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We have a Spanish duel immersion program in my district and a very low Hispanic population. It has limited capacity and there is always a waiting list to get in. It's there to give kids a leg up on their foreign language, which is a requirement, and to look good on those competitive college applications. Being bilingual is a plus in the job market as well.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. The whole illegal immigration argument aside, I'm all for learning additional languages. And the younger you start, the more natural it gets. In a school like McKinney, which is 63 percent Hispanic or Latino, this might be a good fit.
But overall, I'm not so sure that this would be a viable program for most schools in general. There could very well be a generation of kids who struggle with languages (but might excel at some other topic), and therefore if they're tested on something that's not in their native English, this might reflect poorly on their grades.
If anything, classes should continue to be taught in English, but then most schools should really amp up their foreign language classes. Especially Spanish since, legal or not, there are quite a few people int his country who speak primarily Spanish, and that would be the best language to learn in order to communicate with the most people.
Learning other languages - good Catering to another language to become a bilingual nation - bad
Those are two different issues but they seem to be fusing here.
1. How did you arrive at the conclusion you did (that this is catering to another language to become a bilingual nation)?
2. Why is it bad if the populace were fluent in more than one language?
I'm not sure how I feel about this. The whole illegal immigration argument aside, I'm all for learning additional languages. And the younger you start, the more natural it gets. In a school like McKinney, which is 63 percent Hispanic or Latino, this might be a good fit.
But overall, I'm not so sure that this would be a viable program for most schools in general. There could very well be a generation of kids who struggle with languages (but might excel at some other topic), and therefore if they're tested on something that's not in their native English, this might reflect poorly on their grades.
If anything, classes should continue to be taught in English, but then most schools should really amp up their foreign language classes. Especially Spanish since, legal or not, there are quite a few people int his country who speak primarily Spanish, and that would be the best language to learn in order to communicate with the most people.
Just a few things. First, Dallas is just under 63% Latino, but McKinney in NO WAY shape or form is ANY WHERE NEAR even 25% Latino.
Second, how about they are tested in multiple languages, like the Japanese or the Germans?
1. How did you arrive at the conclusion you did (that this is catering to another language to become a bilingual nation)?
2. Why is it bad if the populace were fluent in more than one language?
You just like to argue don't you. I was talking about the way the thread is being discussed. The issue isn't about learning a new language. Learning other languages is a good thing. I wonder why people just keep mentioning the simple learning of a new language as this being the point of the thread. If that was the point, then people would have protested against foreign language classes a long time ago. Hell, at the Catholic school I attended, the started us on Spanish in Kindergarten. I took it all the way through 8th and switched to German my Freshman year in High School and continued taking German in college. Learning another language is not the problem.
But some are veiling what the real concern is in their posting. The real concern is that many see these types of programs as an attempt to supplant the English language in America. That's all I was trying to point out. Sheez. If that is the concern, then the arguments should be clear about that. Let's cut to the chase.
As I am an American Indian, yes enrolled member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, I understand the concerns of those who fear their language being supplanted by another. Fortunately, we have managed to preserve our language despite English being forced upon us. I can Numu Tekwapu (speak Comanche). I feel that since the original inhabitants of this land had to learn English, damn it everybody should have to learn English.
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