S6E6: Power of Young Voices | Students at Language Advocacy Days

What happens when you give students the space to just… speak?

At Language Advocacy Days 2026 in Washington, DC, a group of students from across the country did exactly that. No script. No formal panel. Just a circle, a microphone, and a willingness to share what language means in their lives.

What came out of it is this episode.

You’ll hear from students at every stage—some brand new to advocacy, others returning with experience—but all of them speaking honestly about why language matters. Not in theory, but in real life. In friendships. In identity. In the opportunities they’ve had—and the ones they want others to have too.

There’s something different about hearing it directly from them. It’s not polished, and it’s not supposed to be. It’s real. And it’s a reminder that advocacy doesn’t start when you feel “ready”… it starts when you decide your voice is worth using.

If you’ve ever wondered whether young people really understand the impact of language education—this will answer that.

And maybe it’ll leave you thinking about who around you still needs the chance to be heard.

Contact Norah :
fluencyconsulting@gmail.com

Website: https://fluency.consulting
Your journey to discover the richness of language starts here. Join us on the website and embark on a learning adventure like never before!

Social Media Platforms :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FluencyConsultingLLC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fluency_consulting/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NorahLulicJones
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fluency-norah-jones

Transcript

Norah Jones (00:00)
What is the power of young voices you're about to hear in this podcast? Over 20 youth came to the legislative action days in Washington, DC in March of 2026 gathered together by the Joint National Committee on Languages, JNCL. The first day of which is to learn about how to do advocacy, how to speak up, why to speak up.

What to say when you speak up to legislators who control, because of their role, what laws take place, what programs can happen, and how the funding is given to those programs, if at all. The young people you're about to hear sat themselves spontaneously in a large circle, and one by one, they spoke their voice about advocacy.

About language, its power in their lives, and why they felt that all should hear why they believe that language changes lives, opens opportunities, and brings about the kind of identity and connection that they cherish as the upcoming generation for our governments, for our world. Enjoy the podcast.

No, the idea here is that you're brainstorming ways in which your unique voices, because of your unique time, the future that, what the future holds for you, what you're excited about, what you're frustrated by, any of those kinds of things, okay? And since we have this microphone now, we can not only hear, but also record. So the idea is to hear an introductory thing, like that was supposed to be over there, and then we would have a talk, but this one is really a talk. And what do you hear?

What do you want to share? What questions do you have for each other?


Julia Hosage (01:54)
All right. So for those of you who haven't met me yet, my name is Julia Hosage and I'm from Virginia, but this year in the fall, I just started college at Washington University in St. Louis. So WashU for those of you who have heard of it. And I think the biggest takeaway for me just of LAD 26 and being here in general is last year I came up on the stage and I was lucky to be in a panel facilitated by Nora. And I came up and I talked about how

I'm here representing many of super many super passionate students across the country. So many people out there love language and are super invested. But what it really takes is for an amazing teacher to notice that and to push them further. And I'm here because of the amazing teachers that pushed me. And I think at the end of my speech, I called the people at L.A. D25 and the people in the room to

take a chance on students and to give them an opportunity to advocate and bring their voices to LAD 26. And I think it's so beautiful that I get to sit here today surrounded by not one, not two, but how many students we have here again? This is like more than, yeah, so this is amazing. So I just want to say a big round of applause to Amanda and thank you to everyone here for listening to me and showing that like you guys, if you say something, if you advocate, this is what happens.

we see outcomes. Yeah, so I mean, last year going in to talk to legislators, I don't know how many of you are seniors in high school or taking APGov or anything like that. I literally the week before was learning about Congress and it seems like this whole crazy like, my gosh, it's the government. Like that's something that's so foreign to me because I'm a high schooler. Then the next week I was going in talking to legislators.

And I think that's so insane. shows how even as a high schooler, even as a young person, ⁓ America is so amazing in that our democratic processes are so accessible. And if you want to advocate, that's something that's accessible to you. And tomorrow, I'm going to get to talk about ⁓ the English learners funding. That's something that I was really invested in high school, is I worked with a lot of the English learners in my school. And they're some of the most amazing people and friends I've ever met. yeah, they've

treated me with so much kindness and exposed me to their language and culture and I hope to get to bring to their their stories to Capitol Hill tomorrow. So as I'm sure many of you guys will get to do but yeah, that's all I have to say so.



Jake (04:22)
Alright, So my name is Jake and I'm a high schooler out of Plano, Texas. My experience with languag advocacy ⁓ has revolved mainly around the students so it's so amazing that all of you are here today, ready to advocate. Beacause there are certain opportunities in certain regions with certain teachers, but just taking a step back and realizing that in the United States 
there are a lot of students and so the power of language advocacy I believe comes from the students. you ⁓ know whether that be in my school, right, starting multicultural club, and undergoing all these certain actions. It all revolves around how many students can I gather together. And ultimately, that has made my message, language advocacy, become more powerful. And I think in terms of language advocacy days, going to Legislator's office  and speaking as a student, it is ⁓ daunting at first. But I want you guys to realize that the student voice is just so much more powerful, especially because you have certain policies, but it all revolves around how does it help the student. And so I want you guys, tomorrow,  to showcase your voice, your experiences, what challenges you face in your communities, and let them, the legislators know your experiences, and ultimately it would make that meeting a lot more beneficial.


Jada(05:52)
Hi everyone, my name is Jada. It's really exciting to be here. I've actually been here at JNCL ⁓ a few years back, starting a few years back, and it's just crazy to see how many more students we have each year. And it's just super inspiring to see that we can all band together for a common cause. I think in general, when we're talking about language advocacy, I think something that previously may have been overlooked was the power of student voice.

We have a lot of facts on paper. have a lot of language advocates ranging from the administrator level to the teacher level. But sometimes, previously, student voices can be overlooked. But actually, student voices are the most important and powerful stakeholder because us students, when we're gathered here and advocating in front of Congress,

we're advocating for policies that impact our own education, right? Because we're actually going through the steps right now. And when we see a problem, when we see a cut in funding in a certain language program, or when we see that we have these study abroad programs that aren't receiving as much funding as before, these are directly impacting our own trajectory. And how these programs get impacted affects how we can grow professionally and socially and as a person. And it affects our own identity. Because as previously mentioned,language is a huge part of identity. And so I think because of that, because our voice is so important, we're impacting our own education, these people in Congress really like to listen to students. And so previously, from at least the Texas, because both of us are from Texas, Jake would like to open up with some personal anecdotes from his experience learning foreign language and the public school system and how that has shaped his trajectory. And him being here in being able to talk to these congresspeople, it's just a sign that this structure of foreign language has impacted him so much that he and all of you are here today to be in Washington, DC to advocate for these important asks. So it's very daunting at first when you have these multiple fact sheets, a lot of these new asks that you may or may not be familiar with. But if you ultimately start with the fundamentals, why you're here, why do you care about language, you're in their heads the most important stakeholder and they will listen to you. So I will say there's no need to really memorize all those facts. I mean, it's important to reiterate here and there, but ultimately, if you start with your own story, that makes the argument much more powerful. They aren't going to memorize a statistic, but they'll remember your face and why you came so far here today to be able to advocate for what you care about.


Jacob (08:27)
All right, hello everyone. My name is Jacob. I'm a senior at Marist University. This is my first time here ⁓ advocating. ⁓ And something I've been sort of thinking and percolating on while being here of just the world we're living in right now, especially in this country, of you wake up every morning and there's something new. Something new is being done by the government ⁓ and it can be really frustrating, really overwhelming, ⁓ and there's a seeping sense of helplessness almost sometimes. You wake up and you have to react to ⁓ govern imposition on the society that we all have to share. ⁓ And the true death knell of democracy isn't necessarily what the government is doing, but what the citizens allow. If we sit back and we learn how to be helpless in the face of a government that encroaches further and further on ⁓ red lines. That is what truly leads to a society captured by authoritarianism. ⁓ So as citizens of this democracy, is not only our right but our obligation ⁓ to knock on the doors of our elected representatives. They represent us ⁓ and tell them what changes are necessary for a better society because we are in the position to inherit the society that is produced by the number of changes that are happening right now. ⁓ So to sit back and let the world around us be shaped by those who we ⁓ cede power, legitimacy, the levers of change in society, ⁓ one day we're going to wake up without rights that we previously had. So this is a fantastic opportunity not only to push ⁓
further ⁓ language and educational goals, but also to demand to be taken ⁓ seriously as citizens ⁓ and to push back against a ⁓ society that seems like it's further and further ostracizing the voice of those without their hands already on the levers of power.


Simone(10:38)
Hi, I'm Simone. I'm a junior also from Marist University. And this is my first language advocacy days as well. ⁓ I think I wanted to bring up something that you guys touched on, Jacob, a little bit as well. But there's an idea of like a two-way street when it comes to advocacy. I'm a dual major. One of my majors is French. And the first thing I get from most people when I tell them that I'm majoring in language is like, I took Spanish Italian or something in high school and I don't speak it anymore. And I've given up on it. And so I think it's really important that we recognize the two-way street and the idea that what we pour into the government is what they pour back into us and what we pour into each other. So being able to foster this love of language learning, of intercultural communication that exists through language learning and identity, as we talked about as well, I think is so important. I think that the students who like to learn language fostered and don't get it.

In the way that I think a lot of us have to be in order to be here are also really important in making sure that we go to our representatives and our senators and talk to them and our experiences so that everyone can feel that love and that sense of connections as well.


Margaret (11:52)
My name is Margaret. I'm from Lexington, Massachusetts and I'm here with Becky Brerank and who a big has taken a group of us. I just want to say thank you to all the students who have here in the past who have advocated for more student voices ⁓ As a seniorin high school. I have had to do reflecting in the last year about what I want out of the rest of my life.

Something that I have realized that ⁓ public policy, languages, is figuring out how to languages to help individual people is something that really calls to me. so having this opportunity to make a difference, not by waiting 10 years and going to college and grad school and getting to law school, but as a student to be able to share my experiences with three different languages through my school's language programs ⁓ is a really wonderful opportunity. And I think it's really important to have these opportunities at your ages ⁓ because like you were saying before, we  are the next generation. starts with us. And the things that we put into advocacy and government are the things that we will get out of it when they're older.



Sia (13:00) 
Yeah, hi, my name is Sia. I'm also from Lexington High School in Massachusetts. And ⁓ I really do think that language can have relationships that don't really seem at. Well, like if you think about, like I have this friend who I didn't originally speak to, because she spoke a different language, but then I was presented the opportunity to learn French, the language through my school. And from that, just can build relationships. first fosterable before because I was French is grew this beautiful relationship I didn't know was originally possible. I think that because all of us are in the position that can make huge changes to our grade and the grades below us, it's super important to think about the relationships that can come from learning a different language and seeing how many doors and doors into different cultures can open from that. 



Juliet (13:55)
Hi, I'm Juliet from Arkansas. I'm a fourth grader, but so it's obviously my first time language advocation here here. But I think it's really important of all the educators that take forth into letting us being here today and letting us acknowledge that language is more than just language. It's everyone's different culture. Like, if, when you learn a language, it's more than just learning a different way to speak. It's being able to learn about different cultures and maybe one day I'll go to somewhere and be able to speak that language.


A.J. (14:38)
I'm AJ. It's important that people, because We're in languages. Be that can make part of a community and that's important.



Lucas (14:47)
Hi, my name is Lucas. I go to Manningham Central High School, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'm a senior.

A long with some these other messages, I think I really want to point out that language connects us. Especially coming from Lancaster, there's a massive refugee population. I see people who don't speak English as their first language. There are many ⁓ ELs. Seeing how students can learn their language, but then they also learn ours. And I think it goes for not just for Hispanics, but different group. It allows us to another, understand each other.And bring forth cultural unity, and I think that is very important. 



Elda (15:27)
Hi my name is Elda Ortega. I don't even know where to start because I actually graduated from college. I recently graduated from college last December. I graduated as a Spanish educator, so Spanish teacher. I am representative South Dakota and actually something I wanted to hit on was I was actually a former EL student. Growing up, I was born in Guatemala, and moved to the United States when I was actually seven years old. So imagine learning Spanish still, because I only made it to first grade over there in Guatemala, and being introduced to English at the same time. It was a huge struggle learning, especially I moved to Oklahoma the first couple of years and didn't have at all a program to help me out with. They didn't even have EL to begin with, so it was hard to communicate with the teacher. ⁓

I mean, I wasn't strong until I came to South Dakota and that's when they ended up helping me out a little bit more. ⁓ But I think language is more than just communicating with one another, but also building a strong relationship. And I wanna help advocate that because not only are my sisters going through the same thing I went through since they're native speakers ⁓ as well, but ⁓ South Dakota has a school called Sonia Sotomayor that has ⁓ Spanish.

A really well-grade system and I want to continue having that funds and everything else for Spanish-American schools. So, yeah.


Asher Lee (16:56)
My name is Asher Lee. I'm from Palm Bluffs High School over in Wyoming, so probably don't even know it. But it's near Cheyenne if that gives you a good location. So far, all I've had for language advocacy is coming here this year and hearing my dad talk about it. He really likes Spanish, and he's loved to learn all the culture, and he's kind of passed it on to me. So I'm just really excited to hear everything everybody has to say and go speak to the people tomorrow.


Sonya(17:02)
Hi.I'm Sonya, part of the Lexington group. The people have already touched on, this is my first. ⁓ LAD advocacy and first advocacy experience. How this can be really daunting the first time and also especially given the current political climate. I think for, me this has become a
started because I have a passion in language that I discovered through language education.
But it's become a feeling that I have a little more power and not helplessness. ⁓ This is an experience for me and it gives a similar feeling to other people. 


Marcy (18:03)
Hello everyone, my is Marcy. I'm a senior at the University of Texas at Austin. I'm studying to be a bilingual teacher. So I'll be starting this fall and this is my first JNCL and I'm really excited because how many of y'all have said students voice is very important and I have so I came with NABE the National Association for Bilingual Education and we have a student group, student organization. We have some in high schools and ⁓ undergrad students graduate level.

⁓ It's called BESO, so Bilingual Education Student Organization, and it's a lot similar to this. We have grown over the years as well. I mean, we started off really small, and now we have around 100 plus students attending the conferences, and that's where students get to, you know, speak, tell their stories, and we're there to help each other. So it's really nice to see that I have a community over there, and hopefully now one here as well. It's nice to meet you. 



Claire (19:02) 
Hi, my name's Claire. ⁓ I'm from Lexington High School in Massachusetts.

⁓ I think language is important because it's just like, like many aspects of my life. My dad's side of the family, we speak French because we're from the Congo and I in a town with a very large Hispanic community. It's really, really clear in my life that like, think that's really easy to connect like all different types of people and it's important to recognize that.




Sophia (19:32)
Hi, my name is Sophia. also came with the Lexington delegation and I'm a junior. I think for me, well, I take French in school, but from when I was young, I learned Chinese because my mom and dad are both from Taiwan and most of my family also lives back in Taiwan. And so I think when you're from Taiwan, there's always like this geopolitical context of like China and Taiwan.

I'm going to get a lot into that but I think when I was younger I would see learning Chinese as more of a chore. I didn't really like learning it. I would obviously speak it with my parents but it was kind of like just really boring for me. I think growing up now and looking back, learning Chinese was really important to shaping I guess kind of my identity and how I think of myself.

And it's given me a lot of pride to be Taiwanese. I think when you're Taiwanese and you see all that's going on with Taiwan and China, you kind of think like, Taiwan's such a small country compared to China, but the process of being able to learn Chinese from when I was younger, being able to speak with my relatives in Taiwan has given me a lot of pride in who I am. And so when I was in middle school and I was given the option of French, of Spanish, or of Chinese,

I didn't choose Chinese, I chose French because I thought choosing French would be a great way to experience another culture, experience a culture that a lot of people have pride in if they speak French, if they're from France, if they're from other territories that also speak French. And so that's why I think language advocacy is so important because I guess it kind of gives you pride in who you are and in your culture. 



Ninecia (21:25)
Hi, my name is Ninecia and I'm a junior at Lexington high school. And I just wanted to start by saying that learning a language is a privilege and it's an opportunity that not many have. And it's also an opportunity and a privilege that a lot of people take for granted. ⁓ And as a first generation immigrant who has watched her parents sort of build ground up and someone who has been on both sides of like the financial spectrum, someone who has struggled financially to someone who is now in a much more privileged community, ⁓ I kind of feel like I have a responsibility of seeing how I, as a student, can bring the privilege of learning a language to students across the United States. ⁓ And I think it's just a really important thing to understand that the access to language is just the first step to a lot of other political decisions that we could be helping to push. And I think one of the biggest things is just understanding that even though we are students and even though we're young, just taking the first step, even if it's the smallest thing that you could possibly do, the more students that take those small steps can make one big step together. And I think it's just important to understand that people who have different, I guess, levels of privilege and different opportunities. We're all sort of watering the same garden if we're sort of bringing up the next generation. I think ⁓ sort of just looking at what we have around us and grabbing whatever opportunities we can to be able to voice our opinions and to be able to talk to each other and actually hear each other out from different sides of the country is such an important piece of
what makes the United States the United States and that's why I'm here today.


Asa (23:24)
Hello everyone, I'm Asa Aarons-Mealy and I'm here also with Lexington High School. I'm a junior and I take French. First of all, I want to thank all of the students who have came here in the past and came back here this year because without you, I don't think we would be here. This is my first time at Language Advocacy Days and I know my teacher, Becky Brey Rankin, has come here multiple times, but this is the first year where she felt empowered to bring students and I truly think...

that that is such a benefit in the long run because more and more students can come here every year and hopefully next year even more students are sitting here in this circle. I'm very passionate about international relations and politics and when I think about the world order, specifically America's role, we have, ⁓ this is an understatement, but a lot of rebuilding to do because we've fundamentally broken trust that other nations have held in us for 80-something years. And I think part of rebuilding that trust and yes, it's going to take a while. Yes, it's going to be slow and yes interpersonal relations and human connection is going to be so important into rebuilding that trust and what is most underlined in that, language because currently, we're kind of at a point where we don't really accept pluralism globally and that's absolutely a mistake and I think one of the most important steps towards rebuilding trust in other nations is proving that we care about cultures and languages other than ourselves. This is why scholarship and exchange programs such as the Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship or the Congress Bundestag Program are so important because it shows that America, trying, we're investing in the interest of other nations also in our own interest because it's a symbiotic relationship at the end of the day.

We need both sides to benefit, and this is so important for rebuilding trust that we need to rebuild the global alliances that make our world run.


Ellen(25:16)
Hi everyone, I'm Ellen and I'm also part of Lexington High School. I'm a senior this year and my language background is I've grown up with a family that speaks predominantly Mandarin Chinese in our household.

But I've also lived in Canada where I had the privilege of being part of an immersion program, which is where I started my French learning journey. And I ⁓ basically graduated out of the French program last year. So that has been really fun. And ⁓ I'm happy to have the opportunity to try to learn other language with resources I find online, classes I find elsewhere.



Julia Hosage (25:54)
And I kind of wanted to note that I felt like as we were going around, I noticed that a lot of us are in positions of privilege concerning language learning. ⁓ While some of ⁓ us, a lot of us have also experienced districts perhaps with fewer resources to put these areas.

And I think this is why language advocacy days, or these Language Advocacy Days are so important, because we're advocating for something that's national, so we can have resources for more districts ⁓ distributed federally, not just by a state or by a district, which obviously have very different means. yeah, I think we've been, at Lexington High School, we've been in a very privileged position in basically regarding this. And I think...

I think it's awesome that so many of us are here today as students advocating. And I think in the future it would be really cool if we could get people from more states, from more basically like diverse districts that are not so represented like us because our schools, our families have the resources to send us here. And I think this is something that we can do in the future.



Victoria (27:02)
Hello everyone. I am Victoria. I am a junior at Marist University and how proud and grateful I am to be in this circle of young language advocates ranging from ages fourth grade to college graduates. And I really think it instills the sentiment that there is no age requirement or age limit for language advocacy and or advocating in general. ⁓

And i think it really disproves the fact that, we're young. don't have ⁓ life experience, quote unquote, which is completely false because we wake up every day. We see things every day. And we have our own opinions. So the that ⁓ people look down on us because we are young is absolutely false. And I think being here really instills that fact.

That is the reason why I'm here. I want to make a change. I want my voice to be heard so that people younger than me can get the same opportunities that I did not have. 



Gabrielle (28:24)
That's great. Yeah. Hi. I'm really excited to be here as well. My name is Gabrielle, and I'm a senior at Marist University. I'm studying Spanish. And I really appreciate that you guys touched on privilege, because that's something I've been thinking about a lot. And me and Jacob had a really interesting conversation about that last night. because I had the privilege of, learned Spanish through a study abroad program in college, which I'm sure you all will do, but you , solutely, really, really should if you go to university. And still, it was the hardest thing of my life. And this was something that was funded by a scholarship, and I was just taking classes. I didn't have to work. I was living with a host family. And it was so brutally hard to be fully immersed in a different language environment and be forced to learn that. And yet, that's something that so many people don't have the privilege of it being like a paid for vacation and they're not kind of in a classroom environment that is fully tailored to their language education. And I think that's why I'm really excited to talk with senators and representatives tomorrow about funding English learning education. Because there are so many communities, especially rural communities in the United States that have absolutely no structure or support for students who are really young and who are so smart and have so much potential. And yet,
they're labeled as not being smart or as not being high achievers academically solely because of language education. And so I'm reflecting on the great privilege it been for myself to be able to learn another language. And I'm really excited that all of us are going to have this passion fueling us to talk to representatives tomorrow to fund these things that are necessary, that are absolutely necessary in this day and age. ⁓ Yeah, and so I'm really excited. Yeah.


Julia Hosage (29:59)
So yeah, I just wanted to say, like once again, thank you all so much for being here. Thank you for sharing your stories. And just to touch on what Norah said again about what tomorrow is going to look like, you know, like we both, like the three of us said, the idea of it is really scary. But at the end of the day, you're sitting down to have a conversation with someone who cares a lot, just like you. And believe me, all these people are so nice and they really just want to listen to what you have to say. And all of you clearly have a lot to say.

I mean, on that note, I hope you guys all have a wonderful time in DC. That's so crazy. You guys are from all over the country. And I live 20 minutes away, just over the border in Virginia. If any of you guys want any recommendations on things to do, literally please come find me. Trust me. I've been told I do a good job pretending, but I'm probably a lot more scared to speak to you than you are of me. So please, please, please come find me. I'd love to get to know all of you. And I'm so, glad you're here. So I don't know if you guys want to? 



Jake (31:01)
Yeah, just really awesome, here.
Just, embrace all of y'all's perspectives really nervous kind of jittery but at the end of the day like she said ⁓ all they want to do is hear your voice is and being a person is so much better so really take advantage of the opportunity say what you say what you have to say and really just have fun



Jada (31:20)
Yeah, I think whatever we just did just now, replicate that tomorrow because that was so inspiring. And I know that they will really, really enjoy talking and hearing from your stories and why you believe that language matters most to you.

Norah Jones (31:33)
This was an honor to have you here. It's an honor to welcome you and I hope that you have felt welcomed. I hope you will return. I hope you will advocate for those that you know in your school, community and beyond for them to come and share their voices ongoing. Thank you. We appreciate you. Come back and thanks for all that you're doing.



Norah Jones - Closing (31:58)
I hope you enjoyed this podcast with these young voices all gathered together to think about the power of language in their lives and how to express it to others, not just for interest sake, but to change the world and its commitment to offering languages, offering cultural studies, offering the opportunities that only language can bring. 

When you look around in your life, who are the young people that need to be able to speak up? about what language does for them and does for you. Until next time.