Bridges: Children, Languages, World (Bridges) facilitates the development of foreign language instruction programs for children, foregrounding Less-Commonly Taught Languages, such as Arabic or Chinese. We work with faculty from Indiana University-Bloomington’s Department of Literacy, Culture and Language Education, at IU’s School of Education, in mentoring IU students as they learn how best to teach these unique languages in any number of community environments.

Since 2006, Bridges has worked with university and community partners, such as Bloomington, Indiana’s Monroe County Public Library, to offer complimentary, quality language instruction to the parents and children of Monroe County. Participating programs utilize current models of communicative teaching, which means fun for our kids! Team Leaders use free play, imagination, and crafts to help children acquire new skills.

Bridges is currently developing on-line tools for home use and guides to help you establish language programs in your own community! For more information about Less-Commonly Taught Languages, you may visit the U.S. Department of Education.