From: Annie McDevitt
Submit: Post Message
Date: 02 Nov 1996
Time: 16:56:52
Well, Im still confused. I understand that it's important for the kids to be learning english. I also know the value of retaining their native language. It's a difficult issue. I've heard from friends and read about too many experiences of kids being taught to be ashamed of their language at school, seeing it as something wrong with them. One friend of mine simply stopped speaking spanish. Even though it was his first language, he can barely speak it now. So my question is still, how do we affirm the kids native language as well as trying to encourage them to use english? I guess we need to find some balance between the two.