𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬!

Have you read Michael Frank’s award-winning One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World (2022), featuring the reimagined art of Maira Kalman? If so, you came across a plethora of Ladino words, sayings, sentences, and songs throughout the text. Click here to explore the Ladino language and Sephardic culture found in this captivating book about Stella Levi, her childhood on Rhodes, and a 100 years of history.

This is a project that I am very glad to see come to fruition. A few years ago, with the permission of writer Michael Frank and artist Maira Kelman, I began posting words and phrases from Michael’s 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴: 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘓𝘦𝘷𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. This quickly grew into a fun and engaging 100-page slide deck designed to guide readers through the Ladino elements of the text. This past fall, I had the great pleasure of once again visiting Rhodesli-born centenarian Stella Levi, who kindly agreed to record each and every word and phrase featured in the booklet. As I wrote on my website, reading Stella’s words, sayings, and lyrics is one thing; hearing her say them aloud is another.

Whether you are learning Ladino or already speak it, are a Rhodesli descendant yourself, or are simply curious about Stella’s Rhodesli Ladino accent, I invite you to enjoy the 100 brief audio recordings found beneath each word or phrase. For those who would like to read full descriptions in English, you may view the slides at the top of the page or click on any of the images below. If you choose the latter, screen-readable text captions are available for each description by clicking the «i» button beneath each image. To a happy and healthy 2026!