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I worked in a Title 1 school where the majority of the students were Hispanic. Head Start (4 and 5 year old kids) Teacher had never taken Spanish in school. She was constantly calling in the Spanish Translator.
One day a little girl was crying. Call the Translator!. No need. From my 3 years of Spanish in HS 40 years ago, I knew she was saying that her feet hurt and her shoes were too small. Not necessary to learn a foreign language?
In another class, we had an 8 year old boy who was bi-lingual Creole. At least in that class the Teacher had taken French in school. The boy's Mom told me that in Haiti it was required that all students learn English in order to graduate HS.
One day this little boy went up to the board and wrote a sentence in Spanish, and then translated it into English. He was very proud of his work. He was learning Spanish from his friends. Imagine knowing three languages at such a young age? His Hispanic friends should not be teaching him Spanish? English Only? I wonder if this boy was also teaching his friends Creole?
Besides taking Spanish in school, I also took 4 years of Latin. The Catholic school I went to also offered Greek. Latin and Greek were considered Classical Languages. We were required to take at least 2 years of Latin, in addition to a "modern" language. Back then, the Catholic Mass was still said in Latin. Nice to hear from other posters that Latin is also offered in public school.
My Grandma was bi-lingual Italian. When I was a little girl, we came across a woman on the street who was in distress. The woman only spoke Spanish. Grandma spoke to her in Italian and was able to understand what she was saying in Spanish. Grandma called for the police and told them (in ENGLISH) was was wrong with the woman. I suppose the two languages were similar enough for basic communication? Useless to know another language????
I worked in a Title 1 school where the majority of the students were Hispanic. Head Start (4 and 5 year old kids) Teacher had never taken Spanish in school. She was constantly calling in the Spanish Translator.
Title 1 schools have a lot of students whose parents are lower income immigrants who can't speak English.
So, basically you're saying that it is necessary to learn Spanish if you teach very young students at a Title 1 school until they can learn to speak English.
Well no American should have to learn a foreign language to communicate with people living in America and to be employed. I stand by what I meant and not your strawman version.
That's what I am saying also. No native English speaking Americans should be forced to learn a foreign
language just to accommodate immigrants. It should be the other way around. Now if someone wants to learn a foreign language that should be their choice and those who don't want to should not be demonized for not doing so. There are so many foreign languages spoken in our country today so which one should we learn or are we expected to learn all of them?
As for Spanish, most Hispanic-Americans are bi-lingual so why should we learn Spanish to communicate with them? There are far more useful things to learn than a foreign language which you aren't likely to use very often.
I worked in a Title 1 school where the majority of the students were Hispanic. Head Start (4 and 5 year old kids) Teacher had never taken Spanish in school. She was constantly calling in the Spanish Translator.
One day a little girl was crying. Call the Translator!. No need. From my 3 years of Spanish in HS 40 years ago, I knew she was saying that her feet hurt and her shoes were too small. Not necessary to learn a foreign language?
In another class, we had an 8 year old boy who was bi-lingual Creole. At least in that class the Teacher had taken French in school. The boy's Mom told me that in Haiti it was required that all students learn English in order to graduate HS.
One day this little boy went up to the board and wrote a sentence in Spanish, and then translated it into English. He was very proud of his work. He was learning Spanish from his friends. Imagine knowing three languages at such a young age? His Hispanic friends should not be teaching him Spanish? English Only? I wonder if this boy was also teaching his friends Creole?
Besides taking Spanish in school, I also took 4 years of Latin. The Catholic school I went to also offered Greek. Latin and Greek were considered Classical Languages. We were required to take at least 2 years of Latin, in addition to a "modern" language. Back then, the Catholic Mass was still said in Latin. Nice to hear from other posters that Latin is also offered in public school.
My Grandma was bi-lingual Italian. When I was a little girl, we came across a woman on the street who was in distress. The woman only spoke Spanish. Grandma spoke to her in Italian and was able to understand what she was saying in Spanish. Grandma called for the police and told them (in ENGLISH) was was wrong with the woman. I suppose the two languages were similar enough for basic communication? Useless to know another language????
Spanish, Italian and French have so many similarities that if you speak any two of them infrequently, it's easy to become a little confused...lol.
But I disagree with you that it's necessary for teachers to speak two languages.
That's what I am saying also. No native English speaking Americans should be forced to learn a foreign
language just to accommodate immigrants. It should be the other way around. Now if someone wants to learn a foreign language that should be their choice and those who don't want to should not be demonized for not doing so. There are so many foreign languages spoken in our country today so which one should we learn or are we expected to learn all of them?
As for Spanish, most Hispanic-Americans are bi-lingual so why should we learn Spanish to communicate with them? There are far more useful things to learn than a foreign language which you aren't likely to use very often.
One of my brothers would say that choosing to take high school Spanish was the ticket to his career. His first job was working as a bilingual customer service rep for a bank, which inspired him to pursue a degree in finance and ultimately led to a career in international finance.
One of my brothers would say that choosing to take high school Spanish was the ticket to his career. His first job was working as a bilingual customer service rep for a bank, which inspired him to pursue a degree in finance and ultimately led to a career in international finance.
And how many people go into International Business? The ones who do - know they need to step it up with a foreign language. Those going into some of the soft sciences know they need to take foreign language as part of the college requirement.
Your story does nothing to counter oldglory's statement (underline mine):
Quote:
There are far more useful things to learn than a foreign language which you aren't likely to use very often.
And how many people go into International Business? The ones who do - know they need to step it up with a foreign language. Those going into some of the soft sciences know they need to take foreign language as part of the college requirement.
Your story does nothing to counter oldglory's statement (underline mine):
He did not know that at the time. This is what we do in high school when we take survey and introductory coursework in math, science, literature, and foreign language. We don't necessarily understand where it will lead, but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to study calculus or chemistry or Shakespeare or Spanish. The point of high school, as my husband liked to say to our children, is to delay closing doors to your future as long as possible, so you learn how to balance algebraic equations and that mitochondria is the power house of the cell. You suffer through Camus and memorize Latin declensions. And you do it because it may just take you somewhere you never imagined.
Last edited by randomparent; 09-23-2018 at 08:59 AM..
Yes, except that the US (as of 2014) had more Spanish speakers (native & second language) than Spain. & people in parts of the US (mostly the SW) have spoken Spanish since before the British showed up in the New World.
Mexico is mostly Spanish speaking, but they've retained a good number of Native Peoples' languages & cultures.
Canada too is officially English & French speaking, but they also have Native Peoples' languages & cultures in existence - although Mexico probably has the larger numbers in both categories, & also more of both than the US.
None of this is relevant to the topic at hand. Just because someone is bi-lingual Spanish/English is no reason for native English speaking Americans to learn Spanish as we have the common language of English to communicate with them in. As for Spanish speaking "immigrants" there also is no reason for regular, mainstream Americans to learn Spanish to accommodate them. It's ludicrous!
Like rip van winkle we have been asleep in the land of the good life -and when we woke up 60 years later- a few things had changed- those are not our kids doing those jobs -ours kids are 35 year old skate board wonders
Again, are you joking? Our 35 year old Americans are skate boarding and refusing to work? WTH! What's changed is undesired, unlawful and unnatural transformation of our country by too much immigration both legal and illegal stealing jobs and resources from us and most mainstream, regular Americans didn't even get a say in it. We weren't asleep we don't get a voice on immigration matters. At least Trump is addressing this now although I think it may be a little too late but if he can at least stop this madness from continuing to occur we'll be making some progress for the future.
Look at the links I posted please before the head slapping
Much of that Mexican work force is here illegally and have no right to work here or to be here. If they weren't here your stats would reflect mostly the contributions of Americans and legal immigrants.
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