What do you think of Spanish immersion?
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Anonymous
Lol. DC is a "world" away for you only because you have created such a small world for yourself. Sad. You're right, Spanish would be useless to you. Keep being so "perceptive" in the burbs. |
Anonymous
Aaaaaand I'll assume you also have never met any of the Spanish speaking professionals who work in DC and also live in the suburbs of VA? |
Anonymous
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It's true that the Spanish-speakers are cleaning houses and mowing lawns for the most part. And that most of them are here illegally.
And while you're at it, plug in local ZIP codes in the Family Watchdog sites and notice how many sex offender violations are directed to the address of the INS/immigration offices. Nice, huh? |
Anonymous
This has nothing to do with Spanish immersion classes. What does one have to do with the other? |
Anonymous
The so-called "usefulness" of Spanish vs. the fact it is being pushed as a language, including in schools, because of the millions who are breaking our laws and we don't do anything about it except absorb their language. |
Anonymous
IMHO - colleges don't really care which foreign language you take but you must take one. why not Spanish? FCPS really doesn't offer that many choices, and Spanish is easier than French. |
Anonymous
I'm all for cracking down on illegal aliens (but that's another topic for the Politics section), but the purpose of Spanish immersion, or any of the immersion schools, is not to "absorb" the language of illegals. We have Japanese, German, and French immersion schools. Are those languages being "pushed" because of illegals? No. The students are still learning social studies and language arts in their native language of English, while they are at the same time learning another. Maybe it's Spanish, maybe it's something else. Did you have to take a foreign language in high school? Almost everyone has, for decades now, in order to graduate. It's no different, except for most people it's easier to learn at an early age. |
Anonymous
| Como se dice "xenophobia" en español? |
Anonymous
Yeah, I'm getting damn tired of all those illegals strolling across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. |
Anonymous
This may well be true in the middle of nowhere, where you must live, but is certainly not the case in main cities nor in the US at large. Most people who speak Spanish are here legally. Not only that, but Spanish was likely spoken in US territory before English was. You can choose to enlighten yourself a bit here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language_in_the_United_States - "The Spanish language is the second most used language in the United States. There are more Spanish speakers in the United States than there are speakers of Chinese, French, German, Italian, Hawaiian, and the Native American languages combined. According to the 2010 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, Spanish is the primary language spoken at home by almost 37 million people aged five or older, a figure more than double that of 1990.[1][2]" - "Spanish was the language spoken by the first permanent European settlers in North America. Spanish arrived in the territory of the contemporary United States with Ponce de León in 1513. In 1565, the Spaniards, by way of Juan Ponce de León, founded St. Augustine, Florida, and as of the early 1800s, it became the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the continental United States." |
Anonymous
Yes. And while you're at it, there is this continent called South America that is populated with Spanish speakers other than the lowly gardeners, cleaners and pedophiles you cite. Oh, and there is that country in Europe...Spain...look that up too. And of course, there is our North American neighbor, Mexico. Oh, and newsflash - there is a huge population of bilingual citiizens in the southwestern parts of the US that used to be Mexico that did NOT immigrate here, but whose families were there before the border moved. Of course, if you and your children will never venture beyond whatever hole you live in, then, don't worry yourself. |
Anonymous
To answer the original question...immersion brings two significant benefits: - faster acquisition of second language, which will be a crucial asset, personally and professionally, for any person n the XXI century - faster development of executive functions and cognitive flexibility Now, to achieve the real benefits one must really practice for years, not just attend a few classes...so you must select a language which DC may be able to practice in and outside school. Whether that is Spanish, Mandarin, or Russian, that will depend upon your specific roots/ neighbors/ careers/ travel interests... As "enlightened" PPs have posted, Spanish is a great potential option, but not the only one. But any immersion, in the long term, is likely to be better than none. |
Anonymous
Huh? Try Vienna and its environs. Hardly the middle of nowhere. Unless you're a DC snob of sorts. |
Anonymous
Ask 95% of people in this planet where "Vienna and its environs" are, and you'll get your answer. |
Anonymous
Answer: Huh? |