Posted on 03/02/2007 5:25:05 AM PST by engrpat
Spanish Speaking Students On Fast Track To College
Steve Pickett
Reporting
(CBS 11 News) DALLAS Spanish speaking students at Sunset High School in Dallas are getting on a fast track to college.
The fruits of their future to college come with a Spanish flavor, and these students are best in the nation.
Spanish is officially foreign language coursework in Dallas schools.
But inside Sunset High School, Spanish is the primary language for hundreds of students. Teacher Dale Reeves uses the Spanish to teach another lesson.
"There's a saying in Spanish: que habla dos idiomas valle' per dos," said Reeves. "Whoever can speak two languages is worth twice as much."
The school is pushing Spanish speaking students toward college level Spanish tests.
Close to 200 Sunset students passed the advanced placement Spanish exam. These students are tops in the nation for the number of AP Spanish tests taken and passed.
Passing the college level test provides college level credits for them.
"They already have knowledge the average American student doesn't have, and if they realize they can earn 1/8 of a college degree, I believe they're more likely to go on," said teacher Tom Spring.
"I want to go to college," said student Juan Carlos Gonzalez. "I want these credits. That was ultimately why I took this test."
Most students at this high school already have some level of Spanish comprehension and most are fluent. But that doesn't necessarily mean they can pass a college level test.
But every year more Sunset students are at least trying. Sunset also encourages students to become advanced placement scholars by taking AP Spanish literature exams.
(CBS 11 News)
Something tells me that English is not the native language of this writer.
Sure. Why not? These kids do have a skill... That said, they better damn sure know English.
There's a very good part of the that is extremely skeptical. I'd be willing to bet a very high percentage of the students took this class to simply coast. Nothing quite like challenging yourself in something knew. That said, again, why not get the credit that's there?
Correction: There's a part of me....
Sunset high is in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas and is probably 90% hispanic. I guarantee these same students cannot pass an English test with the same results.
Stories like this wake me up better than coffee. But what I love about FR is that I am not Alone. Spanish speaking in an American school is nothing but bullshit.
It's not necessarily a "coast". You are being tested on Spanish grammar and literature also. If you grew up in a household without formal education, you may not be aware on a conscious level of all the parts of speech and tenses.
Its the same with native English speakers; many are ignorant of grammatical concepts. I took AP Spanish in HS. Native Spanish speakers were at an advantage in the introductory level classes, but most who continued did learn a lot about grammar and structure as did the non-native speakers.
We also covered Spanish literature and poetry, something many native speakers had not done at home either. In addition you study a bit of Spanish culture, and, flash!!, it's a very diverse culture from Europe to South America to North America. Kids from any particular national background, say Puerto Rican American, can learn something about Spanish history and culture while reading Don Quixote.
Kudos to anyone who pursues formal education to enrich themselves!!!
unless of course, we, Americans, will be ordered to speak nothing but spanish within the next few years.
You know, it's almost embarrassing looking back at my own post littered with grammatical mistakes. That's what happens when you write in the morning without your cup of coffee. ha!
That said, I agree with you in many ways. I hope this teacher was able to inspire these kids to explore the many facets of their cultures and language. And I think this could be a very good program.
That said, I know high school students... they can be inspired, of course, and I'll hope the best on this one. No reason to be cynical at all on this by instinct...
"Whoever can speak two languages is worth twice as much."
Great. As long as one of them is English. The market will decide.
Correct me if I am wrong.
These Spanish speaking descendents of Mexicans sign up in High School for Spanish class.
They get A's in Spanish,because they already know the language.
Then they use the A's they get in high School to get to go to College and study more Spanish?
Not a bad Scam.
Somewhere in the scam, the taxpayers are being ripped a new one.
He was not, he did get to take the class and he did well.
You can bet your Bippy on that.
By the way, dual language speakers have been doing that for years. If you know "low" Italian from your grandparents and parents, what's wrong with studying Italian in school? You have an ear for the accent and probably knew little about grammar so you can learn something meaningful. In addition, if you are not struggling in the introductory level classes you can put more effort into other subjects that may be harder for you.
The AP exam is not a cake-walk. To get college credit you must demonstrate some degree of competence by scoring at least a 3 and more often a 4 out of 5.
Even introductory level classes are not easy for some native speakers. Many are not speaking the variations taught in school, they use slang and poor grammar and can't write. Just like some native English speakers!!
Many kids I knew in HS took a language they heard at home. I didn't speak Spanish at home, but my grandparents spoke it. What a thrill for them when I had advanced enough to be able to hold a (slow) conversation with them. Plus I got to read Don Quixote in the language Cervantes wrote.
Time spent formally studying a language is not wasted. The study of English grammar and sentence structure is almost non-existent. For many American students most of their education in grammar and parts of speech comes from studying a foreign language.
Also, formally studying a language, particularly a romance language, would make learning another that much easier.
Why do you call this a scam?
"These Spanish speaking descendents of Mexicans sign up in High School for Spanish class.
They get A's in Spanish,because they already know the language. "
I know lots of English speaking kids who have never gotten an A in English class. Why would Spanish speaking kids automatically get an A in Spanish?
Spanish language skills are very marketable in this country. However, I agree with you in that they are only marketable when the speaker is fluent in English as well.
How?
AP classes don't cost anything extra. The student pays the fee for the exam. The college makes the decision on whether or not to grant credit based on the exam score.
How is AP Spanish different from AP German, AP Latin, AP Bio, etc?
"Spanish speaking in an American school is nothing but bullshit. "
Um, these folks can't graduate and go to college without speaking, reading, and writing English. Sould we just banish all foreign languages in American schools?
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