Emma Lightfoot is a 21 year old third generation Italian. Her mother, Emma tells SBS, refused to speak Italian at home with the kids because she thought learning Italian would have been detrimental to English.
Furthermore, Emma's parents spoke Italian to each others when they didn't want to be understood by their kids.
In an ironic reverse psychology trick, these obstacles pushed Emma and her siblings to learn Italian and reconnect with their nonna.
Listen to Emma's story as told to SBS on the audio player above.
