Reply to Who said there isn't a North-South divide?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I really don't get why folks think that Spanish speaking immigrants really want their kids in immersion school. DH is Hispanic, his mom's first language was Spanish. She refused to teach her kids Spanish. Same with pretty much all of his family. They want to distance themselves from Spanish. That is the general attitude of many Hispanics I know and is bore out by studies.

http://theconversation.com/spanish-use-is-steady-or-dropping-in-us-despite-high-latino-immigration-85357

I am not speaking to other reasons for moving the school, but moving the school to an area with more Hispanics doesn't necessarily mean more Hispanics will automatically attend (assuming it remains a choice school).

[/quote]

That article doesn't show that Hispanics want to cast off their language, rather they are pressured to do so and are schooled out of it. Immersion programs aren't meant to change all the cultural forces shaping language usage, rather it's meant to provide a bridge for students to become proficient in two languages. It doesn't have to be either/or. It's a brilliant way to help kids who are not yet proficient in English access math and science curriculum immediately, while at the same time introducing English through language arts/civics curriculum. And dual-immersion can be a valuable tool in encouraging linguistic/cultural/economic diversity, because it encourages MC and UMC native English speakers to voluntarily desegregate otherwise segregated schools.

I will say that my kids attend a school with a significant Spanish-speaking population, and they absolutely speak Spanish to their kids, because it's the only language they know. They can't teach them anything else, because they are still learning English themselves. The next generation may not teach their children Spanish, but we're talking about the here and now, where the many kids are first generation, not second or third. [/quote]

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