The Multilingual Project (TMP) is a nonpartisan, multimedia, research, advocacy, and translation company on a mission to create a more robust and responsive multilingual education system.
The Multilingual Project holds a radical belief that a multilingual world is a better one. When those working to improve the education system are equipped with the resources to communicate, connect, and align with multilingual learners (MLs) through and across languages— and when institutional and community voices move in tandem, Colorado can unlock the full potential of a more robust and responsive multilingual education system.
Throughout the month of July, TMP had one goal: to translate 10,000 words from English to Spanish for those working to improve the education system, laying the groundwork for strategic multilingual infrastructure throughout the state. Our approach, guided by our research and advocacy agendas, identifies aligned allies and equips them with the multilingual expertise they need to thrive.
Translation Guided by TMP’s Research & Advocacy Agendas
TMP’s research and advocacy agendas reflect both the pedagogical and systemic realities facing multilingual learners. From language education itself, to the many MLs it touches, TMP’s research and advocacy priorities— operationalized through our multimedia approach to storytelling and expanded by our translation services— are designed to create more robust and responsive outcomes for multilingual learners.
TMP’s research agenda includes investigating the academic outcomes of multilingual learners, analyzing innovative language education models, and measuring the economic impact of multilingualism in Colorado and beyond.
TMP’s advocacy agenda includes advocating for equitable outcomes for MLs across K-12, higher education, and workforce systems, promoting a holistic approach to second/heritage language acquisition and language pedagogy, and advancing alignment between language education and workforce systems.
When paired with translation, our work is operationalized through three core focus areas:
- Language Transformation: Aligning institutions, communities, and systems so that language becomes a lever for systemic change.
- Language Accessibility: Converting critical information into multilingual resources that remove barriers and extend reach to multilingual communities.
- Language Education: Investigating and highlighting educational practices and pathways that empower all MLs, including second language learners (L2s), heritage learners (HLs), and native speakers alike.
Through these combined efforts, TMP leverages research, advocacy, and translation to identify multilingual gaps and meet them in real time.
Language Transformation: The #10,000Words Campaign
TMP’s #10,000Words campaign was a month-long effort to translate 10,000 words of high-impact content as a case study in Language Transformation.
Designed to tune in to Colorado’s multilingual ecosystem, the campaign mapped how information flows between institutions and communities, and identified opportunities to unlock the power of multilingualism for those aligned with our research and advocacy agendas.
Through this work, TMP was able to:
- Immerse in the statewide conversation surrounding multilingual learners, guided by our research and advocacy agendas.
- Capture the intersection of systemic communications—policy updates, news coverage, research, and advocacy efforts.
- Assemble a living snapshot of multilingual opportunity, revealing how translation can extend the reach of mission-driven organizations working to improve the education system.
By the end of the month, TMP curated and translated a 10,000-word archive of blogs, press releases, and research-driven content—a multilingual reflection of Colorado’s education ecosystem and a map of what’s possible when language becomes a bridge for connection.
What We Translated: Creating Multilingual Infrastructure
The #10,000Words campaign included a range of content types that, when woven together, offer a unique opportunity to develop multilingual infrastructure across the education system.
- Blogs – Highlighting high-quality credentials, teacher apprenticeship pathways, the K-12 accountability system, and the state of Colorado’s postsecondary education landscape
- Press Releases – Capturing policy actions and legal developments with implications for MLs and the systems serving them;
- Evergreen Content – Covering biliteracy, workforce pathways, and long-term initiatives designed to strengthen both learners and institutions.
By translating across content types, TMP was able to examine:
- Where opportunities exist for alignment with multilingual education systems
- Where multilingual communication has the potential to extend and amplify impact
- How translation can turn disparate efforts into collective momentum
Translating Across Sectors: Going Beyond Words and Into Worlds
At The Multilingual Project, our mission is to unlock the power of multilingualism for those working to improve the education system, making it more robust and responsive for multilingual learners. As such, translating across sectors is paramount to laying the foundation to create responsive and sustainable multilingual infrastructure that meets families and communities where they are.
Throughout the month, TMP translated across:
1. Policy and Advocacy Organizations
Policy and advocacy organizations operate at the heart of educational research and innovation. In alignment with our research and advocacy agendas, these translations become tools of engagement, connecting policy outcomes to multilingual communities.
2. News Outlets
News outlets play a critical role in delivering information on statewide education trends directly to families. With TMP’s support, we’re able to unlock the power of multilingualism for their reporting, both allowing for extended reach and contributing directly to TMP’s research and advocacy agendas.
In July, The Multilingual Project translated information on federal funding shifts, access to college tuition, and district-level challenges facing multilingual learners. Through our translations, these stories have the power to become bridges of awareness, inviting multilingual families and communities into conversation with the broader state.
3. Think Tanks and Language Education Service Providers
Think tanks and language education service providers are at the heart of generating high-quality insights on language education and workforce pathways. Through translating critical research on biliteracy, postsecondary pathways to economic mobility, and innovative language education models, TMP provides these institutions with extended reach to the families, learners, and communities most impacted.
4. Public Officials and State Agency Leaders
Public officials and state agency leaders represent the connection between federal and state-level approaches to advocacy for multilingual populations in Colorado. In July, TMP translated formal statements and press releases to transform them into invitations for multilingual participation in statewide conversations regarding resource allocation and actions taken by the federal government.
Unlocking the Power of Multilingualism, One Word at a Time
Together, these 10,000 words formed a unique picture of Colorado’s many efforts to create better educational outcomes for multilingual learners. Together, they have the opportunity to knit together a system that often operates in fragments.
TMP’s approach to translating a broad selection of content captured a multilingual snapshot of Colorado’s education system— one that shows that with the right supports, with the correct systems-level interventions, the many disparate efforts could operate as the connective tissue for a stronger, more equitable education system.
Through #10,000Words, TMP demonstrated that translation can do more than convert text—it can unlock the power of multilingualism, align institutions with the communities they serve, and lay the foundation for systemic transformation.
That is the promise of Language Transformation. That is the path toward a more robust and responsive multilingual education system. And this is how we move beyond words, and into worlds.
The Multilingual Project (TMP) is a nonpartisan, multimedia, research, advocacy, and translation company on a mission to create a more robust and responsive multilingual education system.