Gingrich calls Spanish the "language of the ghetto"

[beameup 0]

I can only add this comment:

When I attended high school, my hometown in Southern California was 15% Mexican population - now it's 85%.

Spanish is now the language of my hometown with English as a "second language". In large portions of my hometown

now English is not even needed whatsoever and in these same neighborhoods live Mexicans that know almost no English whatsoever - I know this for a fact because I've been there delivering the U.S. Mail in the mid-80's. Many people cannot even sign their own name, but mark an X to sign for Registered Mail. These same illegal aliens receive food stamps and welfare checks as well as free medical care and free education for their children who never speak any English outside their time at school. Entire neighborhoods in my hometown have become "virtual Mexico".

I have always known some Spanish and have been to Mexico over a 1000 times since childhood. But when the flood-gates were opened by the Democrats in the mid-sixties by offering welfare benefits to illegal Mexican aliens, the result has been that entire cities in the greater Los Angeles area have become "virtual Mexico". These are not "agricultural" areas where farm labor is needed, this is Urban Southern California.

[mybackpages 0]

4

He should have changed "Ghetto" to "Barrio" LOL

This country would be better off economically if we taught CHINESE!!! At the rate the Chinese economy is growing. What do we export to Mexico??

I'm just sick of the preferential treatment given to Spanish!! I SHOULDN'T have to press one for English.

$134 billion in exports to Mexico in 2006

$55 billion in exports to China in 2006

[Caladan 19]

Nice, mybackpages. Gingrich put his foot in it, but new immigrants do need to learn English.

Billingual education can be great if done well; I have a friend (Anglo) whose daughter is in a billingual elementary program. The class does three days a week in Spanish and two days in English. At the end of two years in it, her daughter is fluent in Spanish, though she speaks it with an accent. Her classmates are now fluent in English, though they still have an accent, too. And none of them are behind in math.

Her daughter now has command of two languages at age seven. I think the key is not to isolate the billingual classroom, but integrate it. Could be done with other languages, too.

[Donna A 4]

i know this is a little off topic but u know when u have to dial #2 for spanish? i asked this peurto ricoian (wow im sure i butchered that spelling) at work if he pushes 1 for english or 2 for spanish and he said he has to listen in english cuz he dont understand the spanish.

so here we are owning the territory of purto rico and we cant even make the menu in their spanish. we put mexican spanish on the menu....just not fair.

they should make it in purto rician spanish and make the mexicans try and figure it out.

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

i know this is a little off topic but u know when u have to dial #2 for spanish? i asked this peurto ricoian (wow im sure i butchered that spelling) at work if he pushes 1 for english or 2 for spanish and he said he has to listen in english cuz he dont understand the spanish.

so here we are owning the territory of purto rico and we cant even make the menu in their spanish. we put mexican spanish on the menu....just not fair.

they should make it in purto rician spanish and make the mexicans try and figure it out.

since nessa is from brazil, i think there should be a choice for portuguese too. why not go pc all the way and cater to everyone?

[mmarlo 1]

There is a ton of research showing that bilingual education programs are far more successful and cost-efficient than immersion programs. In Guatemala, for example, children from indigenous language communities that enrolled in bilingual ed programs finished their high school degrees far faster than children in immersion programs. When the kids in the bilingual ed programs spend one or two fewer years in school, it's much cheaper for the government.

Newt's comments are all rhetoric and no substance. My own personal take is that there's an inferiority complex that comes with being monolingual, when virtually all of the rest of the world is highly multilingual. Yet since there's a power and economic imbalance in the US, immigrants and non-WASPs are discriminated against on the basis of language. Language probably has nothing to do with the underlying causes, yet is a good vehicle for discrimination without being overtly racist, zenophobic, etc., and which lets the neo-cons proclaim some ridiculous nationalistic pride.

[GaryC 7]

There is a ton of research showing that bilingual education programs are far more successful and cost-efficient than immersion programs. In Guatemala, for example, children from indigenous language communities that enrolled in bilingual ed programs finished their high school degrees far faster than children in immersion programs. When the kids in the bilingual ed programs spend one or two fewer years in school, it's much cheaper for the government.

Newt's comments are all rhetoric and no substance. My own personal take is that there's an inferiority complex that comes with being monolingual, when virtually all of the rest of the world is highly multilingual. Yet since there's a power and economic imbalance in the US, immigrants and non-WASPs are discriminated against on the basis of language. Language probably has nothing to do with the underlying causes, yet is a good vehicle for discrimination without being overtly racist, zenophobic, etc., and which lets the neo-cons proclaim some ridiculous nationalistic pride.

Here is at least one study that disagrees with that:

Immersion better than bilingual, study says

Louie Villalobos

The Arizona Republic

Aug. 5, 2004 08:22 PM

Students in Arizona's Structured English Immersion classes learn at a faster pace than students who take bilingual education classes, according to a study released Thursday by the Arizona Department of Education.

Tom Horne, state superintendent of public instruction, said the study proves children who primarily speak a foreign language are better served by English-only instruction.

"When there is a debate, you want to keep people updated," Horne said. "I'm letting the public know what a scientific study is saying."

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The National Association for Bilingual Education, however, called Horne's study "irresponsible," saying it does nothing to prove either instructional model is better and is nowhere near scientific.

The Arizona results showed students in immersion classes outperformed bilingual education students in every grade level between second and eighth grade in reading, language and math, based on Stanford 9 scores.

There starts to be a significant difference at the sixth grade level, at which immersion students were more than one year ahead of the bilingual students in math.

By the eighth grade, there was at least a one-year difference in all three subjects.

"There is not a single exception," Horne said. "It tells us that the students in English immersion do substantially better."

The study was conducted during the 2002-03 school year and used the Stanford 9, a national, norm-referenced exam to measure what the students had learned.

The study is not meant to prove that students will show significant progress over a span of six grade levels. It just proves how much more students in immersion classes had learned than those in bilingual classes, Horne said.

Because the immersion program is already in place, Horne said no change in policy will result from the study. All students who took part in the study are now in the immersion program as part of the voter-approved English immersion law of 2000, which Horne began enforcing in 2003.

James Crawford, executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education, said the study proves nothing and challenged Horne to fund an extensive study that accounts for outside factors - such as level of poverty or the student's initial knowledge of English.

Crawford said it is irresponsible for a state organization, and its superintendent, to prove an "ideological" teaching method by "misusing" one set of test scores.

"It's really a ####### shoot for kids to subject them to a kind of approach that has no track record," Crawford said. "It's really a waste of taxpayer dollars."

Horne responded to Crawford's criticism by insisting his study is valid and conclusive.

"We are relying on science," he said. "And they're stuck in ideology."

http://www.azcentral.com/families/educatio...lingual-ON.html

[GaryC 7]

Bottom line is this. Whether they teach the kids in their native language or teach them English isn't really the issue. Once they get out of school the fact remains that they will do better in life if they speak English. It doesn't make sense to have two or more of everything to accommodate the non-english speakers. We are having a hard time as it is in our schools just teaching the basics. It isn't very smart to segregate part of the class to teach them in a different language. The results will always be uneven. It is better for the students if they learn English, bottom line.

[Caladan 19]

If it doesn't control for income, then it's practically useless as a study, since poverty is a top negative predictor of educational performance. It's also worthwhile to point out than an immersion class isn't the same thing as 'don't help them at all just let them sink or swim.'

I'd also be curious as to whether the program there is billingual, but just for the Hispanic kids, or billingual with an equal amount of Anglo kids, because what seems to work well in my friend's school is that the instruction in English is reinforced by the fact that half of the students speak English as a first language. So you get a peer-group reinforcement.

[GaryC 7]

I would like to hear from a teacher on this one. They are the ones that have to deal with this on a regular basis and would be the best to give an opinion. It's hard to separate the politics and national identity from the real results of each. We need to do what is best for the kids regardless of the rest. I do know that if someones not a fluent speaker they are at a disadvantage when it comes to life outside the classroom. That part is hard to dispute.

[Caladan 19]

Certainly wouldn't dispute that! I don't care much about the identity politics, just about what works. If what works is immersion, then we should fund that. If what works is billingual education, we should fund that. We have to get the kids speaking English, and we have to do so while they still learn math & science.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

We need to get the parents speaking English, too, instead of providing all these Spanish language crutches.

[JohnK 0]

Reminds me of Ebonics.

[almaty 19]

Newt is an idiot and a chopf##k

[Robor007 0]

I saw this article earlier and I thought the "ghetto" comment was a poor choice of words also. Unfortunately his correct message will get lost because of this. There is nothing wrong with being bi-lingual as long as you are fluent in English. In fact there is an advantage in knowing more than one language. The idea of teaching in ones native language however, is going to hold someone back rather than being inclusive. Someone that does not speak English in America is at a disadvantage. It reduces their employment opportunities and subjects them to bias. I believe that the focus in our schools should be to bring non-english speaking students up to speed with English as quickly as possible. I will be dealing with this soon. Luz's son Robin can speak English but his skills are not up to speed yet. He will be at a disadvantage unless he gets better. I always want him to know and speak Tagalog but he must speak English first. I have sent him to an ESL school in PI and I will have him tutored some more when he gets here. It can only help him.

Great post! If I lived in a foreign country I wouldn't expect others to learn English because it's my language. I should adapt to the culture and lean their language.

I plan to learn some Tagalog with the assistance of my wife when she arrives. I know a few basic words and phrases but they usually just get me into trouble. When I'm in the Philippines I greet someone with 'kumusta or 'kumusta po' or if I'm greeted I respond 'mabuti' and then they think I am fluent and go on to speak to me in Tagalog.