Thread: English as a Second Language

Jewish World Review March 7, 2005 / 26 Adar I, 5765

Weaving Spanish into the fabric of America

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.












http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Where the issue of language is concerned, the United States can be a wonderfully complicated place full of paradoxes.


For instance, Americans are always complaining that Latinos â€â€

I finally found one of the articles written by that Ruben Navarrette, Jr. about speaking Spanish in OUR country. I still wasn't able to find the most recent one where he espoused teaching American children Spanish.

THIS IS BS plain and simple and this is why, if we continue to sit back and not take a stand about our language, this country really will become a bilingual nation.

Good post, Bootsie. The thing that disturbs me the most is the kids being attracted to Spanish language, culture, etc. The culture part is harmless. Messing with our language is not.

This is a continuing problem in America. The vast majority of our population have no concept of history, of where they came from and what their forebears endured to create this great country they enjoy today. This country was largely created by Northern Europeans. Others contributed, but to deny the dominance of that culture is naive or ignorant or both. Our closest allie is Great Britain, not Spain, certainly not Mexico or even Canada. The Brits stick with us even when it costs them, as in the Iraq war.

They have a sense of history. They remember that without our help in World War II, they would have likely been defeated by Hitler and dominated by a vile regime. A lot of Brits today have forgotten or never knew, but the older ones remember and so the ties between our countries remain strong.

Language is important, more important than most people realize. But like a culture, or political system, it can be lost and shuffled off to the dust bins of history if the people have no historical memory. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen here.

Hi Scarecrow! I haven't seen you for a while. I always learn something from your posts. Thanks!

Hi Legal. Been trying to make a living.

Thanks for the kind words.

So true, Scarecrow. And, what REALLY drives me bananas is that they have Hispanic culture weeks ( or months) but our children are learning absolutely NOTHING about our own culture in our schools. A friend of mine who teaches in an elementary school in North Carolina confirms this. She also says that the parents of the hispanic students in her class REFUSE to speak English BUT the children seem to speak English well. Now, she teaches kindergarten and first grade so WHERE did those kids learn English if not from their parents??? It seems to her that the parents are just FORCING the school to communicate with them in Spanish. She also said that every notice, report card, etc. that went out had to be in both English and Spanish. Now that is BS. If I was teaching in a school that forced me to provide conferences in Spanish, I would tell them where to hop off. I would just sit there and talk to the parents in English and let them either figure it out or not!!

We CANNOT continue to sit back while they SHOVE their language and their culture down our collective throats. I bet our elementary school age children know more about Hispanic culture than they do about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and on and on and on. I bet they have no notion what the Boston Tea Party was but I guarantee you, they know what a pinata is.

DIGUSTING!!

You said it, Bootsie. We have to hold our school boards, our county councils, our state legislators, our congress people, all accountable for this and keep holding their feet to the fire.

As you can see my avatar is the ancient "lion rampant" flag of Scotland, where the vast majority of my ancestors originated. We do not tend to be people who lie down without a fight!

Your avatar is not there! There is a red X in its place. A lot of MY ancestors also came from Scotland too. My maiden name is "Johnston" and, when I went to Scotland, I went to Sir Walter Scott's home and my family crest was hanging on the wall! Anyway, in histories I've read about Clan Johnston, they all say that we were a "warring clan"!!! I guess that's where we get the "fight"!!

Dang, it's gone on all the posts. Must be a terrorist act.

I'll check into it.

Thanks.