The article I choose to write about this week was " The Spanish Lesson I Never got in School", posted by the New York Times and written by author Hector Tobar. Tobar was born in Guatemala, but grew up as a child of immigrants in California in the 70's. He went to school during the time period when the state first passed an anti-immigration movement in which students were not allowed to speak or learn any other language other than English in schools. He speaks of the stigma surrounding the children who knew more than one language, and how they were seen as stupid. He also speaks of how he lost his native language through the years as English was pushed so hard and his Spanish was completely lost. With the recent passing of Prop 58 these anti-immigration laws from the 70s were overturned by the voters in California. English is a language all students need to learn, but their native languages need to also be embraced and valued. Their bilingual abilities do not make them stupid, but rather make them brilliant learners! Tobar speaks highly of multiligualism and how it shows of high intellectualism, and I agree.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/opinion/the-spanish-lesson-i-never-got-at-school.html?_r=0
That is an interesting story. Thanks for sharing!
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