Bilingual Education In The Latino Community

Spanish is spoken by a diverse range of cultures—however, these cultures come together, united by their shared values, to create what we know as the Latino community. Though learning the language is principal in a Spanish class, learning about the culture of that language is almost equally as important. If you do not understand a culture, you can never fully understand its language. Therefore, knowing the significance and effectiveness of bilingual education and the fundamental characteristics of the Latino community is a perfect way to begin a journey into the depths of the Spanish language and the culture surrounding it. To begin, before high school, I knew next-to-nothing about the Hispanic population nor Latino culture in the United
Potowski listed makes me question why there is such a huge opposition to bilingualism in the U.S.; the encouragement of monolingualism is obvious, yet there are no apparent benefits that stem from becoming a monolingual country. So, why are people in the U.S. so adamant that everyone who comes here must learn to speak English and only English? Why are other languages met with such distaste? To be direct, I believe that it may be that people in the U.S. are simply ignorant to other culture; as a country, we are “stuck in our ways” and we seemingly ignore the overwhelming evidence of the advantages that stem from bilingual education. Even I was dumbfounded when Potowski mentioned that there are programs where 90% of the school day is taught in Spanish. Nevertheless, because of my newfound knowledge, I sincerely think that the U.S. should consider expanding bilingual education; the research is clear: bilingual education has many advantages that cannot and should not be
How much of that language do you remember? Do you think you could communicate basic things in that language if needed?” Participant one, who took French in high school, stated, “It was okay, but could have been way better. I remember some of what I learned. If I somehow ended up in France, I could ask for directions, choose a meal, and ask where the bathroom is.” On the contrary, Participant two said, “No, I don’t remember most of what I learned in high school Spanish… I could probably only ask you how you are.” Participant three said “I think my teacher teaching in an unconventional way helped me retain a lot of the language and I was able to build upon what I learned in high school.” Participant four stated “It was done to the best of my school’s ability. My school was not very focused on foreign language. I only remember very basic things.” In my opinion, the variation in answers expresses the U.S.’s ever-growing need to standardize and improve foreign language