Recording My Journey Through a Bilingual & Multilingual Education Course

IntroductionLast semester I enrolled in a course on bilingual and multilingual education, with a spotlight on International Mother Language Day. This post records what I learned, the activities I experienced, and how these insights are shaping my teaching approach. My goal is to celebrate linguistic diversity and translate theory into practice in my future classroom.

Course snapshot

• Focus: strategies for multilingual classrooms, home-language support, parent engagement, and creating an inclusive school environment.

• Core ideas: comprehensible input, meaningful context, authentic texts, and translanguaging to empower all learners.

• Activities: student-led language lessons, languages week, multilingual inquiry projects, mother tongue reading breakfasts, and family artifact sharing.

Key takeaways

• Translanguaging is a powerful tool: students bring words from all languages to build richer communication.

• Parental involvement matters: home-language support boosts identity, confidence, and academics.

• A welcoming environment matters: multilingual signage and greetings help students feel seen and valued.

What I did

• Participated in activities that celebrated linguistic diversity and cultural exchange.

• Explored ways to welcome multilingual learners through inclusive displays and signage.

• Designed tasks that connect students’ home languages with classroom learning and planned parent-inclusive events.

Impact and future plans

• I’ve seen how multilingual education can enrich identity and academic outcomes when home languages are valued.

• I’ll introduce mother tongue activities, encourage translanguaging, and invite families to share language resources.

• Next steps: refine timing and pacing in activities, expand peer-to-peer inquiries, and document student growth over the term.

Call to action

• If you’re an educator, consider starting with a mother tongue reading breakfast or family artifact sharing to honor your students’ languages.

• Share your own language-rich strategies in the comments—I’d love to learn from your experiences.