Posted on 12/23/2014 9:42:38 AM PST by reaganaut1
After more than 11 years in Los Angeles public schools, Dasha Cifuentes still isn't speaking or writing English at grade level. The U.S. native, whose parents are Mexican immigrants, was raised in a Spanish-speaking household and she acknowledges that the two languages get confused in her mind.
"I should be more confident in English because I was born here, but I'm embarrassed that I haven't improved myself," said Dasha, a junior at Fairfax High.
Now, however, she and other students like her are receiving more attention under a new state law and initiatives by L.A. Unified and other school districts. The law requires the state to define and identify a "long-term English learner," the first effort in the nation to do so.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
how about English immersion, teach them quickly
I think many of the English language learners are in classes taught in English. As I said, the problem is not that they don’t know any English but that their higher-order skills are weak.
After more than 11 years in Los Angeles public schools, Dasha Cifuentes still isn’t speaking or writing English at grade level. The U.S. native, whose parents are Mexican immigrants, was raised in a Spanish-speaking household and she acknowledges that the two languages get confused in her mind.
Anchor baby.
Why should teachers focus on regular white kids then they can focus on foreigners who will soon overwhelm Republican voters?
No intiende o save...
Wait.
This kid isn’t competent or confident in english?
She’s in the 10 grade?
So, repeat and rinse...
We need to pass a law to make all Americans speak Spanish.
It is unfair to these illegal aliens that they have to come here and deal with English speakers. Where is our compassion? How can they do the work Americans won’t do if they can’t take instructions in their native tongue?
Any American who won’t speak Spanish is a racist.
In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check.
Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!
I hate to brag but, I left high skrewel in the first semester of 10th grade.
Ain’t hurt me ....yet.
Well, actually I tested out and was in college during what would have been my 10th grade.
To top it off, my Mom left me all by my lonseome to feed myself, pay rent and continue college and the family moved to Oklahoma.
I was 15 and a year later I became an emancipated minor, due a loving father, who believed in me and my ability to function.
I had great parents who ensured that no questions I asked went without an answer or really, long hours in our home library of various encyclopedias, various research books and National Geographic.
In fact, I was reading and writing, cursive, at age 4.
A parent must be involved in a child’s education and preparing them for a life of independence and self determination.
Her failure is the responsibility of her parents.
Dasha is embarrassed.
Think how legal residents feeel.
I teach in the South, and we had our older male auto shop teacher publicly rip our ESL teacher a new one for dropping off a new student that could not speak one word of English at his door.
There is no need to speak English in Los Angeles. Everywhere you go in Los Angeles there is a at least one person there who speaks Spanish. Some of the Korean immigrants are bypassing English and learning Spanish instead because Spanish is easier than English.
Also, Spanish was my first language. Thanks to a nice ESL teacher, no one knows this until I tell them. (It came with a free Southern drawl! Now I sound like a well-spoken plantation owner. ;-))
Does this include Al Sharpton?
Well, with the right drawl and english you can play a fairly good game of pool.
From what I can tell, she comes from a multilingual learning environment that would display a relaxed mishmash of "ingrain the use whatever language works for you, word-by-word". Part of more advanced language learning (i.e., beyond middle school or thereabouts), will be more effective when purity of thought is able to be employed, unblemished by momentarily "giving up" to revert to a different language for something that's supposedly easier or closer at hand (and tongue). That embodies the opposite of a challenge. It coddles weakness.
English is not my native language. In the household where I grew up, my parents rarely spoke English. We legally immigrated to the US when I was two. Only after the four of five children had left the house for college did they speak predominantly English, so my youngest brother's friends coming over to the house wouldn't feel he was someone too weird to want to have as a friend.
I believe I was able to develop adequate English language skills by reading authors that were presenting relatively detailed-yet-concise narratives.
Although it needn't be everyone's cup of tea coming from my type of situation, for me, I determined to read several of George Will's books. He went to a school building I saw regularly where I went to college, so I felt we were at least partly, similarly grounded.
HF
“There is no need to speak English in Los Angeles”
Actually that applies to all of Texas and many many other parts of what used to be our country.
The lie put forth by leftist that second generation illegals “assimilate” should be exposed.
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