coaster if like I have to
win my kids like, we're gonna go to Disney.
Speaker 4 (32:18):
Oh great, they have a lot of fun stuff there.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
There's nothing too crazy there, but about.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Six Flags Great Adventures. You got to get back there.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Well, they're not big enough yet for that. Well I
think maybe they're starting to.
Speaker 4 (32:27):
Get to the building. A new one, record breaking one
coming up. Twenty seven.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Liam's in the studio. Liam, do you like roller coasters?
Speaker 5 (32:35):
Liam said yes.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Yeah, almost died on one, so no for me.
Speaker 4 (32:39):
Oh no, no, yeah, you know they don't want that.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
Roller coaster and Cony Island, Oh these fires ago. I
got to hear this years ago. So they dared me
to go on the roller coaster because I am the
I'll hold all the bags at the bottom. I'm the
mom of the group, right, and blame my horoscope. So
I get on the roller coaster like we're scared of heights,
and it's like two people at a time, right, that's
(33:04):
what it's all. And again on the roller coaster and
I'm like, I'm not feeling I'm not feeling this, and
the top wouldn't click and I told the guy it's
not clicking. And right at the end of clicking, they
started the thing and you know it goes over the
water and you come back and the thing was flying
up and I almost final destination myself.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
Where was this? Now this was an island.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Yeah, you just have bad luck.
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Oh my gosh. So it wasn't discipled because it doesn't
go over the water.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Maybe it was the one that went over water.
Speaker 3 (33:37):
Yeah, yeah, definitely an interesting time. But that, you know,
talking about legacy and how I'm still here, you know,
because God wanted me.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
To be here to do this podcast.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
I can't wait to find out her word.
Speaker 2 (33:53):
But very simple word. But you have the honors.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Okay, Normally any would ask this, if you could describe
what you want your legacy to be remembered as in
one word? What would that word be? And we're expecting
like a word that think of from you.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
No, it's very very simple, and it's something we already
talked about. The word is listen, okay, and that is
the foundation for just everything. I mean, we need to
listen to others in our lives. We need to listen
to what's going on around us, and we need to
(34:35):
quiet our minds and even listen to ourselves and what
our bodies are telling us, our minds are telling us,
and so many of us. We're listening all the time,
but we're listening at.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
A very shallow level.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
We need to deepen that and work on that, and
I think that we'll just enrich our lives and the
lives of people around us. I think that's very important.
Speaker 2 (34:54):
I love that. That's beautiful.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
That's grant you, and we hope that you continue to
listen to us.
Speaker 2 (35:01):
I will like it on one O three.
Speaker 3 (35:04):
Five k T you right, also the iHeart app. You
can listen to us wherever you stream your podcast. You
can also watch pro on YouTube under one O three
five K T you, or you can listen to us
on Sundays on WOR seven ten Talk Radio.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Well, before you go, and thank you for being here.
So let everybody know, you know how they can reach
out to you via social media. They want to see
your pictures of the you know, the b and.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
Oh yes, yes, well you can follow me on Instagram
at I'll say it slowly because I don't have it,
you know projected here l S K P I C
S twenty twenty three.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Awesome, Yeah, you know, all right, Well, thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
This has been a podcast episode of Teach Me Something
Podcast with Penny Dolls.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
And DJ pro Style, presented by Berkeley College.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Your potential is our promise.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
That's right, See you next time.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
Hey, thanks for listening. Tune in next
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Week for all new episode of Teach Me Something, brought
to you by Berkeley College.
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