Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was going to sum up the powerpoint but now I lost the post. Was it deleted? Or am I on the wrong thread?

Wrong thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:21:47 here. I don't know yet. We will give it a chance/check out the Open House. As a mixed Hispanic/Anglo family, its important for me for our kids to get quality Spanish instruction, just as I would want for them in math, science, or any other subject. Bilingual education is a huge draw for us, but not if it's token bilingualism, or not done thoroughly or well. In my opinion a "bilingual school" should teach Spanish (or whatever language) very well. Would we send our kids to a STEM school where the science or math was not taken seriously or diligently? Clearly not, and this is no different.

THIS. The stem analogy is huge. Also, spending a year (or more) living abroad can make you truly, truly fluent in a way that spending k-8 in bilingual but not living abroad will not.

I disagree (and in fact studies show otherwise).

[Anonymous]

I am still waiting for some quotes. What was incorrect? Post the info and let those of us who speak Spanish decide if they are egregious errors or not.

[Anonymous]

Miscommunication comes with the territory of bilingual public schools in a diverse area. OP's complaint is common at Oyster-Adams, as well. Somebody is always complaining about somebody's use of language. The teachers vary in quality like many places. Parents' expectations vary, too.

But in any language, grammar is not the same as intelligence. Teaching in a language is different than teaching a language as a subject. You have to judge for yourself about the quality of language instruction because, unlike math, there is no DC CAS for Spanish.

[Anonymous]

Donde esta la biblioteca?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, OP here.

I am from Spain, but I work in a Latin American environment for Latin American countries (in fact, I have been working in or for LAC countries for more than 10 years now). Most of my co-workers are from Latin America (Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Uruguay, … you name it) I live with a person from Peru. We definitely have different accents and some (many?) vocabulary is different (I.e. car is “coche” in Spanish from Spain but “carro” in Spanish of Peru, maíz vs choclo, aguacate vs palta, etc….), nevertheless the grammar and the spelling are the same.

The errors I was mentioning were not minor. I am referring to have a singular subject accompanying a plural verb, a totally non sense post, or a very wrong translation (i.e. the meaning in Spanish was very different from the meaning in English, and as a native speaker you could totally see why the mistake was done).

As a non-English native speaker in the US, working for a multinational company, I value very much the possibility of having a full immersion education. I regret not having had one, as it would definitely had made the difference (i.e. more career progression, much broader and better work options, etc…)

I am just saying, if you are looking for a school that prepares your children to speak like a native speaker, or close to that, MV is not the option. I would have loved that this was not the case, as from what I heard, there are many other nice things that might make MV a good alternative. Nevertheless, for me, it was a deal breaker. Knowing something so fundamental was wrong (i.e. being an immersion bilingual school and not having your most basic grammar correct) made me doubt about the rest. Moreover, I want my children to learn Spanish properly (if possible, academic Spanish) and I was afraid that been exposed to incorrect grammar and vocabulary could, instead of reinforcing what they learn at home, be even detrimental.

Regarding LAMB, my experience, limited to their Open House material and presentation, is that their Spanish was flawless.

Couldn't agree more. Full disclosure- I'm a LAMB parent. LAMB's level of academic yet colloquial Spanish is superb. The kids are learning to speak completely standard Spanish, but also everyday speech. Their accents are great. I think it's because of the number of native instructors, but also the large Latin community. I'm concerned about MV because I know that my child will maybe attend DCI and will mix with students whose level of Spanish is not on par. Can the school start addressing this now? I think DC Bilingual Spanish is also known as excellent, so maybe that will even things out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I too noticed that the Spanish at LAMB was flawless and felt extremely confident with their presentation. I also noticed that the Spanish (from Spain) volunteer teachers at Powell, a lovely school, are teaching all the kids the vosotros form. Why on earth would you teach kids with a Central American background the vosotros, and furthermore, ask them to employ it in classwork, hang it on the wall, etc.? That to me reeks of snobbery and a total lack of understanding of kids they are working with. So maybe "perfect" grammar is also a liability.

How on earth would you teach Spanish without using vosotros? Regardless of how Spanish is spoken in Latin America, or English is spoken in Jamaica or SE DC, or French is spoken in Haiti, a school has the responsibility of teaching languages in an academically correct way. And that has nothing to do with snobbishness or intelligence blablabla it's just the responsibility of a school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but you don't run about living your daily life in vosotros. If you think, or grow with the perceptions that daily life is like that, then you are no more fluent than someone with extensive college courses. It should feel "strange" to speak like that. In other words, you need to develop an appreciation for contextual speaking that only comes from speaking in the correct context.

[Anonymous]

I guess the consensus is, the Spanish immersion programs across schools, face communication incompetences. From handouts, to the way a teacher teachers. Glad we are in a traditional school.

[Anonymous]

What was the problem?

[Anonymous]

Making a Latino instructor use vosotros in daily conversations with kids everyday, which is how immersion works, would be like forcing an American teacher to speak and writ as a Brit would. Pointless and impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too noticed that the Spanish at LAMB was flawless and felt extremely confident with their presentation. I also noticed that the Spanish (from Spain) volunteer teachers at Powell, a lovely school, are teaching all the kids the vosotros form. Why on earth would you teach kids with a Central American background the vosotros, and furthermore, ask them to employ it in classwork, hang it on the wall, etc.? That to me reeks of snobbery and a total lack of understanding of kids they are working with. So maybe "perfect" grammar is also a liability.

How on earth would you teach Spanish without using vosotros? Regardless of how Spanish is spoken in Latin America, or English is spoken in Jamaica or SE DC, or French is spoken in Haiti, a school has the responsibility of teaching languages in an academically correct way. And that has nothing to do with snobbishness or intelligence blablabla it's just the responsibility of a school.

Are you a native Spanish speaker, from what country?

[Anonymous]

Are they also responsible for teaching the Vos form because that would be correct in Argentina? Spanish has dialects. These forms are part of them. The kids should learn that, and hopefully they will adjust. It isn't usually that hard (although I, despite having a degree in Spanish literature and lived in several Latin American countries, still can't understand Chileans, the week I spent there wasn't enough to get used to it). But that is Spanish.

[Anonymous]

¡Bienvenidos a Mundo Verde PCS! ¡[Student] ha sido aceptado en Mundo Verde! No espere, complete el proceso de inscripción antes del 1 de Mayo de 2014. Acompañenos al Evento de Inscripciones Abiertas par las Nuevas Familias en Mundo Verde. Sábado 12 de abril de 9-11 AM. ¡Estamos emocionados por conocerlos!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I too noticed that the Spanish at LAMB was flawless and felt extremely confident with their presentation. I also noticed that the Spanish (from Spain) volunteer teachers at Powell, a lovely school, are teaching all the kids the vosotros form. Why on earth would you teach kids with a Central American background the vosotros, and furthermore, ask them to employ it in classwork, hang it on the wall, etc.? That to me reeks of snobbery and a total lack of understanding of kids they are working with. So maybe "perfect" grammar is also a liability.

How on earth would you teach Spanish without using vosotros? Regardless of how Spanish is spoken in Latin America, or English is spoken in Jamaica or SE DC, or French is spoken in Haiti, a school has the responsibility of teaching languages in an academically correct way. And that has nothing to do with snobbishness or intelligence blablabla it's just the responsibility of a school.

Do only the Spanish from Spain have perfect grammar? Which of their dialects is perfect grammar?