View Content #10158
| Contentid | 10158 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Article: Language As a Bridge and an Identity |
| Body | From http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar22-2009sep22,0,5869385.story Language as a bridge and an identity By Hector Tobar September 22, 2009 I was invited to speak on Sunday to a group of 5-, 6- and 7-year-olds, and to their odd, tiny "classmate" -- a stuffed bear. Like me, the children were all English speakers, born in the U.S. But the stuffed bear spoke only Spanish, the children's teacher told me. So the kids and I chatted in español -- just so el oso wouldn't feel left out. "Buenos días," I said to the children, and they all answered back "buenos días!" The bear kept quiet, however. The "Spanish-speaking bear" is a little trick they use at the Grupo Educa weekend language school to get the kids to speak Spanish. All the students there are members of Southern California families with roots in Latin America and Spain. Their bilingual parents are working zealously to keep the family Spanish alive -- despite the unstoppable daily wave of English that comes at them from television and films, and in classrooms and playgrounds. Read the full article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar22-2009sep22,0,5869385.story |
| Source | Los Angeles Times |
| Inputdate | 2009-10-11 11:02:19 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2009-10-11 11:02:19 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | 2009-10-12 00:00:00 |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
