bilingual

Iraqi fiction writer Anoud recently moved to New York.

2017 feels almost as strange as this writer’s dystopian vision of Iraq in 2103

Books

The satirical fiction of Mosul-born Anoud targets ISIS, the international community and even refugees.

Kimberly Medina, 19, votes during the U.S. presidential primary election at Gates Street Elementary School in Los Angeles, California, on  June 7, 2016. Californians will vote Nov. 8 on a ballot measure that seeks to overturn a ban on bilingual education.

Should kids be learning in more than one language? Californians just decided “yes.”

Education
Pregnancy

Our ability to speak doesn’t begin with our first words. It begins in the womb.

Science
Yowei Shaw and her grandpa

Help! I can’t communicate with my Mandarin-speaking grandpa

Education
language_3

Parents and students rallied to keep this indigenous language school open

Education
Le Rencontre, a French-speaking meetup at the Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston, Maine.

In Maine, a little French goes a long way

Arts, Culture & Media

Fifty years ago, kids caught speaking French in Maine schools might be punished. Today, schools are teaching it to help young people regain their heritage, in a state where 20 percent have a Franco-American background.Fifty years ago, kids caught speaking French in Maine schools might be punished. Today, schools are teaching it to help young people regain their heritage, in a state where 20 percent have a Franco-American background.

A tilde added to the sign for the N subway line in Sunset Park, a heavily Hispanic neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Ride New York City’s N train, with a Spanish twist

Arts, Culture & Media

Anonymous street artists are putting accent marks on a New York City subway line to draw attention to the growing number of Spanish speakers in the city.