Posted on 07/15/2004 4:44:07 PM PDT by Akira
Like the kid in the article I wanted to be like my friends. No greater incentive than that for a kid.
but, ... but, ... the RATS tell us and the NEA teslls us that this is what is best for them. </sarcsm
The only purpose of bilingual education in New York is to provide teaching jobs to Hispanic "teachers" who would otherwise be barely employable.
P.S. The kid who learns English on his own may have a bright future after all. I had a classmate in grade school who didn't speak a word of English when his family moved to the U.S. Within about 18 months, he was speaking English with no accent at all -- which he learned by watching cartoons and other kids' shows on television.
When my husband was a teacher's aide one student was put in the special ed. class, because she didn't test highly enough to be put into the regular classes. The reason was discovered right away. She could read and write fine : in Spanish. Instead of immersing her into the the school environment so she could improve, the administration was just lazy.
The poor kid's parents are especially heinous, as English is required study in the Netherlands. They have the highest percentage of English speakers in mainland Europe.
Duel-language is a priority of the Council of La Raza. They're really taking care of their constituency. Taking care that they remain a manipulated minority.
No shocker?! This got published in the Times? That's shocking!
I know a number of children - Polish, Japanese, Hungarian, Yugoslavian - who spoke no English until they went to school or were put in regular classes upon moving to the US - total immersion and they are fluent. These children were between 4 and 8 when they learned English.
My brother's wife is Peruvian and they are bringing up their children bilingually. Last time I saw my nephew I thought his English was lagging behind the Spanish, but he hasn't seen as much of my side of the family and he was sick. By the time he goes to school I expect he will be fluent and accentless.
Mrs VS
Not just any job - bi-lingual teachers are on a higher payscale than mono-lingual trachers... There's the real incentive - create more jobs that are also a promotion.
Actually it IS a shocker -- that this article appeared in the New York Times.
ping
Bushwick/NY 12 Ping!
bump and thanks!
Perhaps it's just the way it's done. One of my best friends fled Czech in 1968 (he was an infant) and landed in Ottawa. His parents spoke mostly Czech at home but ensured that he learned English. Then he went to a French school for 5 years. Today, he's 35 and speaks all 3 fluently. So it can be done, but the parents MUST ensure that English is a priority.
Part of the problem with "bilingual" education is the label. It does not help make anyone learn a second language, it just reinforces their monolingualism. Latinos have realized this and are not fooled.
Now we just have to help them understand that Democrats don't call themselves that because they believe and support democracy.
That and the mulitculturalism agenda. Parents can fight their children being placed in all-Spanish classrooms and I know some English speaking US born parents who had to do this --- but very many want the US government to "preserve their culture" that they not only allow their children to be placed in these classrooms but insist on it.
That's very commonly done here --- some of my co-workers have had actually had to fight the school to demand their kids be placed in English speaking classrooms and their kids already spoke English as their primary language. There is a push now to have all kids learn Spanish -- not just those with Spanish ancestry --- but not all kids learn English. Even the university level is getting in on the push for Spanish speaking classrooms.
If they would just look at the Canadian experiment, they would see that it can never work.
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