Roots
Where Fun Grows into Forever
Idea in Education
Introduction
We’re Roots, a heritage language–learning platform designed for children growing up in multilingual families. As American-born Chinese kids enter school, they quickly lose connection to their heritage language. Parents fear cultural loss but struggle to motivate kids, and traditional Chinese school turns them off further. Roots helps first-generation Chinese-American parents raise kids who love Chinese, not dread it.
Problem
As American diasporic children enter school, they often lose touch with their heritage language. Our BHM focuses on Chinese-American children ages 4-9 and their first-generation parents in the Northeast (MA & NJ-centric). Once children gain fluency in English, their willingness and ability to use Chinese diminishes. Parents worried about cultural identity loss struggle to motivate them, and traditional methods frustrate kids by emphasizing seemingly unimportant skills like writing, souring their attitudes toward Chinese. Contrary to expectation, the parents we spoke to preferred their child built a lasting emotional connection to Chinese rather than build measurable skills, something they already had from extracurricular Chinese learning such as Chinese schools. With a cofounder who experienced the same issue when she was younger, we believe that this problem is both important and prevalent.
Opportunity
We offer a creative immersion app that builds emotional connection to Chinese and improves intrinsic motivation for children with apathetic or negative attitudes. Our core value proposition serves both children and parents: kids interact with Chinese in ways aligned with their media preferences, while parents see their children connect emotionally to Chinese and culture.
Currently, our solution involves generating fill-in-the-blank style stories based on the children's interests, which will then morph into a storybook that they can watch and share with their friends or classmates in a closed-circle setting.