Spanish Class Research Paper

At the time, I signed up for spanish because it seemed the most useful considering the hispanic population in the United States and our close proximity to Latin America, but I never truly understood how helpful knowing another language could be. Over this past summer, I hosted a student from Spain for about a month. Before this experience, the language never seemed real to me. Meeting Marina and recognizing that spanish is the language she uses in everyday life changed my perspective. Spanish is exciting for me because it is an entirely new way of life that I haven’t experienced before. I spent my whole childhood speaking english and recognizing american traditions while other children spoke spanish and had different customs. Continuing to learn spanish will allow me to communicate with more people and exchange ideas with people who did not grow up the same way I

Spanish has been crucial to me for my whole life because it shows that I’m bilingual. Not only do I use it in school, but also at home with my family. For the most part, this language has been with me since I was a little girl. I began to speak Spanish at age two and learned how to write it at age four. My parents helped me practice Spanish by speaking it. They also told me read Spanish books out loud, so I could speak it fluently. Luckily I went to Mexico when I was seven, but I only went that one time, so I haven't been able to practice with my whole family. In addition, I’ve had Spanish classes since kindergarten and now as a junior I continue to learn new things. As a teenager, I seem to use it more in my daily life, because my parents only speak Spanish which is how I’ve gained experience. For example, when my parents took me to Mexico at age seven, I learned to speak with all my family.

Speaking Spanish or any second language opens a lot of doors in life. While the little Spanish I do know is incomprehensible to most fluent Spanish-speakers, it has helped me in some situations. The article Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Maria Barrientos is the story on how she (Tanya) dealt with the tribulations of being born in Guatemala, moved to and raised in the United States, and attempting to learn her native Language once again (Barrientos 645). While many of us, including Tanya, have difficulties learning a new language and understanding others cultures, the struggle will prove to be worth it in the end.

The Ap Spanish Language and Culture Exam contains two sections, each worth fifty percent of the final composite score. The first section is all multiple choice and the second section is all free response question. The first section tests over reading and listening, which it would evaluate how well one could comprehend. (30 questions, 40 minutes) The reading section contains multiple texts that is in a variety of forms. (Journals, Literary text, Letters, and etc.) After each text, there would be questions that tests one’s understanding of the materials, which includes vocab, author's purpose, main idea, and details. The listening portion of the exam contains two audios, one that is provided with printed materials, possibly the text, and one that’s solely the audio.(35

At that time, the teachers still taught bilingual classes, and I was able to understand and be understood. Most of my classmates spoke Spanish because they were also in the process of learning English; it is typical in a bilingual kindergarten classroom. Some of the students were much more advanced than others while a group of students at a time were taken apart in at little corner to be taught the numbers, the alphabet, and the sounds of each letter.

There are two Educational philosophies that Rodriguez had utilized in his younger years. The philosophy of supporting Bilingual Education was to help Students acquire the skills of a classroom crucial for public success. Supporters would report that children miss out a great deal by not being taught in their family’s language. “They say that children who use their family language in school will retain a sense of their individuality- their ethnic heritage and cultural ties” (Kindle 6236-6237). Supporters would also say that children will have a sense of individuality that retains their family’s language. Giving children something to feel different and have something special. “But then there was Spanish. Español: my family’s language. Español: the language that seemed to be a private language.” (Kindle 5982-5983). Rodriguez shared how it was hard fighting between assimilating to American culture and keeping his connection and heritage alive within him.

Even though my mother was Mexican it was hard for me to speak to my friends who knew mostly Spanish and a little English because Spanish was not my first language. As years went on, I went to high school, where now I can have a full conversation with my Spanish speaking friends, and since it is an international high school, it brings in more cultural diversity. With this international high school in El Paso, it has helped me learn new cultures and experience the dozens of traits they do for activities or how they celebrate

Approximately 1 in 6 individuals are Hispanic in the United States, and the population is expected to grow to 1 in 4 by 2035 (CDC, 2015). Given that, Hispanics are the biggest minority group in the US (CDC, 2015). The leading cause of death among the Hispanic population is heart disease and cancer responsible for around 2 out of 5 deaths (CDC, 2015). Hispanics have a 50% greater chance of death resulting from diabetes or liver disease than whites (CDC, 2015). Additionally, there are 3 times as more uninsured Hispanics than whites (CDC, 2015). According to the US average, whites are 15 years older than the Latino population, so prevention will greatly benefit the health of the Latino population (CDC, 2015).

The language development of the students in my class come from Spanish speaking homes, I only have seven proficient English speakers, some of my students are reading below grade level. Most of the students are able to communicate, while

I am very fluent in Spanish now and I my young children are as well. So even speaking another language is helping us grow. Diversity in society helps us grow as individuals and opens our minds to different ways of life.

According to Gleason and Ratner (2013), “In the United States, the proportion of children who are raised learning more than one language is estimated to be about 20 percent, with Spanish becoming the most common second language (Gleason & Ratner, 2013, p. 75). My interview this week was with a teacher, Mrs. T, who teaches young English learners. Mrs. T teaches children who are in the first grade. Because the school has a growing Hispanic population, the native language of the children she teaches is Spanish. The interview took place in her classroom during the last hour of the school day. I observed as she worked with one of her students in particular who seems to

I interviewed an Instructional Aide that I work with at Cottonwood Elementary. Her name is Marcela and she works with the Kindergartners. She moved from Argentina to New York when she was 3 years old and her first language was Spanish. Her mother put her in preschool when she turned 5, to help her learn English. Marcela shared with me that when she went to school she felt very sad, disconnected and was constantly looking for other children that spoke Spanish. She did find a girl who spoke Spanish and she became “buddies’ with her. The girl that she befriended would help her by translating everything the teacher would say, which was all in English. Marcela said she was speaking English by Kindergarten, but she must have had a strong accent because they put in her in speech

I found learning a new language very challenging, especially at an older age. I think implementing a new language program should be done at a younger age to increase the likelihood of fluency. I have realized the importance of learning different languages, especially the importance of Spanish in Texas. I have had the chance to engage myself in another culture that I previously did not know much about. I believe Spanish has the potential to open many doors for those willing to learn it, just as English has open opportunities for the state of

When learning Spanish, it is interesting to think of it as the new English. Learning languages increases intellect. Spanish has many similarities with English in terms of the vocabulary. These open up ones ideas and thinking to diversify a learner intellectually. It is a fact that learning a language like Spanish leaves one sharper than anyone who just speaks, reads and writes English. Most children are advised to learn as many languages as they can. Why is this? Foreign languages like Spanish broaden the mind and this is another reason why learning it is

Children gain great academics from learning Spanish in school. Many people are to limit what young non graduated students learn and impede them from being capable of learning Spanish. Why would they stop them from learning? Parents think that America should be an English only speaking country and wouldn’t appreciate a foreign language to be involved. I believe it makes you more intelligent in various ways. I say that for the sake of children learning Spanish at such a young age gives them a huge advantage in college. “ Studies on language development, however, show that the more exposure young children have to all languages actually gives them a distinct