Kuliso
There's no shortage of EdTech products claiming to support English Language Learners. Most of them are general-purpose platforms with ELL support bolted on as an afterthought. A few are purpose-built for multilingual classrooms. And the line between "useful" and "just marketing" isn't always obvious from a product page.
This is a straightforward comparison of seven tools teachers actually use in multilingual classrooms — including their real limitations, not just their selling points. Teachers respect honesty, so we'll give it to you straight.
The Tools
Built specifically for multilingual classrooms, Kuliso presents academic content in English alongside native-language instructional support — not translation, but home-language scaffolding. Designed around ESL pedagogy rather than adapted from a generic platform. Strong for grades 3-12 across content areas.
- Purpose-built for ELL/multilingual learners
- Dual-language scaffolding (not just translation)
- WIDA-aligned language support levels
- Academic content + language development together
- FERPA/COPPA compliant, student data stays local
- Newer product, smaller content library than established platforms
- Best for ELL-focused practice; not a full curriculum replacement
- Language support depth varies by language
Khan Academy's AI tutor, powered by GPT-4. Excellent for math, science, and humanities tutoring. Khanmigo won't give students the answer — it guides them through problems with Socratic questions. The Socratic approach works well for students with conversational English but can frustrate students still developing academic language proficiency.
- Broad content coverage across subjects
- Pedagogically sound Socratic method
- Free for teachers and students
- Strong math and science scaffolding
- Language responses assume conversational English fluency
- No home-language support
- Scaffolding not adapted to English proficiency level
- Requires strong reading comprehension to benefit
The classroom version of Duolingo, designed to build English language skills. Excellent gamification and student engagement. Important distinction: Duolingo teaches English, it doesn't support learning content through English. It's a language acquisition tool, not a content scaffolding tool — don't confuse the two use cases.
- Very high student engagement and retention
- Free for teachers and students
- Adaptive to individual language proficiency
- Good for building conversational and basic academic vocabulary
- Teaches English, doesn't scaffold content learning
- Academic language development is limited
- Not aligned to content standards
- Can become a distraction if not managed intentionally
Built into Microsoft's suite (Word, Teams, OneNote, Edge). Text-to-speech, syllable highlighting, line focus, picture dictionary, and translation in over 100 languages. The most immediately useful free tool for ELL students — and it integrates with workflows most schools already use.
- Free with Microsoft 365 (most districts already have it)
- 100+ language translation for text
- Text-to-speech with natural voices
- Works across existing Microsoft tools
- Picture dictionary for vocabulary support
- Translation only — no instructional scaffolding
- Passive tool: no adaptive or interactive features
- Requires Microsoft ecosystem (less useful for Google Workspace districts)
Every teacher knows it. Worth addressing honestly: Google Translate is useful for quick vocabulary lookups and sentence-level comprehension checks. It's not a teaching tool. Using it as a primary scaffold means students are working in their home language and submitting English output — language acquisition doesn't happen in between.
- Free and instantly available
- 133 languages supported
- Good accuracy for common languages
- Useful for communication with families
- Not a teaching tool — bypasses language development
- Academic language translation is often poor quality
- Encourages code-switching without building English bridges
- Students learn to game it rather than engage with English
Newsela offers current-events articles leveled from grade 2 to grade 12 on a single topic. The ELL version adds Spanish-language versions for most articles. Excellent for differentiated reading instruction — teachers can assign the same topic to the whole class at different reading levels and languages.
- Leveled text on same topic allows whole-class discussion
- Spanish versions for most articles
- Current events engage older students
- Built-in quizzes and annotation tools
- Spanish-only for second language; limited other languages
- Paid subscription required for full features
- Reading-focused; doesn't support math or science ELL scaffolding
Ellevation is a data and program management platform for ELL programs at the district level. It's less of a student-facing tool and more of a teacher and administrator tool — tracking proficiency levels, generating accommodation plans, and analyzing program data. Powerful for ELL coordinators and ESOL leads.
- Comprehensive ELL program data management
- Streamlines accommodation documentation
- Strong reporting for compliance requirements
- WIDA-aligned growth tracking
- Administrative tool, not a student-facing learning platform
- Significant cost — typically district-level contracts
- Implementation requires district IT and data team involvement
How to Choose
Different tools serve different purposes — the mistake is expecting one platform to do everything. Here's a simple framework:
- For content scaffolding during academic practice: Kuliso (purpose-built for multilingual academic content)
- For building English language skills directly: Duolingo for Schools
- For reading differentiation and text access: Newsela ELL + Microsoft Immersive Reader
- For AI tutoring in math and science: Khanmigo (for students with intermediate+ English)
- For ELL program management and compliance: Ellevation
- For quick family communication translations: Google Translate
The tools that do the most pedagogical damage are the ones that bypass language development entirely — primarily Google Translate used as a primary scaffold and any platform that lets students complete assignments in their home language. Teachers who rely on these tools may see short-term completion rates improve while language acquisition stalls.
The tools that do the most good are the ones that make English comprehensible without replacing it: scaffolding input in the home language, providing academic vocabulary support, and requiring English output.
Try the Kuliso demo — no signup required
Purpose-built for multilingual classrooms. Native-language scaffolding, not translation. Try it with your students today.
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