The Bilingual Professor

Education EN ↓ 3 episodes

Too many bilingual families have been told that something is wrong with them. The confusion. The mixing. The imperfect grammar, the home language that doesn't sound "native enough," the child who answers in English when you speak to them in Spanish. Nothing is wrong with them. Dr. Kevin Wong is a bilingualism researcher, teacher educator, and father of two emerging multilinguals. He draws from his own mixed race and multilingual upbringing in Hong Kong, and is raising his daughters in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English in the United States. Each episode, he takes the deficit narratives that foll...

Author

The Bilingual Professor

Episodes

EP3: You Don't Have to Be Fluent to Raise a Bilingual Child 27.05.2026 14:11

Many parents stop themselves from passing on a language because they believe their own language is not good enough. Their grammar feels rusty. Their vocabulary feels incomplete. Their accent feels embarrassing. They worry that speaking imperfectly will somehow harm their child’s bilingual development. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Wong challenges that fear directly,. drawing on research from Stephen...

EP2: The "Confusion" Myth 12.05.2026 12:39

One of the most persistent myths about bilingual children is that using two languages will confuse them. In this episode, Dr. Kevin Wong takes that myth apart with cognitive science. Drawing on research from Fred Genesee, Ellen Bialystok, and other leading scholars in bilingualism, this solo deep-dive explains what is actually happening when bilingual children mix languages, pause to find words, o...

EP1: What is Bilingualism, Really? 29.04.2026 10:09

In this pilot episode, Dr. Kevin Wong challenges the most common assumption people hold about bilingualism — that it's simply about knowing two languages. Drawing on foundational and contemporary research, he reframes bilingualism as a dynamic, identity-rich resource rather than a checklist skill. By the end, parents and teachers will feel more confident, less guilty, and better equipped to suppor...