OCR Text |
Show l Holy frijole quacamole have you seen Pedro? grassroots - if 3 - n Copyright 1985 Becky Grass Johnson The world seems to be getting smaller all the time and now in many colleges and universities it is a prerequisite for students to know a second language. Three years ago my kids brought home a flier from school that introduced in-troduced a Spanish Immersion program which was being offered. It's a program which (beginning with first grade) instructs the children all day in Spanish so that upon leaving elementary school, the kids are fluent in a second language. This threw me into panic mode! I was torn up inside! I want my children to have every educational advantage, but they have a mother who is a bilingual illiterate. I have a hard enough time speaking English. For me, just walking into Taco Time and ordering a burrito is a great cultural accomplishment. How would I ever help them with their homework? How could I answer an-swer their questions? After doing some reading about the development and success of the program in other parts of the country, I concluded that this program would enhance my children's education. I signed up my first daughter. behind them and eavesdrop. Between Bet-ween aisles my daughter would translate. "What are they saying?" I whispered. My daughter cautiously strained her neck to catch every word. "They're talking about the price of steak," she said. "Wait! Listen, they're talking again," I hissed, "What did they say?" "They said 'That weird woman is following us again.' " I looked around but couldn't see anyone. I think they were just trying to throw us off. Overall, I couldn't have been more pleased my daughter's progress in school. She learned to pledge the flag in Spanish, play the maracas and sing La Cucaracha. Although there wasn't anyone else in our home to support her conversational Spanish, I gave it my best shot. Once in awhile I'd surprise her with something I'd learned on Sesame Street. When she asked for a drink I'd hand her the glass and say "Here's your agua." As she left for school I would kiss her on the cheek and say, "Adios, amigo." I started calling the cat Pedro. Speaking Spanish wasn't as hard as I'd thought. I found it's just a matter of talking a little faster, slurring my words together and occasionally throwing in words like "guacamole and holy frijole." ; three years have passed and now my second daughter is in the Spanish Immersion program. This is good news, bad news. The good news is that at last daughter number one has somebody else in family that speaks Spanish. The bad news is that when they're chatting, I haven't the foggiest idea what they are talking about. There've been days when I've wondered if they've lost their comprehension of the English language all together. They act like they haven't understood a word I've said when I've asked them to clean their room. But my Spanish is improving. I've learned to say, "Hey, bambinos, get your bedroom picked up, mucho pronto, or it's 50 lashes on the back of your taco!" "Bambino is Italian, Mom," they moan. Maybe I'll just forget the Spanish and orush up on my pig Latin. by BECKI GRASS JOHNSON Luckily, my daughter caught on to the Spanish right away. It seemed to be consistent with the research I had read; smaller children have an easier time at picking up a foreign language. It wasn't long before she could repeat to me the Spanish spoken in some of the old westerns we watched on TV. I encouraged her to use her second language as much as possible and we always got excited if we heard anyone speak Spanish in the grocery store. We would inconspicuously in-conspicuously push our grocery cart |