September 4, 2007
SPANISH, CHINESE AND ARABIC WILL AT LEAST BE USEFUL:
Dual-language classes give U.S. an edge (AP, 9/04/07)
Days before the start of the school year, Fabrice Jaumont walked out of the French Consulate's mansion on Fifth Avenue, his arms filled with boxes containing books, DVDs and CDs in his native tongue. [...]"This is a competitive country, and if Americans want to compete globally, they won't be first anymore if their language skills are not good," says the energetic young diplomat, whose English is peppered with American jargon.
The new programs are part of a national trend to teach American children subjects such as math, social studies and science in a foreign language. This fall, several hundred thousand youngsters across America are headed to taxpayer-funded classes taught in Spanish, Hebrew, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian and other languages.
On Manhattan's Lower East Side, children at the public Shuang Wen Academy spend much of their school day in classes taught in Mandarin Chinese. The school is so popular among parents of non-ethnic Chinese children eager to prepare their offspring for a changing world that there's a waiting list for admission.
They start in nursery school here. Last year, the five year old asked if he could be done with his peanut butter and Nutella sandwich:
DAD: Five more bites
BOY (voice dripping with contempt): Cinco?
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 4, 2007 8:10 AMTenemos que entender espanol aqui, si nos queremos leer muchos de los anuncios.
Posted by: Brandon at September 4, 2007 11:09 AMNo. El mundo entero necesita aprender inglés.
Posted by: erp at September 4, 2007 11:56 AMBuh?
I was accosted at a party on Sunday by a woman I vaguely knew. I was kind of drunk and I'm pretty sure she had dropped acid - she had that look. She says to me, "You're French, aren't you?"
"Well, no, I have French last name, but I'm mostly a mutt."
"But you speak French, right? Blah-blah-blah (French nonsense)"
"Uh, yeah, I took French in high school but I didn't pay any attention and don't remember any of it"
"Oh, blah-blah (more French nonsense) blah-blah-blah!"
"I'm going to go stand over there for awhile, OK?"
Zut alors, I hate dealing with tripping people!
Anyway, if I were going to learn a second language, it would be Spanish. First, it would come in handy for watching those Telemundo shows with the really juggy babes. I could at least know why they're so happy and jumping up and down so much. Second, it would really irritate the Nativists who think that, somewhere in the Constitution (maybe in the back), it says that English is the official language of the US.
Do we really care why? Sabado Gigante is reason enough to be happy.
Posted by: oj at September 4, 2007 1:14 PMDom Francisco is Cuban. So he speaks with a lisping accent that makes him difficult to understand for those of us who learned Mexican-style Spanish.
Posted by: Brandon at September 4, 2007 1:59 PM
Wow! Lessons in Haitian creole! There's a plan. So practical, in case the kids want to put a curse on something.
If I took another language, it would be Japanese. Because, you know, they're taking over the world, buying all our expensive real estate and running us into the ground.
私は私達の日本のマスターを歓迎する。
Posted by: Ibid at September 4, 2007 3:45 PMSilly me - I took German (5 years) because our teacher was hot. She was somewhat authoritarian, too - I wonder if there was a connection?
I have only watched Spanish TV in South America - they jump around a lot there, too. It was like a constant frat party.
Posted by: jim hamlen at September 4, 2007 11:37 PMSabado Gigante host Don Francisco is Chilean, not Cuban, and Cubans don't lisp, they swallow consonants.
Posted by: Jorge Curioso at September 5, 2007 6:50 AM