The focus of this article is to examine the notions of language learning, heritage (referring to tradition) and ancestry (descendants & properties passed on), and cultural identification for Urdu-speaking immigrant children now living in Canada. This article provides a detailed ethnographic account of an innovative language program developed to teach Urdu to children within the Canadian context. The author draws on the research of Taylor (1983) to show that the evolution of literacy transmission is highly dependent on the childhood experiences of individual educators and evolves through the interplay of their unique biographies and educative styles, including the use of various texts. Questions explored include the following: What types of texts are used? What are the students' reactions to the texts? What are the teacher's practices within the classrooms? What kind of an impact does the learning of Urdu have on the identity construction of these children? (Contains 3 figures and 1 footnote.)