While at Stanford Graduate School of Education, I read countless articles about bilingualism. I read about how bilingualism enhances cognitive function; I read about how heritage language learning is different from second language learning; I read about what resources families need the most. And on and on. The articles I…

“The only people encouraged to learn a second language in the U.S. are white monolinguals.” -unknown This controversial statement reflects the double standard many have faced related to language learning. While children of immigrants are encouraged to assimilate (leave the heritage language behind and cling to English-only) their white monolingual…

“I only understand it, I don’t speak it.” “I’m sorry I don’t speak Spanish very well.” “I’m sorry I have a horrible accent.” Have you heard statements like these before? Have you said one of these statements before? Have feelings like these made you not want to continue to work on your bilingualism? Being ashamed of some aspect of your bilingualism will itself be a hindrance to your bilingualism. An advisor in my…

This is not your typical affiliate-link-laden gift post! Like many parents, I am convinced my kids don’t need more stuff. They definitely don’t need more toys! In my mind, stuff and toys are synonymous with mess. I recently read a book about keeping an orderly home that made me feel…

One of the questions I get asked most often is how I use Lelu with my own kids. For starters, I can honestly share that my kids love Lelu and look forward to our programming each month– it’s not something that I need to force on them! I’m tickled by…

The act of translating is a self-reflective and powerful exercise. It can be really fun and also very challenging. Translating is part of everyday life for bilingual or multilingual individuals as they are often navigating multiple languages at the same time. My family has recently had a fun experience discussing…

Immigrants sacrifice a lot to come to this country — heritage languages shouldn’t be part of that sacrifice. Today I’ll share about my two favorite immigrants (my parents) hoping their stories will personify a topic that is often dehumanized. Their stories are obviously not representative of the entire body of…

A Love story about Reclaiming and maintaining our Bilingualism One of the questions we get asked most frequently is, so where does the name “Lelu” come from? And, What does “Lelu” mean? Being a language program and all, folks always wonder if “Lelu” means something in Spanish or in another…

Encanto is all the rage right now. Everyone is talking about the music, creating an Encanto reel or TikTok, and even Peloton is offering two Encanto-themed workouts this week. It could be because I’m a Latina, or maybe because of how my glasses resemble those of the lead character, Mirabel…