Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Congrats

I would first just like to say congratulations to my fellow classmates on hopefully a completion of Junior Field. I know that when I started I was extremely nervous but by the end I was astounded at how well I fit in and how I just did not want to let it go. However, summer must begin.
This is where I would just like to say a bit about my summer job and how it relates to different languages. Many people in America are fluent in other languages and as we know, Spanish is definitely at the top of that list. One thing I regret is not taking Spanish in high school. I work at Island Beach State Park and there is a very high rate of Spanish speaking families that visit the park on a daily basis. I wish that I could help them understand the park better and be able to do it in their nation tongue, however I can’t. So this means that they must use the little English that they know to understand what I am saying. America is a vastly diverse country and that is what makes us great, so it truly is important to respect everyone and not be turned off when someone can not speak English as well as we can.

2 comments:

Irina Nikitovic said...

I highly support your need to help those who do not speak English. What I have done in situations like that, and what you may find helpful, is to meet your visitors half-way. What I mean by that is to guide the conversation so that after you finished answering their questions you can ask them to translate a phrase, a word, ect. from that conversation to Spanish to help you learn their language.
When you are friendly and understanding and you engage in friendly conversation, ELL learners feel secure, especially knowing that others are also struggling with various languages.

Kathryn Greves said...

Jeremy, I think it is great that you want to help the visitors of IBSP understand what is going on. Although you may not understand what they are saying, and vice versa, the fact that you are attempting to make their stay at the park more memorable is what is important. Everyone deserves a chance to enjoy the summer season, and every other season to be exact, but to know you, and other people are out there just trying to help make their stay even better is honorable. I give you a lot of credit and I hope you continue to do this.