English only?
USA Today recently featured First Book, an organization which provides books to economically disadvantaged children, as one of 25 charities whose work it will celebrate throughout the year. I am a fan of First Book because I think it’s important to get a book into the hands of every child. Reading opens up worlds of possibilities.
It was interesting, then, to see the following comment posted on the site about First Book:
Books… should be provided for LEGAL CITIZENS OF THE U.S. ONLY.
Several comments after this one referenced that books should also only be provided in English - no Spanish or other languages. These comments clearly reflect a largely anti-Latino sentiment, though the argument is not limited to groups of Latinos or other Spanish speakers. They extend to those who speak Chinese, Russian, Persian and more.
I’m really struck by these comments and the larger picture of what they mean. I am an English speaker. English was, in fact, the only language spoken in my home when I was growing up. This wasn’t a choice - my parents were both English speakers and thus, so was I. I didn’t have exposure to any foreign languages until I was in the tenth grade, when I was offered a choice of French or Spanish in my local high school. I aced French but learned very little, really. My pronunciation was dreadful and when I transferred to another, more elite high school, I was forced to return to French I. In the end, it was a good thing. My French improved dramatically. In college, I went on to learn some Spanish (my pronunciation was similarly awful). But languages did not come easily to me, perhaps because of my lack of early exposure.
My children are not similarly situated. My husband, raised an English speaker, is fluent in German and English. While I speak only English to the children, my husband speaks German and English. My oldest daughter (age 5) has quite a nice vocabulary of German at this point. She has also learned some Spanish, both because of her Pre-K, but also due to a love for Dora the Explorer and Diego. As a result, my children have a mix of English, German and Spanish books at the house. They love all of them.
Children are little sponges. They soak up languages. When you get your first exposure to language, as I did, when you are older, it’s a much more difficult challenge to pick it up.
I guess this is why these comments strike me as odd. While I understand the importance of the English language in this country, why limit a child’s exposure to any language? According to ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, reading to children in any language helps a child learn to read English. This is a win-win situation, right?
I recently received a copy of The Bilingual Edge: Why, When and How to Teach Your Child a Second Language. While I read through it over the next few days, I’m interested to hear your thoughts about second languages and books. Is is appropriate to have books available in more than one language? And is there something more okay about an English speaker having a German or Spanish book than a German or Spanish speaker having an English book? Tell me what you think!
And if you enjoyed this article, can you digg it?
immigration, First Book, English, Spanish, books, languages
July 16th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Unfortunately, there are people out there who are very afraid of anything not in English. Silly!
Kids shouldn’t have to be citizens to have access to books. (Duh!) And it only makes sense to have the books in a variety of languages.
I like First Book, too. It’s wonderful to give children the opportunity to dive into the world of books and reading. =)
July 16th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Amen! I think it’s much more important for children to read than it is push an “English only” agenda.
July 16th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Let me see if I got this straight…
A charitable group is making the effort to increase literacy and get books in the hands of children who otherwise might not have them, and somebody who’s not doing jack is complaining that only US citizens should get books and they should only be in English?!
Obviously, the commenter’s parents never read to him as a child or else he might have grown up to be little more intelligent than that comment would indicate.
July 16th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Here is the response I put on the digg it site, and I went through the USA Today article, but did not find the comment you mentioned about someone saying that the books should be for U.S. citizens and/or be only in English. I did, however, see other comments referencing a comment of that nature, so maybe it has been deleted? At any rate, here are my thoughts:
That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a while…
I was a Montessori Pre-School teacher for 5 years and Montessori said over 100 years ago (and has since been shown to be true) that the sensitive period for language begins at birth and continues on through about age 6. Meaning: the best time for people to learn a second or third language is before they are 6, NOT when they are in high school. What is the appeal of having English only children’s books??? To narrow our children’s view and ability to our little corner of the world? Open your eyes, open your minds, do not deny our children the opportunity to become active members of this ever-increasingly global community. While I was a teacher here in Miami Beach, a good number of the families spoke only Spanish in the homes, and the children spoke mainly English while in school. I can attest to the fact that neither language suffered as a result. They will not “forget” how to speak English if another language is introduced. To me, it’s narrow-minded and even a little (okay, a lot) arrogant to dictate our children’s books should only be in English.
July 18th, 2007 at 7:49 am
[...] of Words Wednesday: Languages July 18th, 2007 by Kelly In light of the earlier discussions about languages, I thought I would tailor this week’s War of Words Wednesday to focus on that [...]