Any of you guys that have been to a foreign country know that not understanding the native tongue can be a scary thing. I was in Puerto Rico this past summer with my dad. Neither he nor I knew Spanish well enough to converse fluently with locals, which made the trip a have an uncertain feeling at times. We were driving across the island, when we stopped to ask for directions. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a single person who spoke English well enough to understand our questions. Eventually we ran into somebody who, through hand signals was able to point us in the right direction, or so we thought. We ended up driving all the way back to where we started… just taking a much longer route. This may not have been the case for me if I had been taught Spanish at a younger age. My name is Will Lenhart; I am a fourth former here. I think that schools should start teaching foreign languages in elementary school. …show more content…
Even though all of us were required or are currently taking a foreign language here at Woodberry and at almost all schools across America. For the most part we began in the 8th or 9th grade. Yet this isn’t helping increase bilingualism in America. I know I had a difficult time starting to learn a foreign language in 8th grade. And as you can see in the handout you have, the majority of students agreed with me, that learning a foreign language was difficult for them too. The rest of the world starts teaching a foreign language much earlier than us, so why do we wait? Foreign languages should be taught from 1st grade on because it is easier to learn at a young age and it’s beneficial after
Everyone should know a second language, but some schools do not push to include this program. The Board of Education
Growing up Mexican-American in the United States can be a challenge itself. Throw in the task, of learning two languages, it made for a very confused little girl. There was often times growing up when I wondered why no one, but my family spoke Spanish. Why everyone at school and all my friends spoke this different language. Sometimes it even seemed like I was two different people.
As a teacher, I am committed to give each of my students the right to receive help. Just because a student is having trouble pronouncing the English language I know that I shouldn’t talk down on them or ignore them because they are not grasping the language better than others. I am entitled to equally teach my students and find ways to help them better their learning. As a bilingual teacher, I will find programs or other activities that I know can help them, so that they can be successful.
In the essay “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” (1981), Richard Rodriguez, an experienced writer, expressed that “…it is not possible to for a child – any child – ever to use his family’s language in school” and began expressing his past experiences with bilingualism (510). Rodriguez recollects his feelings toward the accents he has listened to throughout his childhood, his “disabling confusion” from gaining fluency in English and Spanish, and the intimacy passing between sounds and words (519). By implementing his personal experiences, he entices his reader into reading actively in order to express how confusing, yet beneficial bilingualism can be. Rodriguez’s audience is focused to those who can relate when using more than one language
Hello, I'm Chris. I'm a 14 year-old teen. You're getting this so far, right? Okay, I'm just making sure. I'm a 14 year-old.
He came home from school one day, his parents were talking. It wasn’t until after they had switched to English that he realized they had been speaking Spanish. Now you would think having been born to English speaking parents, here in the United States, that I wouldn’t understand a language barrier. Growing up I watched my cousin struggle to communicate with others. He lost his hearing when he was 5 years old.
Lesley states that bilingual education is “an educational program in which two languages are medium of instruction.” (P. 11) Before specifically discuss about California, as a whole, the United States never has been officially announced as a bilingual or multilingual country. Despite the fact that the U.S. adapts the method of assimilation, bilingual schools exist early as pre-World War I (P. 18). And then, with Bilingual Education Act of 1967 brings a rebirth and structural bilingual education back to schools and districts (P.
This is occurring in a school district that is located on the “wrong” (east) side of El Paso and serves a student population that is 88.1 percent Hispanic and 73.4 percent economically disadvantaged. Dual language has helped liberate its students from the grim statistical reality that half of the Hispanic students in Texas will become dropouts: Ysleta boasts a graduation rate of 84 percent, well above both the Dallas and Houston school districts. A pioneer in dual language, Del Valle in 2005 graduated the first class to begin the program in elementary school. Instead of leaving Spanish behind for all-English classes, students were taught core subjects like algebra and world history in both Spanish and English. - See more at:
Knowing many parents and children have limited English proficiency, they still do not have bilingual counselors and school staff to help families learn and utilize school resources. Students are not
Dear fellow nasty women and bad hombres, America is one the greatest experiments in freedom and liberty history has ever known. We are a nation that was built on the minds and ideals of immigrants. Our Founding Fathers created America so that everyone could have a chance at "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Those are aspects of my country, I would never change because they are what make us unique. The glow of America casts a ripple of hope upon those who struggle.
The film “Speaking in Tongues” (2010) obtained the students, parents, and communities perspective towards bilingual education. The students interviewed were all mainly towards learning how to speak a second language. The students felt they could benefit in learning a second language or in expanding their home language. In the film, Kelly Wong stated she loved speaking Chinese to her grandmother. Kelly could practice, learn, and get corrected by her grandmother while speaking Chinese.
His narrative shows this support and how having instruction in Spanish and English allows him to have higher academics. In less than ten years, one third of students attending public schools will not know English when starting Kindergarten. Are schools and teachers ready for this and will push for bilingual instruction? Is America ready for this? As for now, there is mixed perspectives.
If students begin their bilingual education as early as kindergarten, they are more likely to successfully acquire a second language. Children are like sponges and soak up information easily. Research conducted by Dr. Patricia Kuhl at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington shows that by 8-12 months, if babies are exposed to a second language, they retain the ability to distinguish those foreign sounds. Moreover, through the age of 7 or 8, children are able to learn to speak a second language with fluent grammar and without an accent.
That is fantastic news, congratulations!!! I think Lisa and you are going to make great parents. I sure remember those wild days. Sometimes, I remember those days thinking that we were wild back then. It is good to see you grow from the “8th street bad boy” to such successful person in life.
Learning a second language at a younger age is beneficial Most little kids first day of school is when they are approximately five years old, and about to enter kindergarten. Kids go to school from about age five till graduation from high school at about age eighteen. Most schools focus on the basic core subjects, such as math, reading, science and history. Until junior high or high school, foreign language is not even offered.