Fluent but often lost. This is one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about my son reading in one of his home languages – Bulgarian – which also happens to be his weaker one. It’s also something I hear from families all the time:
“My child is an excellent reader… but when I ask what they’ve just read, I often get little.”
Sounds familiar?
Imagine that:
Your child sits down with a book in their home language. It’s an idyllic moment – the kind that makes you feel like you’re winning at this whole multilingual parenting thing. You’re ecstatic. Because look at them! Reading! In the home language! They start reading, sounding out each word better than you’ve expected, their voice flowing smoothly.
You think, “Wow, they’ve come such a long way! What a great reader!“
Then you make the mistake of asking: “So, what was that about?”
Blank stare.
A shrug. “Umm… I don’t know.”
“Excuse me?“
You try again. “Wait… you just read it. You don’t know what it was about?”
And suddenly, panic sets in.
Your child is feeling accomplished because they’ve ticked off the “reading” box. You, on the other hand, are spiraling. “Were they distracted? Did something happen at school? Are they tired? Is this too much? Am I pushing them too hard?”
And ultimately, you land on the burning question:
“How come they didn’t get it?! They read it flawlessly! “
Let me tell you – this is not an uncommon occurrence.
Because here’s the thing:
Being able to decode words on a page is not the same as understanding what the text means. A child can read out loud, sounding out the words great and still have little clue about what they just said.
Yep – just because they read it doesn’t mean they read it. But what’s missing then?
Let’s unpack that but start with a simpler question, shall we?! What is reading, really?
Decoding + Language Comprehension = Reading Comprehension
Decoding vs. comprehension
Decoding and comprehension are two essential pieces of the reading puzzle, yet they’re often misunderstood – especially by parents navigating the challenge of teaching their multilingual children to read at home.
Let’s break it down:
Decoding is the ability to recognise and pronounce words, to map out sounds onto symbols and to figure out how those symbols form words in print. A lot goes into learning how to decode, including, but not liited to:
🔹 Phonological awareness – It forms the foundation for learning to read and is a crucial skill in oral language development. Phonological awareness is the ability to recognise and work with the different sounds within a language – identifying rhymes, noticing sound patterns, breaking words down into syllables and isolating individual phonemes (the smallest units of sound in a word).
🔹 Morphological awareness is the ability to recognise, understand and work with the smallest parts of a word that carry meaning – morphemes (prefixes, suffixes, root words, grammatical markers like “-s / -es” for plurals, etc.).
🔹 Orthographic awareness is the ability to recognise common spelling patterns, letter combinations and rules that help with automatic word recognition.
Here you can read more about The role of orthographic mapping of learning to read.
Decoding is what allows children to read words, but decoding alone doesn’t mean they understand what they’ve read.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting for multilingual kids, so let me give you one small example.
Morphological awareness, for instance, plays a big role in language learning, because it allows children to transfer knowledge across languages.
Example 1: “unhappy” & “unglücklich” (German)
- English: happy → un+happy (not happy)
- German: glücklich → un+glücklich (not happy)
The prefix “un-“ in both English and German means “not” or “the opposite of”. A bilingual child who knows “unhappy” and the meaning the prefix “un-“ carries can easily decode and infer that “unglücklich” follows the same pattern (and visa versa) – making language transfer much smoother!
Example 2: “unfair” & “unfair” (same word in both languages, different pronunciation!)
- English: fair → un+fair (not fair) /ˌʌnˈfɛr/
- German: fair → un+fair (not fair) /ˌʊnˈfɛːɐ̯/
In German, borrowed English words are common, just as they are many other languages, and “fair” is one of them. Since both languages use the prefix “un-” the same way, this is an easy win for bilingual learners!
These are just two very simple examples that show how building these cognitive skills can help multilingual learners by:
✅ Recognising that shared grammatical markers (like the prefix “un-“) can help children make educated guesses about unfamiliar words.
✅ Understanding that morphological patterns strengthen vocabulary across languages.
✅ Boosts confidence and motivations as children realise they already know more than they think!
Some children pick up decoding easily, while others need much more instruction. Like everything else in child development, it’s highly individual. However, research shows that all children benefit from training in decoding and cognitive skills. It can be especially useful for multilingual learners, because it will create awareness.
Now, why does this matter? Because if we understand the mechanics behind decoding, we can support our children’s literacy journey in ways that work. (And we might panic less too!)
Comprehension is the ability to understand what’s being read and to engage with a text. It’s what takes reading from recognising words to actually processing meaning, making connections and thinking critically about what’s on the page.
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🔹 Why is this important?
Because both comprehension and decoding are crucial parts of the reading journey. Decoding is basically a means to an end and it shouldn’t be the end goal when learning to read, because a child who relies solely on decoding will have a hard time developing real, long-lasting language skills. Without comprehension, they won’t acquire new vocabulary or truly engage with the text.
So, today, on World Book Day, let’s take a closer look at what reading really means. Because decoding alone isn’t enough. It’s decoding + comprehension that makes reading meaningful.
And the real question is: How do we bridge the gap between reading the words and actually understanding them?
The reality for multilingual children and home-language learning
Many multilingual children – especially those learning to read in their home language in a low-exposure environment – often end up being strong decoders but struggle with comprehension. I see this firsthand at home with my son as well.
After plenty of negotiating (yes, it took some convincing), we agreed on a reading schedule: every second day, he reads in Bulgarian, his weaker home language. Sometimes it’s his heritage language school book, sometimes it’s a chapter book he’s already read in English (his stronger home language) and Dutch (his school language). We chose this book deliberately – he already knows the story, enjoys it and can more easily relate to new words in Bulgarian while also focusing on decoding.
But here’s the problem:
He reads beautifully, words flowing effortlessly.
Then I ask him about the meaning of a word or the gist of a page.
Blank stare.
A shrug. “Umm… I don’t know.”
“Excuse me?”
Cue the internal unease.
He’s happy because the task is done. For him, he’s done his part, he’s reading, keeping his end of the “deal” – his arranged reading time.
And me, well, I’m sitting there, wondering what just happened?
The spiral begins – Was he distracted? Is he tired? Did something happen at school today? Am I pushing him too hard? But the core question remains: How come he didn’t get it? He read it beautifully! This is so common. Kids can decode words perfectly but not fully comprehend what they’re reading. Because – hot take – reading words is not the same as reading with understanding.
But why does this happen?
🔹 The vocabulary in home / heritage language books doesn’t always align with the words children hear in daily life.
🔹 The books used in heritage language schools are often written for monolingual children in the country where the language is spoken, which doesn’t always translate well for multilingual learners outside of the country.
🔹 Multilingual children don’t get enough real-world practice with certain words, making it harder to form meaningful connections.
🔹 They lack vocabulary in their home language.
🔹 They might be used to answering comprehension questions in their school language but struggle in their home language.
🔹 Their home language is significantly weaker than their other languages, making comprehension harder.
🔹 Individual factors, such as impatience, lack of motivation, a need for more engaging materials, etc. can all play a role.
And here’s another layer that adds to the problem:
❌ Many parents (understandably) celebrate decoding success without realising their child isn’t actually understanding the text.
❌ Many children are so focused on getting the words right that they don’t stop to think about what the text means. (My son is a prime example – he rushes to be done, because fulfilling the task has top priority.)
🚪 Enter: The power of visuals!
So, how do we fix this? First, when reading together in your home language, check for understanding. (I’ll dive into this in another post.) But if you notice gaps in comprehension, you need to make meaning more accessible.
Using visuals is one of the most powerful strategies to do that. I love love love beautifully illustrated books—sometimes I even buy them just for the illustrations. (No judgment, please. 😆) Pictures tell a story in ways that words alone can’t and, when paired with text, they offer so much more than just something pretty to look at. They tell their own story and can be a fantastic support during reading practice. They can:
✔️ Help children make meaningful connections by providing context
✔️ Help children by relating pictures to their own life experiences
✔️ Reinforce understanding of new words and concepts
✔️ Bridge knowledge gaps and build background knowledge
✔️ Reduce frustration for kids struggling with comprehension
✔️ Make reading a lot more fun and engaging
How to use visuals to support comprehension:
✔️ Choose picture books with strong, vivid and detailed illustrations that help tell a story.
✔️ Story mapping – Draw (or have your child draw) key moments in the story to reinforce understanding.
✔️ Let them draw – sometimes children get too excited by a charcter or a (part of a) story that they want to draw a picture of it right away. (my son never liked doing that, my daughter, on the other hand, is obsessed. And not just her!)
✔️ Object matching – If you are reading about fruit or vegetables, grab some. If you’ve been to the zoo, pull up photos while reading about animals. Tangible connections help!
✔️ Word walls & sticky notes – Write down tricky words, add pictures and build visual reminders for reinforcement.
When comprehension is a struggle, pushing children to analyse texts, such as homework from heritage language school or drilling them with comprehension questions, can easily backfire. Instead, turn reading into an experience.
Reading should feel like something children GET to do, not something they HAVE to do!
Research shows that children acquire far more vocabulary through reading than they do through everyday conversation with peers. Think about it: the vocabulary they hear from peers is often at their own level. Books expose them to words and ideas they might never hear otherwise.
And here’s the deal: Reading is not just about sounding out words – it’s about making meaning, expanding imagination, developing critical thinking and connecting to heritage and identity.
Teaching a child to read with understanding is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. And comprehension isn’t just fundamental for literacy – it’s essential for language growth. So, let’s stop treating reading as a rigid, sit-down affair. It’s an experience, a journey and an adventure. Use visuals, play and interact with the stories to make it meaningful.
💬 Have you ever noticed your child decoding without fully understanding? What’s worked for you? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Resources:
- Foster, Tamra C., (2007) “Using picture books to enhance content area reading” (2007). Graduate Research Papers. 668.
- David, M., & Sulaiman, N. A. (2021). The Functions of Visualization in Assisting Reading Comprehension among Young Learners. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and SocialSciences, 11(10), 68–79
- Goral M. et al. (2006) Cross-language lexical connections in the mental lexicon: evidence from a case of trilingual aphasia. Brain and Language, Aug;98(2), pp. 235-47.
- Wang, X.-l. (2008) Growing up with three languages. Birth to eleven. Bristol: Multilingual Matters
- Wang, X.-l. (2011) Learning to read and write in the multilingual family. Bristol: Multilingual Matters
- https://www.colorincolorado.org/teaching-ells/ell-classroom-strategy-library/using-visuals
- https://www.continentalpress.com/blog/importance-picture-books-for-ell-students/?srsltid=AfmBOopeNhVNOKpoxmYd9xo96DYpYqXKK1v8mhTwt4kTDiHErGkr6kcn
- https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-incorporate-visual-literacy-your-instruction/
- https://www.nwea.org/blog/2025/all-about-language-comprehension-what-it-is-and-how-it-can-help-your-child-read/
