Add Value with Foreign-Language Component

This post was written by Vicky Hsiang, who is student at the University of Washington Intensive Business English Program. She has the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree in Spanish from her native Taiwan, and is interning with us during Spring Quarter.

Nowadays, cultures are more and more globally connected, but the U.S. is somehow falling behind, especially in education.

According to an editorial in The Seattle Times (April 7, 2010), Seattle Public Schools have language-immersion programs to help solve this education problem. In these programs, students are taught 50 percent of the time in English, and the rest of the time in a foreign language. The test results show that students who are in these programs have higher scores overall than those who are taught in English only.

Educators also point out that students in elementary school can learn foreign languages more easily than others. In Seattle, nearly 50 percent of elementary students are eligible for bilingual education. Seattle’s language-immersion programs are very successful, and they could help improve the quality of education in the U.S.

From my experience, in Asian countries, all the students must study their native language and English in elementary school. For example, in Taiwan, our government made English one of the main subjects in elementary school 12 years ago. Nowadays, trilingualism is more and more common among the younger generation.

In school we study English at least 10 hours per week, which is why most students have high scores. However, in Asian countries there is an interesting phenomenon: those students are only good at reading, listening and grammar, not conversation. They know a lot of English vocabulary, but they cannot speak it. The main reason is the high student-teacher ratio; there are more than 35 students in one class, so students really don’t have a chance to speak during the class. Moreover, students tend to be quiet during the class out of respect for the teacher. It is hard to encourage students to speak. Some educators discovered this problem, so now there are many ways to study in the U.S. or other countries.

In the future, we’ll have even more opportunities to go to other countries. Even if you don’t travel, you can still meet people from other countries and exchange ideas with them. Communication is very important, not only in our native language but also in other languages. When you talk to people from other countries in their native language, they will feel you are very friendly and eager to know their culture.

If you would like to reference the editorial, click here.

Mission Accomplished!

It's a good day in Mrs. Bolano's Heritage Spanish class at a North Carolina high school--thanks to DonorsChoose.org and several nationwide who believed in her need for Spanish-to-Spanish dictionaries, her classroom is now equipped with the tools she needs!
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=189127

I posted on this a while back; if any of my readers were among those to help out, ¡mil gracias!

GO, COUGS!

Hey, reading the Tri-City Herald I just learned that my alma mater, Washington State University, is doing a terrific job recruiting Latino students *and* staff for its Tri-Cities campus!

According to the article by Michelle Dupler, multicultural students enrolled in Fall 2008 represent 15% (versus 12.6% last fall). Multicultural students at the Pullman campus are at 15.1%, although a definitely different makeup than those at Tri-Cities, a more traditionally Latino market.

Students at the Tri-Cities campus id'ing themselves as Hispanic nearly doubled from 2006 to 2008--from 75 to 141.

My favorite part of the article was the quote from Chancellor Vicky Carwein, who said the campus is making an effort to recruit not only Hispanic students, but also Hispanic faculty and staff. She said, "Studies show you do a better job of recruiting and retaining Hispanic students if you have faculty and staff that are like them."

This is what Edgar and Holli Martinez are saying, too! (see previous post)

Congrats to WSU Tri-Cities and to its new director of student affairs, Jaime Contreras, who has helped educate the educators on this significant issue.

We Heart Edgar

So...in case you didn't hear about the launch yesterday, famed former Mariner hitter Edgar Martinez and his wife Holli have set up a scholarship fund for Latino undergrad students and also for minorities pursuing teacher-training programs. He and his wife know how many students a teacher can affect, and how having teachers that look like us can really inspire us.

But you know what? While Washington State schools had 24% minority students in the 2007-2008 school year, only 7% of the teachers were minorities. AND - in 2005-2006, only 16 percent of teaching certificates were issued to minorities.

Now we know there's a problem with graduation levels in our nation and state--especially among minorities. And according to our own study of Puget Sound Latinos, we found that only 16% have attended or are graduating from college. Let's work on giving these students something to aspire to!

So Edgar and Holli have set up The Martinez Foundation and donated $200K of their own funds to guarantee a minimum of ten $20,000 scholarships to Latino undergrads! They'd like you to help them with this amazing cause. The Martinez Foundation fundraising event will take place October 18 at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. See more at http://www.themartinezfoundation.org/

¡Gracias, Edgar y Holli!

CALL FOR LATINO MENTORS

OK so I just discovered a really cool program within the Seattle School District. Maybe you can help me spread the word?

Guillermo Carvajal is launching the Latino Achievers Club, whose motto is Preparing Latino Boys for the Future. It's a school-based Latino project designed to give boys enhanced social and academic development, and will take place at three elementary schools in south seattle that show a high number of Latino students.

Guillermo is creating seminars and workshops designed to:

1. Enhance Imagination and create independent learners
2. Inspire a passion for science and math
3. Encourage Career Exploration
4. Teach Team Building
   

To get this off the ground, he needs leads for the following:

• Facilitators for Public Speaking
• Skilled trainers on time management who want to try a hand at working with Latino boys
• Money Management and kids
• Diet
• Dress for Success
• The Power of Words
• Latino Identity: Re-affirmation of Cultural Identity
• Latino mentors (male)
• Latino motivational speakers
• Self-Discipline
• Also looking for trainers / facilitators that would do creative projects such as
  Model Rocket Building
• Robotics
• Other creative (with a math and science base) ideas.

If you or someone you know speaks Spanish and would like to lend your talents to this terrific cause, please contact Lead Coordinator Guillermo Carvajal at 206-252-0993 or gcarvajal@seattleschools.org.