Interest in Asian languages in U.S. schools is rising rapidly, but the excitement often comes with a troubling question: Are we celebrating the cultures connected to these languages, or simply treating them as useful commodities?

In this episode, we break down key insights from the commentary “Walking a Fine Line: Tensions in Bilingual Education for Asian Languages in the United States” and explore the complex realities shaping Asian language programs today.

You’ll hear how educators and communities navigate realities such as:

• Schools prioritizing the benefits of learning languages like Mandarin, Japanese, or Korean while overlooking the deeper cultural knowledge, traditions, and lived experiences tied to them.
• Teachers being valued for their linguistic skills but not always respected for their identities, expertise, or the cultural labor they bring into classrooms.
• Growing interest in language proficiency that sometimes eclipses the importance of supporting heritage, belonging, and community connection for the students and families who need it most.
• The widening gap between what communities hope bilingual programs can offer and what schools actually deliver when decisions are driven by enrollment, prestige, or convenience.

But this story is also about possibility.

We highlight promising shifts, including statewide investments in recruiting teachers of languages such as Cantonese, Hmong, and Vietnamese, and the work educators are doing to create spaces that uplift identity and humanity rather than reduce languages to tools or trends.

This episode invites educators, families, and policymakers to reconsider the purpose of Asian language programs and to advocate for approaches that honor people, culture, and community as much as the languages themselves.

Subscribe, share, and stay bilingual. Thanks for listening!

Asian American Mandarin Dual Language Immersion (MDLI) teachers are the backbone of U.S. Mandarin programs. So why do so many feel like they still don’t fully belong?

In this episode, we break down the surprising findings of a qualitative study with 13 California MDLI educators who reveal a powerful paradox:
Schools celebrate their Mandarin skills as a “valuable asset,” yet often dismiss their cultural identities, pedagogical expertise, and professional legitimacy.

You’ll hear how these educators navigate:

• The “forever foreigner” stereotype and anti-Asian biases that quietly shape school culture.
• Model minority expectations that pressure them to perform without complaint.
• Instances where they’re invited in for their language skills—but pushed out when it comes to decision-making, curriculum design, or program vision.
• Subtle and not-so-subtle messages that label their teaching practices as “different” or “not American enough.”

But this story isn’t only about struggle.

We also uncover what restores belonging:
Humanizing relationships, intentional allyship, and communities of support where these educators feel seen, valued, and fully recognized, not just for the language they bring, but for the whole of who they are.

This episode invites educators, parents, and administrators to rethink what it means to truly embrace bilingual teachers, not just as linguistic commodities, but as cultural and pedagogical leaders who shape the heart of dual language education.

Subscribe, share, and stay bilingual. Thanks for listening!