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

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

2017 feels almost as strange as this writer's dystopian vision of Iraq in 2103
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."

Should kids be learning in more than one language? Californians just decided "yes."
Pregnancy

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

Our ability to speak doesn't begin with our first words. It begins in the womb.
Yowei Shaw and her grandpa

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

Help! I can't communicate with my Mandarin-speaking grandpa
language_3

Parents and students rallied to keep this indigenous language school open

Parents and students rallied to keep this indigenous language school open
Le Rencontre, a French-speaking meetup at the Franco-American Heritage Center, Lewiston, Maine.

In Maine, a little French goes a long way

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.

In Maine, a little French goes a long way
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

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.

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