40% of kindergarten kids can't speak English?

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why do Americans think it's So difficult to be bilingual?
In Europe this is true for many people.

And the younger the child, the easier it is to pick up another language.
 
Wayne said:
I couldn't have imagined a scenario like this when I was kid, long before we got invaded by other cultures who REFUSE to speak the defacto American language.
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Ask the "red skins" how it feels.
 
I couldn't have imagined a scenario like this when I was kid, long before we got invaded by other cultures who REFUSE to speak the defacto American language.
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Funny you say that since the official language is English and the de facto language is Spanish. At least in some parts. In others it's Italian and others Greek or Chinese. I didn't know a word of English when I went to my first grade school and I can assure you it was stressful. But I learned and so will they.
 
cecilia said:
why do Americans think it's So difficult to be bilingual?
In Europe this is true for many people.

And the younger the child, the easier it is to pick up another language.
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Cecilia,

I don't know if you have noticed or not, but this is bleeping America. For well over 200 years, ENGLISH has been the defacto language. Now, because of all the illegal immigrants/aliens, they expect to just show up in an English speaking school system and we should all just adapt and start speaking -- not just Spanish, but every language on the planet to accommodate them?

It has nothing to do with being bilingual. It has to do with the fact that for those past 200+ years, almost every kid who shows up at a kindergarten (age 3-4) has always spoken fscking English... Now, 40+ percent of immigrants are showing up not even knowing how to speak the common, defacto language of this country.

It costs MONEY and TIME to teach these children what they should have already known before being accepted into a school... Stopping everything to teach these little bastards English is a HUGE burden on an already collapsing system.

That's the primary and entire point of the article.

For the record, I say that children should not be accepted into the school system at all until they know how to adequately communicate... After all, if an American child of English speaking parents showed up not knowing how to communicate, that child would be instantly discarded and tossed into what used to be called "Special Education". Not sure what it's called now, considering it's a PC world and all that shite.

Wayne
 
Glaucus said:
Funny you say that since the official language is English and the de facto language is Spanish. At least in some parts. In others it's Italian and others Greek or Chinese. I didn't know a word of English when I went to my first grade school and I can assure you it was stressful. But I learned and so will they.
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There -- unfortunately -- is no "official" language. It's apparently not politically correct to name one.

The defacto language used for communication for the last 238 years has been English. American Indians notwithstanding of course. Had the Indian nations triumphed over the invading British, I'm sure we'd all be speaking some sort of regional indian dialect.

But that's also the point. 600 years ago, give or take, North America was conquered by the British, French, and other cultures. English became the common, accepted language throughout every state in the nation and as new immigrants came from foreign countries over the last few HUNDRED years, they HAD TO learn English to get by.

Now with all the Mexican immigrants (illegal or otherwise) flooding this country there seems to be no such requirement, meaning that -- if the story holds true -- in a few years, 40%+ of everyone in this country won't even know how to speak the common, accepted, defacto language used for over 200 years.

America is, in point of fact, being invaded. There aren't any wars over it, everything's kinda just being ignored, but it's an invasion nonetheless.

Wayne
 
I think you misunderstand me, Wayne.

The first language I learned was NOT English because in my home French was generally spoken. Except when my mother and Aunt would speak to each other in German, or Spanish...

When I started school I think I knew a little English but I had to learn fast On My Own. Some of those nuns could be real cunts, but I learned it and went home to teach my younger brother so that when HE was ready to start school he wouldn't have as much trouble.

In Belgium where my mother was born it's quite common for children to learn French AND Flemish simultaniously. When my family came to America my Grandfather already knew several languages - including English and the rest of the family learned English once they arrived. They EXPECTED to learn English.

My point is: what's the big F'ing deal?? I'm no genius and if I could learn English, so can everyone else.
 
Wayne said:
Cecilia,
It has to do with the fact that for those past 200+ years, almost every kid who shows up at a kindergarten (age 3-4) has always spoken fscking English... Now, 40+ percent of immigrants are showing up not even knowing how to speak the common, defacto language of this country.
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Sure, in some parts of the country that's still true. In many parts of the country it was never really true. There are places where more immigrants have arrived than others and there have been many waves of non-English speaking immigration. They go to kindergarten, you teach them English. They grow up being able to speak English. Alternative? They come to kindergarten not speaking English and you don't teach them, you end up in a country where more people don't speak English.
That's the primary and entire point of the article.
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That's some of what the article mentioned. But they also mentioned the problem was one of concentration. Immigrants were being chased away from some areas (which they presumably would have preferred to live in) and concentrating in one place and burdening this one particular district.

Overall it is better to spread the immigrants around for better integration. If they all gather in one place they will be able to manage better without English.
 
cecilia said:
I think you misunderstand me, Wayne.
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As usual, we're talking about two completely separate things.

Never said kids CAN'T learn a different language. Hell, at that age, they're smarter than me. I simply pointed out the massive economic burden on an already failing system having to teach immigrants that second language (English) just to help them assimilate. 1? 2? 5 kids? Fine. 40% of the kids in the classroom? Burden.

Whether or not you realize it, "starting from scratch" with a kid when they get to the point of kindergarten is a massive time, effort, and resource drain. One that no one (except American taxpayers) are paying for...

As the original article was pointing out.

Wayne
 
Wayne said:
As usual, we're talking about two completely separate things.

Never said kids CAN'T learn a different language. Hell, at that age, they're smarter than me. I simply pointed out the massive economic burden on an already failing system having to teach immigrants that second language (English) just to help them assimilate. 1? 2? 5 kids? Fine. 40% of the kids in the classroom? Burden.

Whether or not you realize it, "starting from scratch" with a kid when they get to the point of kindergarten is a massive time, effort, and resource drain. One that no one (except American taxpayers) are paying for...

As the original article was pointing out.

Wayne
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as my mother spent her career teaching languages - including English to foreigners (ie, new Americans), I know that what you need ia an incredibly talented and dedicated teacher like my mother...and THEN all things are possible.

Sometimes my mother would have Asians kids, AND Spanish speaking kids, AND something else IN THE SAME CLASSROOM. All of them trying to learn English. She dealt with it

Yes, my mom is brilliant
 
The thing that makes any language sacrosanct are nostalgia and nationalism. Stick Skype Translation onto a Google Glass-like device. Give each Kindergartener one. Let the teacher teach in their language and the student learn in theirs.

Though the Right-Wingers will probably be mad that I push a Libertarian plan of resolve. ;)
 
faethor said:
The thing that makes any language sacrosanct are nostalgia and nationalism. Stick Skype Translation onto a Google Glass-like device. Give each Kindergartener one. Let the teacher teach in their language and the student learn in theirs.

Though the Right-Wingers will probably be mad that I push a Libertarian plan of resolve. ;)
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even though a Star Trek Universal Translator is a good idea in certain situations...I don't think it's good in school. (yes, I know you were kidding).

Languages are a particular point of view. The best way to understand a culture is to learn the language.
 
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