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Old 04-17-2014, 09:01 PM
 
770 posts, read 1,173,538 times
Reputation: 1464

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Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute View Post
Actually you could go to the TEA website where it shows the test scores of the schools -- and shows the number of bilingual students and their test scores. The bilingual students are doing far worse especially in math and science than children who speak English only.

The drop out rate of the bilingual students is far higher than that of English speaking students. Even on the border itself, the children who speak only English overall outperform those that speak both Spanish and English.
STATS 101: correlation =/= causation
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Old 04-18-2014, 12:30 AM
 
16,433 posts, read 22,113,423 times
Reputation: 9622
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldglory View Post
Nonsense. Are you going to equally demand that Mexicans in Mexico also learn English? It's not millions of English speakers invading them illegally it's the other way around.
Fortunately, I don't have to concern myself so much with Mexico's children, but having Spanish required in US schools is not "nonsense", it is perfect sense. Demographics will make the US a Spanish speaking country within 50 years. Do as you like, but as for me, I want to be able to understand those around me. Por que no?
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Old 04-18-2014, 12:36 AM
 
60 posts, read 52,511 times
Reputation: 100
Directed towards the OP,

I am a firm believer in the earlier the better…
The younger the better..

I was monolingual for the first 4 years of my life until my mother hired a tutor to teach me English. I learned quickly and was prepared by the time Kinder rolled around….

My native language was not spoken in the home after this to promote proficiency in English..I still understood my native language, I could read it and write it ( Based on phonetics) .

When I began teaching in a heavily populated school which had many students whom spoke my native language? It was not that difficult, it was all about recall…I am bettert for it and am grateful that my parents did this for me.
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Old 04-18-2014, 12:40 AM
 
Location: Windsor, Ontario, Canada
11,223 posts, read 16,349,599 times
Reputation: 13536
Hm...I don't know. I guess the student needs to want to care about it. French was mandatory in my grade school here in Canada from grades 1-8.

Want to know how much I retained? I still know how to ask if I may get up and go to the washroom.

That's it.
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Old 04-18-2014, 01:54 AM
 
Location: Portland, OR
8,802 posts, read 8,864,274 times
Reputation: 4512
Quote:
Originally Posted by Futurist110 View Post
Do you think that 8th grade students should be forced to learn Spanish specifically (as opposed to learning some other foreign language)?
I was forced to learn Spanish in middle school and went on to take it through high school and got a BA in Spanish in college. It's a great (and easy) language.
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Old 04-18-2014, 02:11 AM
 
16,433 posts, read 22,113,423 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VTHokieFan View Post
I was forced to learn Spanish in middle school and went on to take it through high school and got a BA in Spanish in college. It's a great (and easy) language.
It's hard to believe today , but when I went to elementary school in the late 40s, early 50s in Texas, we were taught Spanish along with the other classes. After the 4th grade it changed to an optional class and I foolishly decided not to take it. I am amazed at what forward thinkers some educators were in those days.
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Old 04-18-2014, 02:37 AM
 
Location: Montreal, Quebec
15,082 posts, read 14,255,367 times
Reputation: 9789
Quote:
Originally Posted by das74 View Post
Directed towards the OP,

I am a firm believer in the earlier the better…
The younger the better..

I was monolingual for the first 4 years of my life until my mother hired a tutor to teach me English. I learned quickly and was prepared by the time Kinder rolled around….

My native language was not spoken in the home after this to promote proficiency in English..I still understood my native language, I could read it and write it ( Based on phonetics) .

When I began teaching in a heavily populated school which had many students whom spoke my native language? It was not that difficult, it was all about recall…I am bettert for it and am grateful that my parents did this for me.
I learned both English and French in school and we spoke only Russian at home.
It served me well.
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Old 04-18-2014, 07:17 AM
 
62,432 posts, read 28,679,488 times
Reputation: 18367
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bideshi View Post
Fortunately, I don't have to concern myself so much with Mexico's children, but having Spanish required in US schools is not "nonsense", it is perfect sense. Demographics will make the US a Spanish speaking country within 50 years. Do as you like, but as for me, I want to be able to understand those around me. Por que no?
The only way that would happen is if illegal immigration were allowed to continue. Besides, we are constantly being told that Hispanics are assimilating linguistically in our country. Is that a lie then? Since we already have our recognized national language English to communicate with them in why would we need to learn Spanish? Why would any country in the world want their identity, culture and language changed especially via illegal immigration and other non-assimilating residents? From your post I gather you don't care for some odd reason. Do you actually think that Mexico would embrace becoming an Asian country in identity for example via the same unnatural and unlawful way? Of course not and I wouldn't blame them.
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Old 04-18-2014, 08:17 AM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,209,384 times
Reputation: 11538
I have not read this thread so if this has been posted....please excuse me.

I would love to see sign language taught as a second language.
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Old 04-18-2014, 08:27 AM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,209,384 times
Reputation: 11538
About teaching Spanish.

Anytime you learn something it is good.

But, my x-husband is from Central America...he is highly educated he spoke four languages.

He said the people from Mexico he talked to spoke such a poor level of Spanish he had trouble understanding them.

Spanish is his first language.....that is why I do not believe the Spanish we teach in our school systems would help much in daily life....even on the southern border.
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