Language in Our Lives...

By: doctormatt06
Published On: 7/7/2006 12:51:00 PM

I've decided to a diary on a topic that is relevant to myself, but I thought it might also be interesting to many of the readers here on our little slice of heaven known as Raising Kaine.  I started out in college on the pre-medicine track, hoping to one day treat the sick and cure the ailed (hence the DR. Matt).  Sadly, I woke up one day, and found myself repeating all the muscles of the body as I woke up screaming at the top of my lungs....just kidding.  No. what really happened was that I came to the conclusion that Biology and Medicine, although interesting, were not my destined careers.  So I fell back onto my double major at the time, Espa+â-¦ol.  I got a Bachelor's in Spanish, Minor in Italian, and applied to Grad School at GMU.  But what about language you ask wasn't that the topic of your post, you ask?  We'll I'll get to that if you come jump with me over the hump...
As a future language educator, and a proponent of elementary bilingual education programs in this country.  I've come to see much hypocrisy that is inherent in the system.  When it comes to ESOL (English as a(n) Second/Other Language) I've noticed a disturbing trend among the right-wing of this country.  For an ESOL student to learn English while having support in keeping his heritage language, most right wingers scream in anger...ENGLISH ONLY..ENGLISH ONLY!!!  And yet...
when it comes to American-Born citizens drive to pursue a bilingual education in another language besides English, those same right-wingers are oh so interested.  I can come only to the conclusion that there is an inherent language-phobia in the system and an even more pronounced xenophobia that makes it hard for these right-wingers to see the hypocrisy in what they do.  With such an influx of Hispanic students, and non-English language speakers from around the world, I see this as an opportunity for America.  Language is a common bond that connects people together.  Who are America's closest allies?  In my opinion, the answer should be easy...the U.K, Ireland, Canada, and Australia, because they all share the common bond of language.  So it+óGé¼Gäós hard for us NOT to connect to each other.  I digress, this opportunity for America is to integrate all of our schools into being bilingual schools.  Have Chinese/English Schools, Arabic/English Schools, Spanish/English Schools, and _______/English Schools.  Let's connect our languages together, so that we only make this world smaller, and make America the land where we are TRULY connected to the outside world.  And with language we can do it.  We can provide our future citizens with 'INs' to jobs and opportunities that they could only imagine.  We can truly spread democracy through language, through the World Wide Web, as distances become irrelevant with the use of cable modems.  We can use our language to really make friends in the world, and show the greatness of America.  Maybe I am an idealist.  But I feel that we have the ability to be great again.  Bush has done so much to tarnish our nation.  Whoever the next democratic president will be, I hope that they think about language when they think about making new bridges to cultures that Bush has alienated.  It may just be the key to more understanding, and helping us live in a better world.

Comments



I'm hoping... (doctormatt06 - 7/7/2006 12:52:11 PM)
To get my Ph.D in Educational Policy, so that I can go set-up elementary to high school bilingual education programs throughout the country, and get this movement kickstarted.  We'll see what happens though.