Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:23     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:We are going to check it out in person before coming to any final conclusions.


Great idea!
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:20     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
We are going to check it out in person before coming to any final conclusions.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:16     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:I am intrigued by this conversation because I am bilingual and have worked in Spain and Latin America. I do think there is some Spain/LAC snobbery at play here. I read reports from Spanish speakers every day for my job, and have learned to accept that as a Spanish-as-a-second-language speaker I tend to pay more attention to the detail of Spanish grammar, punctuation and spelling than most of my colleagues in Latin America. And this is not because they are uneducated, but rather that their education system has not focused as keenly on these things. However, I do not value what they have to say any less, and I think it's important to remember that language is a communication tool--one of many communications tools that we have.

I also do not think that we can jump to conclusions based on a few pieces of evidence that may not be systematic, so OP, I would encourage you to research more thoroughly if you really want to consider MV.

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?

Not sure where I am going with this post, but a school is more than grammar, and it seems that MV has a lot to offer. A native Spanish speaker parent could certainly try to work with what he has and make change from within once enrolling his child at the school, instead of rejecting it outright, because the chances of getting into MV and LAMB are slim to none.



This is a great perspective.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:15     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:Agree that language is a communication tool, but if you do not translate a text correctly and the translated version of a document says something different than the original version we definitely have a communication problem.


Was there a misunderstanding here? There are still no examples.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:15     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Other posters with concerns- myself included- are not from Spain, but from Latin America; Bolivia in my case.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:15     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:Teaching poor or correct grammar can occur in the tu, vosotros, or vos forms. The point is that Spanish has grammar, and immersion schools should teach and produce grammatical Spanish, regardless of which voice they teach.


I totally agree!
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:14     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Agree that language is a communication tool, but if you do not translate a text correctly and the translated version of a document says something different than the original version we definitely have a communication problem.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:13     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Teaching poor or correct grammar can occur in the tu, vosotros, or vos forms. The point is that Spanish has grammar, and immersion schools should teach and produce grammatical Spanish, regardless of which voice they teach.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:12     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:I am intrigued by this conversation because I am bilingual and have worked in Spain and Latin America. I do think there is some Spain/LAC snobbery at play here. I read reports from Spanish speakers every day for my job, and have learned to accept that as a Spanish-as-a-second-language speaker I tend to pay more attention to the detail of Spanish grammar, punctuation and spelling than most of my colleagues in Latin America. And this is not because they are uneducated, but rather that their education system has not focused as keenly on these things. However, I do not value what they have to say any less, and I think it's important to remember that language is a communication tool--one of many communications tools that we have.

I also do not think that we can jump to conclusions based on a few pieces of evidence that may not be systematic, so OP, I would encourage you to research more thoroughly if you really want to consider MV.

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?

Not sure where I am going with this post, but a school is more than grammar, and it seems that MV has a lot to offer. A native Spanish speaker parent could certainly try to work with what he has and make change from within once enrolling his child at the school, instead of rejecting it outright, because the chances of getting into MV and LAMB are slim to none.


+1. I am not surprised OP is from Spain.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:09     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
+100
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:07     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Well, with all due respect, if you are going to educate in Spanish, you better get your materials right.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:07     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
I am intrigued by this conversation because I am bilingual and have worked in Spain and Latin America. I do think there is some Spain/LAC snobbery at play here. I read reports from Spanish speakers every day for my job, and have learned to accept that as a Spanish-as-a-second-language speaker I tend to pay more attention to the detail of Spanish grammar, punctuation and spelling than most of my colleagues in Latin America. And this is not because they are uneducated, but rather that their education system has not focused as keenly on these things. However, I do not value what they have to say any less, and I think it's important to remember that language is a communication tool--one of many communications tools that we have.

I also do not think that we can jump to conclusions based on a few pieces of evidence that may not be systematic, so OP, I would encourage you to research more thoroughly if you really want to consider MV.

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?

Not sure where I am going with this post, but a school is more than grammar, and it seems that MV has a lot to offer. A native Spanish speaker parent could certainly try to work with what he has and make change from within once enrolling his child at the school, instead of rejecting it outright, because the chances of getting into MV and LAMB are slim to none.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:06     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
I find this discussion very interesting, as I think the same applies for some of the French immersion programs as well. Question is, are these kids emerging truly bilingual? If so, then goal met, right?
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:05     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:Why would admissions info to parents be non-vetted?


Because the details relating to how the new building, capacity, and available spaces wasn't known until late. Moreover, there were edits as the open houses went on to reflect questions that were being asked. There were no polished materials distributed, just quick handouts to help people get answers to their questions. That doesn't mean there should be errors (although I haven't reviewed them to verify that there were, but I could certainly see how typos could have made it in the materials), but this year is too transitional for any existing materials to be very useful. The emphasis is always on the education, not the marketing.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2014 23:04     Subject: Mundo Verde - Check their Spanish
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What does being from Spain have to do with it? Educated Hispanics (yes, there are lots of us, not just from Spain) value correct/grammatical/academic Spanish.


I don't believe the OP was trying to say anything at all about Spaniards vs. Hispanics, did you really feel that way?


I believe 22:59 is referring to 22:55 comment