Newsom and others isolated Americans in a lockdown, not even allowing us to see dying parents. No need for human contact. If you go to Monterey Park in L.A. County almost the only language used is Chinese—even the streets signs are in Chinese. Try using your GPS reading signs in English, when the sings are in a foreign language. Just a few miles away is East Los Angeles. About the only language spoken is Spanish—most signs are only in Spanish. So, how do the people of Monterey Park navigate into East L.A. or vice versa? By language we have isolated people.
“”When you think about dual-language programs, students really need to interact with each other and need to practice the language with each other and see language modeled. As districts transitioned to virtual language, it was a challenge making sure that happened,” says Manuel Buenrostro, a policy associate at Californians Together.
The pause was brought on by COVID-19, which in turn impacted students across the state.
So, students in these programs only get a 50% education. They literally lose half a day while a foreign language is used to teach, instead of unifying students in a common language. Did you know that pilots and air controllers all over the world communicate in just one language? English. Isn’t it time we gave our students a full time education, and separate foreign language courses?
California schools prepare to resume dual-language immersion
Maricela De La Cruz, KCRA, 6/4/21
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
As the state slowly moves back to normalcy, school districts are also looking forward to resuming and starting new bilingual programs.
Under Global California’s 2030 Initiative, the state hopes that three out of four students are proficient in two or more languages by 2040.
After a full year of distance learning for most students across the state, school districts are slowly bringing back bilingual programs.
“There has been what we call learning disruption, and we have an 18-month plan in place to address those needs across all subjects including foreign language,” says Deidra Powell, executive director of communications and family engagement at Natomas Unified School District.
“When you think about dual-language programs, students really need to interact with each other and need to practice the language with each other and see language modeled. As districts transitioned to virtual language, it was a challenge making sure that happened,” says Manuel Buenrostro, a policy associate at Californians Together.
The pause was brought on by COVID-19, which in turn impacted students across the state.
“The most prominent language is Spanish, but you also have other prominent languages in school districts like Mandarin, some districts have Tagalog which a lot of students speak, so it really changes by district and school,” adds Buenrostro.
While some school districts in the region like San Juan and Elkhorn in West Sacramento already have dual immersion programs, others like Natomas are looking forward to implementing them.
During the 2018-2019 school year, roughly 1,500 schools had some kind of bilingual or multilingual program, including 747 dual-language immersion programs.
Natomas’ new Dual Immersion School will be opening in 2023 or 2024 and will be an option to any student from K through fifth grade.
“We’re a diverse community and our core belief is that our diversity is a strength, so this aligns with that. We also know how important it is to be literate in this world, so we want to make sure that our students start early,” adds Powell.
Students who participate and finish these programs can eventually receive biliteracy certification, which helps students trying to pursue a career in teaching.
Up until 2016, the number of bilingual programs in the state was limited.
A previous law required parents to sign waivers to enroll their children in bilingual or dual immersion programs. Now, school districts have the flexibility to design their own programs.
