Raising Bilingual Children: Protecting Home Language, Identity & School Success

Can speaking more than one language confuse a child? In this episode, bilingual education specialist Ms. Yulia explains why parents do not need to abandon their home language—and how they can support children learning the majority language without sacrificing identity and connection.

Learn practical strategies for raising bilingual and multilingual children, navigating schools, advocating for your child, and creating a language-rich home even when family life is busy.

In this episode of Family Dialogues, Dr. Taniesha Burke speaks with Ms. Yulia, a German and English teacher with a master’s degree in childhood education and a specialization in bilingual education. Drawing on nearly 10 years of experience supporting multilingual families, she challenges common myths about bilingual child development, language acquisition, multilingual education, and home-language use.

We discuss an important challenge facing immigrant and expat families: children sometimes being judged academically based on their proficiency in the country’s majority language rather than their broader abilities. Ms. Yulia explains why parents may need to advocate for appropriate academic placement and why schools need to distinguish between a child who does not yet have the language to express what they know and a child who does not understand the underlying concepts. 

For parents raising children across languages and cultures, this conversation offers encouragement and practical tools to support bilingualism, multilingualism, language development, cultural identity, and educational success without fear or guilt.

Resources Mentioned

Hello Multilinguals – Ms. Yulia’s website for consultations and multilingual-family resources.

English for Young Learners Parent Guide – A resource created by Ms. Yulia with activities, routines, resources, and links for families supporting English and other home languages.

Instagram – Hello Multilingual Classroom – Bilingual and multilingual education advice, family experiences, myths and facts.

TikTok – Hello Multilingual Class