Bilingual+ Journey with monolingual origins: Empowering Kids with TA-DA!
Why in the world would I embark on a startup while finally becoming mother after 10 years of trying? Let’s delve in to the real story behind building the company, TA-DA! Language Productions.
Hello, fellow language enthusiasts! I’m so glad you stopped by. I’m Michelle, and I am here to to share my very personal journey in hopes it will inspire you to take your own children down a bilingual+ path, as I see it as integral for not only personal success, but key to a more connected, peaceful planet. (And lord knows we can use more peace on earth!)
TA-DA!’s CEO Michelle Glorieux & her son enjoying the park in Los Altos, CA
I’m proud to introduce myself as not only a woman, wife, teacher, and devoted mother to this multilingual; but also, the founder and CEO of TA-DA! Language Productions, where we stop at nothing to bring the world of both language and cultural wisdom to our youngest learners in ways that are both engaging and appropriate for their age. More on that in a moment, but first, on to the storytelling to put all of this into perspective.…
Born and raised in the South of the United States, I experienced a childhood where diversity was, let’s just say, not abundant. However, a serendipitous stint abroad in Germany as a little girl (and the contrast upon our return to the States), would spark a deep fascination and life-long love affair with all things language and culture.
Though I would sadly lose my ability to speak German upon returning to the States as my parents did not speak the language, the experience left an indelible mark on me.
Michelle with her father during their short stint living in Germany.
I would go on to pursue linguistic studies at college, where yep, you could find me at all times with infamous little red French dictionary in hand, looking up every new word I would encounter around me that I possibly could. (You and I might have brushed paths, literally, as I would also look words up, yep, whilst walking. (Pardonnez-moi, if this was you!) Les amis, I had the ‘language bug’; and there was just no getting rid of it.
Upon graduation, I would choose to share that love and embark on the extraordinary journey of teaching languages to children of all ages on four different continents.
As fate would have it, I met and married a man from another country with additional languages I did not know - and no free time at that time to learn it (I know, I know. The shoemaker without shoes…) But things got tricky when our union anointed me with a child who of course had to have them. (On a side note, we were also living in a community that had not one, but two MORE, different languages than the three already in our daily lives, but again, I’ll stash this part of the story away for another day.)
Now let me just say, it blows my mind how hard it is to find language learning resources that are designed for kids.
I’m talking the basics - toys, dolls, books…it was the case then, and sadly my friends, it is still the case now.
Add non-native speaking parent/caregiver to the mix and you have a whole other can of worms. Why, you might wonder if you’re lucky enough to not be in this conundrum? Because you need AUDIO, sound…native speaker pronunciation. I didn’t speak my husband’s language like a growing number of couples all over the world, and I was the one at home with baby, while he was at work.
Those first years are CRUCIAL - not just for the first language, but the subsequent ones, too.
Say it isn’t so! In the 21st century?!
And those crucial years happen to be the same ones when screens are literally detrimental to their growing brains. Enter the next conundrum:
Just about EVERYTHING out there for language learning is either an app - or it’s on Netflix.
(Wah!!!!)
Ironically, for years as a language teacher, I had been experiencing escalating clamor by my students’ families not only about the screen-time nightmare, but their inability to find native-speaking audio resources to teach their children languages in which they weren't fluent. (Note they would literally ask me to record myself reading books - and gulp, singing songs in my native tongue. Join me in praying that these efforts at bringing my students bliss doesn’t come back to haunt me one day!)
But living it as a mother, I guess it somehow managed to cut more deeply. (It took us ten years to have him so I was a bit, shall we say, intense, about giving him everything he deserved.)
And that's when the creative juices started flowing.
Introducing TA-DA! Language Productions: Bridging Languages and Cultures for Young Learners - no matter what languages their adults speak.
Enter TA-DA! Language Productions, my wild and wonderful EdTech startup, which honest to goodness was not the original plan. I’m a teacher - and a mother, for Pete’s sake. But life had other intentions for me, and here we are.
Our solution? "Touch Paper Tech," AKA talking books! Yes, you heard that right!
Imagine this: a simple touch of a little finger on regular, ol’ paper transforms it into a gateway to the colorful world we inhabit - not just the sights of that world, but also THE SOUNDS. Think of it as travelling, but you don’t need to pack all those bags for you and your kids. All you need is to climb into a cosy chair and pick up your favorite, sweet-smelling, physical book. And get this, the voices that emit from those magical pages? They're real humans living on all corners of our beautiful planet - and they’re talking to - and teaching - your kids all about it, in superb sound quality. We're even talking high-def, CD quality in some of our series. Mind-blowing, right?
Well, we imagined it, and we made it happen. It’s pretty exciting actually, as we’re only getting started sharing the last 6+ years with you, and I’m thrilled to unveil, one by one, the many, many plans we have in store.
At TA-DA!, we utilize innovative "touch paper tech", A.K.A. SmartPaper, to create a unique language learning experience custom-made for our children, so that they may embark on a new language journey when it counts most, from birth.
First up, talking books that allow children to see our colorful world while also hearing directly from those real people living on all corners of it. With just a touch of their little fingers on the pages of real paper - both thin and board book - our children can now embark on a journey where they not only see vivid images but also hear real native speaker voice pronunciation in stunning sound quality.
And as this initiative is so much more than product-centric, we have a unique process that allows us to be sure we get exposing the delicate topic of culture just right.
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As a globetrotting language teacher, a mommy to a multilingual superstar, and the proud Founder & CEO of TA-DA!, let me tell you, I am on a mission.
Why? Because I firmly believe that early exposure to the diverse tapestry of our world is the key to creating a more inclusive, open-minded and yes, peaceful planet. World peace. I’m talking about wiser, kinder, more connected kids. (Our future adults!) Now that’s something that justifies me staying up until 2am to get this post out.
I hope you’ll join us on this exciting journey as we dive deeper into so many of the exciting topics brought up today, in subsequent posts. Together, let's celebrate the power of language and culture in shaping young minds and fostering a brighter future for all of us, no matter where fate would have it that we happened to have been born.
Is there something you’d like to share, hear or learn more about? I hope you’ll join me and our team on this very special journey as we bring long overdue, age-appropriate resources that make it easy to raise happy bilinguals+. Join the conversation and let’s flourish together!
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Yours in Language, Culture, and Play,
Michelle Glorieux
Founder & CEO, TA-DA! Language Productions
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