Language in the Classroom

[SandyinTex]

We have this the wrong way. Our kids should all be taught a second language from K-12. As for immigrants, teach them in English only. Worked for me, I learned English in Kindergarten.

All three of my children took Spanish from elementary thru high school and though they passed not one of them can speak the simplist sentences or words for that matter. I can speak better Spanish than they and I learned from my close Mexican friends. Also of note every Mexican friend I had but two failed Spanish because it is not the Spanish they speak in Mexico but is Castilian Spanish of Spain. IMO, that needs to be changed. My friends who passed Spanish had Castilian ancestry though it was still very hard for them.

 

[SandyinTex]

as a teacher, im surprised you dont yet know the difference between intelligence and common sense. no wait.. youre a teacher! carry on.

hehehe...ahem...cough! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

 

[CFMPP]

No just English, however I think if there is a large # of any other group that that language should be taught to the English speaking students.That would only strengthen that community and make us smarter Americans.

 

[Days]

mind boggling. So, we should teach in the language needed; but only to the English speaking kids? Hire bilingual teachers, but still deny the kids that need it, an education?

you are right about one thing; we do need smarter Americans.

 

[CFMPP]

I see your point. Always children and the country should come first and both languages should be mandatory, however unless the English speaking students are taught the other language too then the child who speaks the other language should not be taught English because I've already seen the unfair advantage that the dual language person has over the singular. I'm not closed minded. This is my opinion now. It is subject to change.I work and pay taxes. I love everyone.You do not need to insult a person to get your point across.I'm on here because I'm trying to learn and have an informed position.

 

[Days]

I might not understand your post and I might not be getting your intention at all. Please don't take my hard edge as disrespect, I meant no disrespect.

If you read my posts in this thread, it becomes painfully obvious that my most earnest concern is that the children are reached... that's the whole point of bilingual education, not language.

 

[mark14]

Can you point out where I said what you are accusing me of saying.

"he's saying that language is the only thing holding them back."

It isn't the only thing yet it prolly is the biggest thing.

Yeah that and the drinking.

 

[tobaccoroad]

When my mother showed up for her first day of school, freshly bathed and powdered, in a brand new starched dress, everything went fine until she started to speak, at which point she was told to go home and not darken the schoolhouse door until she learned to speak English. There wasn't a trace of an accent from her native language in her speech when she died. She had learned enough before then, that when Hitler and the Japanese reared their ugly heads on the world scene, America needed to do whatever it took to smash them.
How's your Japanese?

 

[tobaccoroad]

One apostrophe:

"A man that can speak two languages is blessed.
A nation that has to speak two languages is cursed."

Take our neighbors to the North, Quebec, threatening to secede from the Union every two to four years, requiring language police to go around to all businesses in order to ensure every contract is written in French. Good grief!

 

[Woolleybugger]

Sorry but I am unsympathetic to Mexican Spanish advocates. Their dialect is horrible. They should know their own language just as we must. The Queens English is still the standard, we don't teach Ebonics or Southern or Appalachian or Boston...we teach English. FYI, my family is from Andalusia and even they think Castilian is not the real language but at the very least, it is grammatically correct and the language of the intellectual Spaniard. If you want to play in that world, you should know the proper means of communication. In Latin America, they all think that Mexican Spanish is gutter Spanish, the very worst Spanish spoken on the planet. I liken it to pidgin English.

 

[JackDallas]

Sorry but I am unsympathetic to Mexican Spanish advocates. Their dialect is horrible. They should know their own language just as we must. The Queens English is still the standard, we don't teach Ebonics or Southern or Appalachian or Boston...we teach English. FYI, my family is from Andalusia and even they think Castilian is not the real language but at the very least, it is grammatically correct and the language of the intellectual Spaniard. If you want to play in that world, you should know the proper means of communication. In Latin America, they all think that Mexican Spanish is gutter Spanish, the very worst Spanish spoken on the planet. I liken it to pidgin English.

You are right about that. I learned Spanish in school initially and they taught us proper Spanish grammar. I see, and hear, Spanish misused everyday. It makes sense I guess; few English speaking people use proper English. I image that there are Poles who butcher the Polish language, as well.

I often see billboards all over Dallas with grammaticaly incorect Spanish used. You'd think they would have someone proofread the stuff before they post it in public.

 

[SandyinTex]

Sorry but I am unsympathetic to Mexican Spanish advocates. Their dialect is horrible. They should know their own language just as we must. The Queens English is still the standard, we don't teach Ebonics or Southern or Appalachian or Boston...we teach English. FYI, my family is from Andalusia and even they think Castilian is not the real language but at the very least, it is grammatically correct and the language of the intellectual Spaniard. If you want to play in that world, you should know the proper means of communication. In Latin America, they all think that Mexican Spanish is gutter Spanish, the very worst Spanish spoken on the planet. I liken it to pidgin English.

Mexico is not Spain and America is not England. They are different countries altogether so it stands to reason the languages would change to reflect that. I'm sure in Spain there are Spaniards who slaughter the hell out of that language and as you mention the different areas in Spain consider they are the only ones who speak correct Spanish in the first place and we've heard certain groups in the UK butcher the Queen's English so it's hard to criticize Mexicans and Americans for not speaking those respective languages correctly. As far as I can tell the Queen's English is not taught in American schools and as a point of fact there is no official language in the UK nor has there ever been. There are words in the Queen's English that have different meanings than the same words used in America. Why would Castilian Spanish be taught in Mexico or America for that matter if the majority of Mexican people do not speak it? The upper classes in Mexico might take exception that they speak gutter Spanish. I'm sure it's a matter of opinion.

Most languages, maybe all of them are nothing more than a conglomeration of other languages, IMO. I'm pretty sure it depends on who you speak with as to which ones are correct.

 

[JackDallas]

Castillian Spanish is proper Spanish; that's why it should be taught in America. People, need to learn to speak grammatically correct, in whatever language they speak.
You live from a state where people think barbeque means cow.

 

[JackDallas]

I don't think American kids should be forced to learn Spanish. I think they should be encouraged to but if they just don't want to, that is their right.

I have tried to push my grandkids to learn Spanish but they just don't want to. One of them is taking French, totally stupid in my opinion and I told her so. How many Frogs are there in Texas?

 

[Greenridgeman]

You should have told her you wanted her to learn French, that learning French was essential, and would make her a superior being.


She wouldn't have touched it.

 

[SandyinTex]

Castillian Spanish is proper Spanish; that's why it should be taught in America. People, need to learn to speak grammatically correct, in whatever language they speak.
You live from a state where people think barbeque means cow.

I imagine many who speak Castilian do so incorrectly. Castilian is just another dialect of the language and it depends on which country [and there are many who speak Spanish] or which person you're speaking with who considers it to be THE proper form of Spanish. I hardly think some gringo from Texas is the authority on the subject but he is entitled to his opinion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language

Not only do some people in my state think barbeque means cow [I'll take your word for it] but they do not know how to spell Castilian correctly. Now hurry up and correct it.

 

[Days]

one in English and the other in the one that is needed to teach the children.

Now, there's an exception to that... in Miami, the official language is Spanish, didn't ya know? The Cubans took over that city and cleaned it up. If you want to work for the city of Miami, you have to be able to speak Spanish, not English.

Bilingual education is not about language, it is about education.

 

[CFMPP]

Most people need to learn English not Spanish. It is the English speaking people in the schools who need to learn Spanish. I don't want to speak to a Castillian I want to speak to the latino who is my neighbor. I and my children need to learn what he is speaking thank you.

 

[Days]

that's a noble sentiment, but bilingual education is not about language, it is about education. So, while I agree with you, and you might be surprised to learn that Puerto Rican Spanish is about as different from Mexican Spaniah as Mexican Spanish is from Castille of Spain Spanish, and that we also have quite a few good folks who harbor another very different dialect from the various islands of the Caribbean; with all their distinct and varied colloqialisms, and it would be wonderful if everyday Americans in Kansas could learn them all... bilingual education is not about teaching Americans a 2nd language, it is about reaching children with a full education in the crucial primary years.

 

[Jen]

I have read studies that suggested that people who ended up with Alzheimers and were bilingual, had the disease progress much more slowly than those Alzheimers patients who were not bilingual. While being bilingual won't keep you from getting Alzheimers, it does mean that you have increased the ability of electrical charge leaping within the brain and have more paths for memory to take if one path is cut off.

That alone is one very good reason to develop the knowledge of multiple languages no matter what one's first language is.

School should be bilingual, because it helps the develop the brain.

Spanish being so prevelent in the Western Hemisphere, it should be the logical second language.

Has nothing at all to do with whether or not I like mass illegal immigration, or Hispanics or not.

It has to do with practicality, and with training young brains.

Latin once served the same purpose.