"Animal02" wrote in message
news:Mc6dnXgUENfYOzLanZ2dnUVZ_q6mnZ2d@wideopenwest.com...
>
> "Wayne" wrote in message
> news:1qNrj.2424$ip3.1614@trnddc07...
>>
>> "Cardinal Chunder" wrote in message
>> news:fomqnn02o70@news5.newsguy.com...
>>> Speeders & Drunk Drivers are MURDERERS wrote:
>>>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23039327
>>>>
>>>> Student, Mother Protest Mandatory Spanish Class
>>>>
>>>> KXAS-TV
>>>> updated 6:23 a.m. MT, Thurs., Feb. 7, 2008
>>>>
>>>> G.VINE, Texas - A mother in the G.vine-Colleyville school
>>>> district said she is refusing to let her daughter attend mandatory
>>>> Spanish class because she doesn't think her daughter should be forced
>>>> to learn the language. "They said sorry you're gonna have to learn
>>>> Spanish," said Ashley Allison a fifth-grader at G.vine-Colleyville's
>>>> Timberline Elementary School. "I was just stunned because I couldn't
>>>> believe they'd actually make me do something like that."
>>>
>>> Oh no, the horror! Imagine being forced to learn stuff like a foreign
>>> language.
>>
>> It is great to be able to speak a foreign language. However, much of the
>> US strength depends upon a common language across all the states.
>> Currently we waste millions of dollars to provide content in both english
>> and spanish (everything from school textbooks to election materials to
>> Home Depot signs). That money could be much better used by educating the
>> spanish speaking elementary students to speak english. The money used to
>> teach an english speaking student to communicate in spanish is a waste of
>> money that could very well be used in core subjects, such as math. The
>> language studies should come after a student is competent in the
>> fundamentals, or if the student is good enough to work in language
>> studies in addition.
>>
>>
>
> You are an idiot. The early that an language is introduced, the easier it
> is to learn, Learning spanish at an early age, being a latin based
> language, will make learning all other latin based languages easier. It
> will also benefit learnign english as well
>
So you advocate bilingualism, pendejo? I don't...at least until all the
fundamental subjects are mastered. I'd like the "spanish as a first
language" students to speak english without an accent. I would like for
them to not use the words "earn" and "win" interchangeably. I would like
for them to be fluent in english and understand the subtle difference in
using the word "profound" for abstract ideas instead of the depth of a lake.
I would like for them to not confuse the words "embarassed" and "pregnant."
I have close friends who raised their kids speaking spanish until they were
5 years old. Then they switched them very firmly to english. Their english
is perfect, without accent. The parents speak english well, but with a
spanish accent. Both of the kids grew up and have achieved national
prominence in the news media.
I have another set of friends whose parents were illegal immigrants, but
insisted that the kids speak english at home. They ended up with three
kids: a doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer. And none of the three has an
accent.
The important thing in the two stories above is that the parents committed
to assimilation. In the US, this means speaking english.
I'm not willing to give up the idea of a common unifying language in the US.
At least not yet.
|