Sophia Smith Galer first understood language loss as a sound coming from upstairs.
Her 93-year-old nonna was in bed in north London, speaking al dialët, the family’s regional language from northern Italy, with Galer’s mother. Galer could understand much of it, but she couldn’t answer in it.
“I remember going home afterwards and feeling real sorrow, almost a kind of pre-grief for what I understood I was beginning to lose,” Galer told The Post. “My Nonna was a huge influence on my life, and the thought of losing her and everything associated with her became undeniable that day.”
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