Bilingual in America

Karlyn Tabb currently works at the German International School in White Plains, NY. Students attending the school learn language in a variety of ways. Some come from homes where German is not spoken or even part of their family tree. Karlyn, although not a native speaker, has family ties to Germany and that is what sparked her interest to learn the language during her childhood. She is a language...

Mayor Thomas Roach was born in White Plains, NY, and currently resides there with his family. He received his bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and his law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He was the first person in his family to earn a four-year degree and is a product of the public education system from kindergarten through his law degree....

Dr. Rocio del Castillo and Dr. Julia Cloat are changing the multilingual dual language landscape. Together, they have co-authored their first book, Teaching Reading in Spanish: A Linguistically Authentic Framework for Emerging Multilinguals . In addition, they have co-founded Via Educational Consulting, whose mission is to provide practical and equitable solutions to schools and districts on the p...

We are closing March, Women's Herstory Month, with a bang! Jacarina Soto is a first-generation Afro-Dominican American who went from getting her college degree and working in corporate America to living a purposeful life running her own spiritually directed business. Jacarina is a trauma-informed holistic coach and Master Energy Healing Guide. She is dedicated to helping others show up as bett...

Susan Bretti , Thought Leader and Director of the Changing Suburbs Institute, shares all the details of the upcoming, once again in-person, 17th Annual Educational Forum. The forum is hosted by Manhattanville College in New York and will focus on Culturally Responsive Teaching. The conference guest keynote speakers will be Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz, Associate Professor at Teacher's College, Columbia...

Jacqueline  Cabrera , a seasoned special education teacher, wife, mother, and bilingual extraordinaire, shares her pearls of wisdom on bilingual language acquisition as it pertains to the uniqueness of all students.

Today's episode highlights the transformational work of Dra. Veronica Benavides , the founder, and CEO of The Language Preservation Project . She and her team work to reverse the trend of language loss across generations. The Language Preservation Project team works with families and educators to leverage the strength found within culture and language to develop proud and confident multilingual le...

Dr. Devin E. Naar , a Judeo-Spanish language scholar, is the author of Jewish Salonica , and is an Isaac Alhadeff Professor in Sephardic Studies, Associate Professor of History, and faculty at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.  He speaks with us about the fascinating history of the Ladino language: Judeo Spanis...

Today's episode focuses on recently retired Patricia Galluzzo and Virginia Calderon . These two women have worked for over a quarter of a century providing translation support and assistance as needed in both Spanish and English. Patricia came to New York at the age of 9 from her native Argentina, while Virginia arrived at the age of 20 in California from her native Peru. Along the way, they learn...

Andres Salguero was raised in Bogata, Columbia, and grew up with his father. He earned his Doctorate in music. Christina Sanabria, from Colombia, grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in America. She was always involved in theater and dance, and later earned a master’s degree in education from U Penn. Together they are… Latin Grammy winners 1,2,3 Andres, and make beautiful bilingual music for ch...

Dual language stakeholders…get ready! Today we are visiting with educators, authors, and consultants Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld, TESOL professor at Molloy University, in New York, and Dr. Joan Lachance, Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Second Language at the University of North Carolina. Together this team is unstoppable as they venture into their latest book, Collaboration and Co-Teaching...

Educator, Leader, and Change Agent Lorynn Guerrero is New Mexico's Teacher of the Year. She speaks with us about being beautifully bilingual at any stage of one's language learning journey, how she's left an impact at New America School La Cruces High School with the GRADS program, and how this is just the beginning of her legacy work. The GRADS program began as an in-school program for teenage pa...

This week on BiLingual in America, we continue the conversation with Dr. Virginia Collier and Dr. Wayne Thomas . They met in 1980, and for the past 40 years have devoted their professional attention to Dual Language programs and their benefits for students. They discuss how students in DL programs learn curriculum in their second language without the expense of losing their first language, why DL...

Dr. Virginia Collier and Dr. Wayne Thomas are internationally known for their research on long-term school effectiveness for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Dr. Thomas is a Professor Emeritus of Evaluation and Research Methodology and Dr. Collier is Professor Emerita of Bilingual/Multicultural/ESL Education, both at George Mason University.  Their research on dual language edu...

On today's podcast, we continue to highlight scheduled speakers at La Cosecha Dual Language Conference, which begins on November 2nd. First, we hear from Dr. Barbara 'BK' Kennedy , founder of GlobaLingo Educational Consulting. BK is trilingual (English, German & Spanish), and has worked as a bilingual ESL and world languages teacher, as well as a district administrator and state program direct...

Today's episode features Patrick Werito , Coordinator of Tribal Initiatives for Dual Language Education New Mexico, and Michael Rodriguez , Director of Dual Language Education New Mexico. These two forces share details of their ongoing work with the bi/multilingual communities in New Mexico and beyond, and of course, what to look forward to at the upcoming La Cosecha \Conference in Santa Fe, New M...

As more states and districts are embracing the “science of reading”, some educators and advocates have raised the question: Will these teaching methods work for English-language learners? Today we are joined by Mario Palma. Director of Bilingual ELL Solutions at American Reading Compan, and Dr. Kathy Escamilla, Professor of Education in the Division of Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity at...

Joy School® English is produced by Alegra Learning, an education company with this simple mission: a life full of meaningful connections. While they are headquartered in Provo, Utah, Alegra Learnings' impact is felt on an international level. Brothers Tal and Eli Eyre share the mission and passion of Joy School® English with Segment Host, Suzanne Lasser .  Joy School is a perfect way for youn...

Three interesting statistics: The US has more immigrants than any other country in the world, Recent studies show that 40 million people living in the US were born in another country and Immigrants today account for 13.7% of the US population. With this in mind, today you will hear Yarina Sencion in conversation with Michelle Caceres . Michelle graduated from Syracuse University and has been an EN...

This segment is Part 2 of Pearls of Wisdom with Dr. Ofelia Garcia . If you missed Part One, you’ll definitely want to listen to that earlier episode. We begin this segment with Dr. Garcia reflecting on the importance of students being proud of who they are, their families, and their cultural roots. Dr. Garcia shared many pearls as we continued our conversation: "Growing a language is adding a pear...

Sometimes as a podcast host you get to speak with a giant in the field and you just can’t get all of the conversation to fit into one episode so what are you to do??? Well, you decide to split the interview into 2 episodes! Yarina and I had a chance to speak at length with a well-known expert with broad and strong roots in the field of bilingual/multilingual education, a true pionera: Dra. Ofelia...

In honor of Bring Your Child to Work Day, program co-host Suzanne Lasser and I shared the Bilingual in America platform with Abraham and Emil, our respective bilingual sons. In the first part of this episode, the boys interviewed a language role model from their lives. Emil speaks with Marcela DeAndrade , his language teacher. Abraham speaks with Arshia Dhawan , his long-time friend, and classmate...

Hi! I’m Suzanne Lasser and today, on BIA, co-host Yarina Sencion and I speak with Susan Bretti and Dr. Lauren Raubaugh about  Bilingual in America’s partnership with Manhattanville College’s Changing Suburbs Institute aka CSI. The theme for  CSI’s 16th annual educator’s forum, taking place virtually on Friday, April 22nd, is Cultural Responsiveness: Unlocking the Potential for Diverse Le...

Xánath Caraza is an internationally acclaimed poet & author, with works translated into seven languages, and a professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Today she speaks with Yarina Sencion about her multilingual life and the role each version of her identity plays in her work. During this powerful conversation, we once again touch on the beauty of Nahuatl, the language of t...

Dr. Nancy Cloud , Professor Emerita of the M.Ed. in TESL Program and in the Department of Educational Studies at Rhode Island College, is a specialist in ESL, bilingual and dual-language education. Prior to her work in Rhode Island College, she coordinated the M.S. TESL and Bilingual Education Programs at Hofstra University for ten years and federally funded projects at the Institute for Urban and...