REFLECTION:
I think that teaching a child to be bilingual will only set them up for sucess in the world we live in today. For people who speak English as thier first language learning spanish is a very asset to have when entering the job market. With the hispanic population rising being able to speak both makes you a great candidate over someone who can not. What do you do if you are a server in a restaurant and your table speaks only Spanish? If you do not speak the language at all you are stuck. You either have to find someone to help you or you have to struggle your way through trying to take the order. It is an embarrassing experience for both parties.
On the other hand what if your first language was something other than English and you are living in the USA? People around in in society are constantly jeering at you to learn "our" language and look down upon the people who use their native tongue in public. The thing that gets me is that What if that is the only part of their culture that they have left and are proud of? Must we take that away or does speaking English and forcing them to adapt make their life better? I'm not really sure how to answer that question myself.
Seeing as how I was not born in this country am I a Russian? Or am I American? It is something that I struggle with on a constant basis. I am not in my technical homeland yet the USA is all I know so who then do I identify with? Should I speak Russian or should I be speaking English?
Comment to share: For the other people that were born in a foreign place how do you identify?
Interesting points... can you connect this back to the articles as well?
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