A Birmingham educator and author is working to save heritage languages from extinction by creating bilingual children's books that help families pass their mother tongue to the next generation.
Divya Mistry-Patel, known as Dee, has written a Gujarati-English picture book titled Mari Rang Be Range Biladi (My colourful cat) after watching children in her community lose the ability to speak their parents' language.
"I watched cousins who could understand Gujarati but couldn't speak it, and eventually children who couldn't even understand," she said.
According to UNESCO, nearly half of all spoken languages are endangered, with one disappearing every two weeks. In the UK, around 20 per cent of children speak or understand more than one language, yet only 12 per cent of children's books published in 2022 offered any non-English content.
Mistry-Patel's book includes more than just dual-language storytelling. The package contains Gujarati alphabet guides, comprehension exercises for families, and QR codes that link to audiobooks for proper pronunciation. Full English translations help non-Gujarati-speaking parents join in.
"This isn't just about language retention," she explains. "It's about giving children the tools to navigate their multicultural identities with confidence."
Born into a multicultural Gujarati family in the UK, Dee experienced firsthand how heritage languages fade in diaspora communities. Her personal observations led to her creating tools to make language learning accessible for all generations.
Major retailers often put bilingual books in "special interest" sections, while traditional publishers frequently reject bilingual manuscripts, citing "limited market potential."
To overcome these barriers, the British Indian author chose to self-publish while partnering with educational institutions for distribution. She has also developed teacher resources and used social media to build community support.
The strategy has worked, she said, with the book gaining support in both educational circles and Gujarati communities worldwide.
Research from the University of Chicago revealed that bilingual children develop stronger thinking skills, showing 20 per cent greater cognitive flexibility than children who speak only one language.
Despite these proven benefits, the publishing industry has been slow to respond to the demand for multilingual education materials, Dee pointed out.
Her work is gaining recognition. She holds nominations for the Kent Women in Business Awards 2025, where she is a runner-up in the Innovation Award and finalist in the Women In Education Award. She is also shortlisted for The Tutors' Association Awards in two categories.
Through her company Academic Achievements Ltd, she is now developing versions in Punjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil, potentially reaching over 500 million native speakers globally.
A recent partnership with local schools and Kent libraries has made the book freely available to local families, with plans for similar programmes nationwide.
As linguist Dr Ananya Sharma notes: "When we lose a language, we don't just lose words - we lose entire ways of seeing the world."
According to Dee, preserving linguistic diversity requires community effort. She encourages people to request bilingual books at local bookstores and libraries, share experiences using #MotherTongueMatters, and gift bilingual books for birthdays and holidays.
The book is available on Amazon, with more books planned in both South Asian languages and English. All are designed with neurodivergent students in mind, drawing on her experience in the education sector.
