[Idyllchat] Languages of the Land

[Jo Trautmann]

All:  Please note that California schools have students who speak almost 
200 different languages.  Most of these are educated in English as a 
Second Language class for the fewest possible years.  Texas schools have 
a similar student body (but under 100 different languages).  The big 
problem is with the so-called "bi-lingual" program which is offered only 
to "Spanish" speaking children.  These are identified through an 
English/Spanish test before they enter school.  Even if they prove to be 
equal in both languages (sounds like they are already bi-lingual to me) 
as a result of the test, they are still placed in a "bi-lingual" 
classroom unless their parents strongly object.  These classes emphasize 
"Spanish" not English.  The children could be immersed in English just 
as all the others but it has been mandated that they learn to read and 
write and think in Spanish first.  We miss the most important years for 
learning a new language...the ones before puberty when the brain sets on 
a language.  Many of our generation...the retirees...came from homes 
where a language other than English was spoken.  We made the transition 
from English at school to whatever was spoken at home with a minimum of 
problems.  Even some of my Mexican-American friends wonder why the 
children today cannot learn the same way they did.