gungadin09
Posts: 3232
Joined: 3/19/2010 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Aileen1968 When my grandparents came to this country in the late 1800's, they did everything in their power to assimilate to this country. They learned to read and write English as quickly as they could. To them, it was an honor to be here and they wanted to be as American as possible. My question is (and not just to Aileen): why does speaking English equate with being American? Why can't speaking Spanish be American too? i'm not suggesting that we *stop* teaching English, not now, nor in 20 years when Spanish becomes the majority language of, probably, New Mexico, California, Texas, and Arizona, *at least*. Someday soon it's gonna happen. New Mexico is nearly there already. And when the day comes that Spanish finally surpasses English as the principal language of those four states, it will seem harsh to me if the state governments say, our schools aren't gonna teach English any more, except in high school, where you choose it as an elective. If you want to learn English on your own that's fine, we encourage it, but you need to put your big pants on now and learn Spanish, because, frankly, it's unpatriotic if you don't. i believe they can teach both without compromising education. My mom is currently works at an elementary school that does exactly that. i believe that they should require both in New Mexico, California, Texas, and Arizona, at least. To me it's less of a question of coddling people, and more a question of being realistic. In the future, Spanish literacy will be as necessary to society in the Southwest, as English is now, and i think it's downright foolish to ignore that fact. pam
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