US: Bilingualism A skill, Not A Weakness

[Francis Hult]

Los Angeles Times

 

A skill, not a weakness

 

Learning more than one language is a 21st century skill. It provides students with economic opportunities across the globe and at home. Many students enter our schools fluent in a language other than English. They speak Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Farsi, Arabic, Khmer and dozens of other languages important in international trade. They come with a resource.

Ideally, these students - more than 1.5 million in California who enter school speaking a language other than English - would gain English proficiency while enhancing their home language skills. They would graduate from high school fully bilingual or multilingual and ready to compete in the global marketplace.

 

Full story:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-olsen-english-20100711,0,698032.story?track=rss

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