NY Times Article
The New York Times recently published an article entitled "Students Search for the Words to Go With Their Cultural Pride" in which it discusses how many students are going back to school to learn their native language, which they decided to put aside when they came to this country.
I am providing a link to the article, however I think you may need a username and password to read the article. Enjoy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/nyregion/07heritage.html?ei=5070&en=19f5812bde6107f3&ex=1179633600&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1179461067-9+pGaNgrO11BseQn0xAV/w
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4 comments:
I can definitely relate to the renewed sense of ethnic pride Kathleen Dillon mentions in the article. When you’re young all you want to do is fit in, even if that means abandoning your primary culture. But when you’re older you realize just how much that primary culture is a part of who you are and you can’t help but want to get it back and fully embrace it.
Being of Portuguese decent it has always been extremely important, especially as a daughter of immigrants, for me to be fluent in the English language and do well academically as I many times needed to play the role of liaison between my parents and the rest of the world since they lacked the proficiency in the language themselves. But now that my parents are more self-sufficient and no longer have that language barrier I find that is has become more and more important for me to espouse as much of the Portuguese culture that I can so that I can one day pass it along to my own children.
I found the article “Student Search for the Words to go With Their Cultural Pride” published by The New York Times was extremely beneficial for all ELL teachers. This article allows teachers to see the feelings and point-of-views of other ELL students. As Ms. Harfouche in the article said, “I wanted to fit in so badly. I figured if I practiced English, if I spoke English well, I’d be an American, like the other kids in my school”. A friend that I know was going through the same emotions as Ms. Harfouche. Today, as an adult my friend looks back to her childhood experience and she wishes she obtained the Spanish language instead of wanting to become Americanized. She feels ashamed that she can not speak her native language. In high school she took a class in Spanish. However, to all her friends she pretended that she was just talking it to get an easy class because she was embarrassed that everyone else could understand and speak Spanish and she could not. In addition, she was happy she was finally going to be able to learn her language. She said that most students that are from the Hispanic descent take this class to get an easy A, but not for her, to her this meant this was going to be a lot of hard work. She feels that taking this Spanish class taught her pride and brought her one step closer to filling that empty void she had for so many years. From the New York Times article Professor Colton said, “To them, though the classes are much more than just learning a language; they’re about reclaiming their roots”. I feel this is very true for my friend. Currently, I try to encourage her to speak Spanish with me and when she is around my family. As a future teacher she allows me to see how ELL students my feel about not knowing how to speak the English language very well. For me passing on my native language and the English language to my children is extremely important.
This is an interesting article that shows how people from other cultures are trying to keep their traditions while learning and living the traditions and values of their new land.
Sometime ago, I read the same article in the Star Ledger a new trend involving college students trying to reclaim their roots. The reporter interviewed a student who, while in college, decided to study the language of their parents’ country of origin, the same language her parents were insisting in teaching her at home much to her regret. Once in college, she realized what she had missed by resisting her parents and found fulfillment and pride in her new learning experience.
This article was written because there seems to be a trend among young people attending college. Also, for the young professional, learning or re-learning their parents’ language opens a new found employment market that for many involves traveling back to their parents’ homeland to work in high level positions.
Pilar
The ability to speak another language is such an asset. I regret not knowing French Creole, since that was one of the languages of my ancestors. In our family my mother's generation is the final generation as a whole that knows how to carry on a conversation in Creole. My generation just know a few words, and I must say I show them off to my French Creole Students and get them all excited, because they think that I could really speak Creole. A Kindergartener taught me a few Creole words about two weeks ago, after she heard me say a phrase in Creole. She got all excited and wanted to know if I spoke French. I told her that I only know a few words so she decided to help me with a few more. My generation did not learn how to carry on a conversation in French , because our parents did not teach us. They on the other hand learned from their parents who had it as an "every-day language". However, my parents generation rarely spoke the language, and on most occasions when we heard them speak in Creole it was to speak of something they did not want us to know of or understand. I wish they were not so selfish. I am always so envious of someone who could speak French or French Creole. Maybe I too will go back to school to learn the language of my Caribbean ancestors.
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