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Start the School Year Speaking Spanish
Presented by Beth Butler/Creator of the
BOCA BETH
Program
Families are back-to-school shopping, children are
anxiously awaiting the start of a new school year and teachers are
preparing their classrooms across our country. Join me as we discuss how
easily you can begin a new school year with a new commitment to speaking
Spanish as a second language.
As a mom of two school-aged children, I feel the impending end of summer
and the excitement and nervousness of a new school year. Many parents
are concerned with having enough funds this year in the family budget
for the normal back-to-school spending frenzy. While children concern
themselves with the social aspects of the educational journey connected
with the school year ahead. It is amusing to witness the differences
between the two areas of concern, anxiousness and nervousness.
Often times this part of each year marks a renewed commitment to
learning something with more intensity, more mastery than ever before.
Be it on the part of the parent saying to himself or herself that they
will stay more involved with the studies of their children, thus lending
their wisdom and experience towards these endeavors. Or be it the child
vowing to apply himself towards a particular area of studies he knows he
has been slacking off in or the student who truly hopes to master a new
language during the school year.
I will never forget sitting within earshot of a family one day at a
local diner. The two teenage sons were discussing with their parents the
coming school year and what types of classes they would be hoping to
register for. The eldest son seemed keen on discussing his foreign
language selection. He had chosen German, and the parents were still
questioning him on why he felt that to be the best choice out of the
languages offered at his high school.
It was all I could do not to turn around and provide my depth of wisdom
and personal experience with having Spanish as my second language for
more than thirty years. Here I am living in a country where Spanish is
the most requested language program still to date, and this young man
was adamant about German being the perfect selection for him. If I had
heard foreshadowing of living in Germany, working with a company whose
corporate office deemed German as a highly recommended second language,
and then I would never have felt an urge to offer my two cents.
This particular family paid their bill, left the diner and never
received my free, valuable input! I feel compelled, however, to share
what was on the tip of my tongue that morning and remains there on a
daily basis as I live the life of a person bilingual in English and
Spanish.
With more than 45 million people living in our United States of America
speaking Spanish as their native language, and with that number growing
by more than 2 million annually, I see Spanish as a second language
selection crystal clear! Spanish remains the second most widely spoken
language in our country, and in the world it ranks as third. Mandarin is
first, English is second and Spanish is third.
I know that the talk is wide spread about making certain your child
learns Mandarin which is a dialect of the Chinese language. For many
reasons, many of which are too political to bring up in this article
based on helping parents and teachers, I will not succumb to that
thought process or that notion. Why you might ask?
First of all I want to ask you, how often do you walk around your
community or travel across this great United States of America and hear
Mandarin being spoken compared to how many times do you hear Spanish
being spoken? We all are very aware of the increase every year in our
cities and our states in the Latino population. And as savvy parents and
educators we realize that being bilingual is no longer an option, it is
a necessity.
Again, without getting involved in a political debate about immigration
and Latinos learning our English language, I want to stress that the
point here is related to which language you and your family should
choose to begin the school year with, which second language is going to
make your travel through life more successful and full of better
opportunities. Spanish is the natural choice for most of us, adult and
child alike.
Secondly I would be remiss if I did not point out that the country in
which Mandarin is spoken, China, continues to add negatively to the
pollution of our world while choosing to spend more than three hundred
million dollars on the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in which they
are showcasing themselves as a world force to be contended with. I find
it so unappealing to introduce their language into my home when I feel
the ever-increasing dark shadow of their presence in our country.
With all of that being said, as controversial as it may sound to you, I
hear parents and teachers around the United States recommitting
themselves to helping provide their children a jump-start on becoming
lifetime language learners. With that renewed commitment also comes an
awareness of the imminent need to speak both English and Spanish in
order to communicate, perform and succeed in our communities with our
new Latino friends, colleagues and family members.
Start this school year with a positive outlook on what will make the
future of your child even better. Latin? I think not in spite of it
being the root of all languages. French? Perhaps, should your child be
planning on working with a company connected with Europe or in the
travel industry. Mandarin? Do not get me started! Spanish? Absolutely
the number one choice still of parents requesting what their children
receive along with the decisions connected with schools, both public and
private.
Make it a great year ahead. Stay connected with your child, his school,
her teachers and their studies. The more you show an interest in what
they do daily in connection with their education, the more value they
place on the time invested towards their future. A future that is
proving to be a very global one. Happy educating to all!
About the Author:
Beth Butler is the creator of the BOCA BETH Language Learning Series for
young children. Find out how fun and easy it can be to raise a bilingual
child. Sample the BOCA BETH bilingual music and movies for free at
http://www.bocabeth.com
Call toll free 1.877.825.2622 or 1.813.244.1432 |
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