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May 20, 2025 27 mins

Obasan and the Silence of History (E70)

In this episode of Hear You Go, we honour Asian Heritage Month in Canada by exploring the groundbreaking novel Obasan by Joy Kogawa—a powerful and emotional story that reveals the experiences of Japanese Canadians during and after WWII. 

In this two-part episode, we:

  • examine the historical context of Japanese immigration to Canada and the discrimination they faced, then 
  • turn to the novel itself—its emotional resonance, narrative structure, and the legacy it preserves. 

Through reflection and storytelling, this episode asks: what happens when a nation forgets? And what power lies in remembering?

With clear explanations and rich vocabulary, this episode builds your listening skills while deepening your understanding of a difficult but important part of history.

As always, we’ll note some useful intermediate/advanced language (B1/C1 Intermediate & Advanced English) along the way.

🔊 Listen now and test your listening in this advanced English language podcast  🎧

Hear You Go English language listening podcasts aim to give you, the intermediate English language learner and advanced English language learner, a space to practice your English listening so that you can think, learn, and connect in English.

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