Talking to Grandma

About Talking to Grandma

Talking to Grandma is a weekly podcast that elevates stories, science, and strategies to help you raise and teach multilingual and bilingual children. Hosted by Dr. Veronica Benavides, founder and CEO of Bilingual Generation, an organization that helps children with bilingualism in their bones stay connected to their heritage languages and cultures. She's a Harvard-educated doctora who has experienced losing, recovering, and passing on her heritage language to her children. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, teacher, researcher, school leader, or simply someone interested in the topics of language learning and language preservation, this podcast is for you. Through interviews with amazing guests and solo episodes, you will find the resources, guidance, and strategies needed to support you in your journey.

Publisher

Talking to Grandma

Category

education · kids & family · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Nov 2022

Latest episode

26 May 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 52 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   26 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   AI in the Age of AI: Ancestral Intelligence in Schools | Live from SXSW EDU

   Host Dr. Veronica Benavides interviews Dr. Shana Knox, Carlos Moreno, and Dr. Cesar Cruz about ancestral intelligence, AI ethics, and preserving community knowledge in education.

2. 

   9 Dec 2025

   S4 Ep40: Navigating Bilingualism in a Multicultural Family with Elisabet De Miguel

   Welcome to Talking to Grandma, a weekly podcast about raising and teaching bilingual and multilingual kids. I’m Jenn Vargas-Pressman, educator, mother, and advocate for bilingualism in our communities. In this episode of Talking to Grandma, we sit down with Elisabet De Miguel, a bilingual educator with more than 17 years of experience and a mother raising her children in a beautiful multicultural family. Born in Soria, Spain, Elisabet grew up surrounded by books, music, and a deep love for learning—foundations that shaped her passion for teaching and language preservation. Now living in Houston, Texas and serving in Aldine ISD, she has dedicated her career to supporting bilingual students and helping families strengthen their children’s language development. In our conversation, Elisabet reflects on: ✨ How she balances life as both a teacher and a mom ✨ Practical strategies she uses at home to foster bilingualism ✨ The role of community, technology, and parent involvement in raising bilingual kids ✨ The academic and emotional advantages bilingual children gain ✨ How language becomes a bridge between cultures, generations, and dreams Whether you’re a parent, educator, or simply someone who values language and culture, this episode offers encouragement, insight, and inspiration for supporting bilingualism in your own home or classroom. 🎧 Tune in to hear Elisabet’s heartfelt story and her wisdom from nearly two decades in bilingual education.

3. 

   2 Dec 2025

   S4 Ep39: The Journey of a Bilingual Educator: Preserving Culture Through Language with Fidel Martínez

   Welcome to Talking to Grandma, a weekly podcast about raising and teaching bilingual and multilingual kids. Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, teacher, or just someone who cares about language and culture, this podcast is for you. Together with our guests, we’ll explore how to support bilingualism in ways that affirm identity and strengthen community. In this episode, we explore the powerful ways language connects us to our culture, our families, and our future through the story of Fidel Martínez—an exemplary bilingual educator originally from El Salvador with a long-standing career in bilingual education in the United States. Fidel shares his inspiring journey: from participating in rural community development programs in El Salvador, to immigrating to Houston, Texas, where he discovered his true calling—teaching and supporting the next generation of bilingual learners. His path is one of resilience, service, and deep commitment to multilingual families. In our conversation, we discussed: ✨ How language preserves culture and strengthens identity ✨ The essential role families play in bilingual learning ✨ Why male educators are so important in early childhood education ✨ How cultural competence transforms teaching and student engagement ✨ The academic and economic opportunities that open up through bilingualism Whether you’re raising bilingual kids, teaching in a multilingual classroom, or looking for inspiration to support language development at home, this episode offers heartfelt insight, practical wisdom, and a moving look at bilingual education through the lens of a dedicated Salvadoran teacher.

Inside a recent episode

AI in the Age of AI: Ancestral Intelligence in Schools | Live from SXSW EDU

Published 26 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] We have so much to learn from Mother Earth, so much to learn from our abuelas. But our audience may not even know their grandmother's name from seven generations ago because they cut off our histories by design. And so please don't tell me that our intelligence is artificial. I'm not going to get it from chat GPT. We're making billionaires and trillionaires off of this stuff. And I think we need to tap into that ancestral wisdom within. That's all I got. Right, right. Yeah. That's incredibly powerful and I think elevates the tension that I often feel as a mother, as an educator, as a Chicana, as a woman in the world of like how much do we try to shape and build the foundation of artificial intelligence and how much do we not go that path, right? […]

Who has been a guest on Talking to Grandma

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Shana Knox
• Carlos Moreno
• Dr Cesar Cruz

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

21 ratings