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EnglishTutor's comments:
on English as a Second Language
You are so right, econotechie. That's the point - the parents are the key to each child's success. It's their values that get passed on to their children, and their expectations that encourage kids to succeed. Sounds like you are doing a great job. Wish there were more like you; we'd be a stronger country. It's nuts for parents to regularly pull their kids out of school for 1-2 months to go back to Mexico to visit relatives; how can one learn English when away from school that long in a short enough school year? Someone made the comment that bi-lingual (Spanish) is not "coddling". I've heard all the arguments, read the studies, yet, I can't help it, I do have to believe what my own eyes are telling me, what my direct experience proves to me. Go back and read how often people use the word "immersion" in this forum.
The system is deeply flawed, with new "methods" being tried out every year. Yet, it is all up to the individual family and their support that is the key. I feel for the gal who was forced out of LA. It would be awful if Oregon took that direction, so we just need to be careful and remain open minded instead of relying on, dry "studies" that continue to support a party line which is filled with imperfection.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on English as a Second Language
Seeker - great post. It makes so much sense that the "linguistic chaos activates the growth hormone in the neurons." Wow. I found myself in a Spanish immersion college course and for 3 weeks I "cheated" as much as possible - waiting around, the lazy way our kids in school do too, for a friend to speak to me in English to let me know what the heck the teacher was talking about. I comprehended about every few words of Spanish, but not being truly immersed made me aware of how easy we are making it for our students to fail to learn English, by giving them a (particularly Spanish) crutch to fall back on instead of walking and talking confidently on their own. I was that kid for 3 weeks. Oregon State Education Board needs to take note.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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on English as a Second Language
I too have over 16 years experience with English Language Acquisition, coming from the world of business into education via an instructional assistant job in ESL when I moved here to Oregon. My first school started out with 3 ESL kids and when I left, just 4 years later there were 200.
Miss Kim said it perfectly when she said she learned English the best during immersion in Spokane. That is my observation - the kids who learn the fastest do not rely on waiting for someone to interpret for them in their native language - they jump in and ask questions and learn, rejecting the draw to watch Spanish language tv, radio and keeping only to Spanish friends. It's sad that we give Spanish speakers no compelling reason to learn English well enough to get them into colleges by keeping them "down", essentially by making bi-lingual schools, making it seem to them, as one student told me, "Why should I learn English when none of my relatives speak it, and they are doing okay?"
Just to cut off any potential feelings that I am being racist - my daughter is half Mexican. My ex-husband's parents spoke Spanish in the home and English, however, they stressed that their kids learn English as well as possible. He had successful job growth because he knew English very well - bless his folks.
posted 3 years, 4 months ago
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