Why Is Learning A Language?

All languages are important and realizing it will make you become a stronger, more diverse human being. We need take make an effort not only for ourselves but for other citizens living in the United States who don’t speak English; we need to make them feel welcomed into our country. Marjorie Agosín described that,”here in the United States, where I have lived since I was a young girl, the solitude of exile makes me feel that so little is mine, that not even the sky has the same constellations, the trees and the fauna the same names or sounds, or the rubbish the same smell. These are the dilemmas of one who writes in Spanish and lives in translation”(Agosin 599). Agosín has lived in the United States for quite some time now, yet still feels like she is living a life through “translation”. She should not feel this way, Agosin should feel apart of our country and feel as if she is a citizen. It is important for us to take a stand now to make language become apart of the curriculum within our school systems starting in Kindergarten, so that our children have a more diverse life filled with opportunities. One thing we know about the future for sure is that we will still have our knowledge about language, but it is how we use that knowledge that will depict how we will succeed in life and as a

Everyone in America has had to learn a second language in order to obtain a high school diploma, however this ‘learning’ of a language is merely a short class that does little to tie one down to a second language. There are few students who continue to seek more and more knowledge about their intended language. Some lose interest, while others make excuses by saying that it is too hard. However, learning more than one language has so many benefits that it is mind boggling to me that more people like to remain monolingual. Obviously time and resources are a concern, but there are so many ways to learn a language that can be catered to one’s individual needs. Think about all of the people in our nation whose first language is not English.

A big part of the problem is that they do not get enough experience speaking or writing in their parents’ native language (Population Council). However the bigger part of the problem is most immigrants’ method of parenting. Chinese immigrants’ way of raising their children to speak and write both Chinese and English fluently has proven that it is possible to raise the next generations to be bilingual. According to a study by Eddie Kuo, over 90 percent of the studied Chinese-American families mainly spoke Chinese at home, proving that Chinese are the only immigrants who truly hold on to their language everywhere they go. That is why Chinese is the most common language around the world, before Hindu and English (Ethnologue). It is such a big advantage to know multiple languages; bilingual people always have higher chances of getting hired, especially if they are in the community in which that their languages are commonly used. Other ethnic groups should really learn from the Chinese and preserve their native language.

Learning a new language seems to have only positive effects. However, for a Mexican American, accomplishing this goal brought him drawbacks in the interaction with his family. In his essay, ‘’Public and Private language,’’ Richard Rodriguez describes the difficulty in learning a new language and the sacrifice he makes to accomplish his goal. Richard Rodriguez shares the difficulty for older people, as they learn a new language; however, for younger generations is easier to learn a new language. Also, the new language creates a lack of communication for Richard Rodriguez.

Although bilingual education has some merit, avoiding the implementation of the more popular language of a community is detrimental to the incorporation of mostly you people in society and hinders their ability to develop a keen sense of identity. For example, "language gets learned as it gets used (7).” In other words, one masters the language as he speaks it. Speaking and language skills tend to sharpen if they are used regularly. Rodriguez argues that learning both languages and using them rather than leaving one begins to lead to a better sense of identity and freedom. But according to Rodriguez it makes one become insecure, growing up

Introduction - Being a part of a bilingual speaking family, like with my mom and dad who are Chinese immigrants, is an experience that no one can imagine unless you are part of a bilingual speaking family. Experiences such as knowing a language that not many of our neighbors don't know can be frustrating for both sides. Being young in my early years, learning English was not only a struggle for me but for my family. I noticed that my parents struggled learning english and communicating with the outside world. From buying groceries to paying for the bills, I observed the painful experiences that my parents persevere through all these years. I was glad public schools gave me the opportunity to not only learn English but to help my family live in this English superior society.

Eric Hoover, a staff reporter for the Chronicle, profiles a community college student in Philadelphia. Wrote an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education newspaper titled ( title ) “ An Immigrant Learns Two New Languages.” In the article, Eric Hoover (tone) sets an informal tone when describing the personal hardships and achievements of Ms. Maldonato. The author (audience) targets men and women over the age of 50 who are still fixed on attending college. Ms. Maldonato, a part-time student at the Community College of Philadelphia, learned two languages after emigrating from colombia. ( Purpose ) The author intends to entertain his readers by sharing the journey that Ms Maldonato took to become a successful immigrant. ( Thesis ) To learn a language is to piece together a puzzle that is never quite done.

As a Mexican-American it was a task for me as a child to learn two languages at once. I remember my first day of school hearing my classmates speaking English and not understanding a single word of it. To me, it mostly sounded like gibberish. I was entered in the ESL (English as a Second Language) program to improve my English. It was a struggle to learn to read in English. My teachers would tell me to read to a parent for homework, so I’d go home and read to my mom. Reading with my mom was difficult for me because she didn’t understand English. I wasn’t sure if I was reading precisely because I never had anyone to correct me and my mistakes. There were moments when I didn’t know how to say a word. I would sound out every little letter, trying to figure it out by myself, because my mom was unable to help me. My parents weren’t able to assist me because of the amount of education they had and didn’t understand English. Even though they had the desire to help me with school work, I knew I had to learn to become independent in order to maintain decent grades. It was my responsibility to achieve my own goals by working hard.

There is a motive each person has that causes them to want to learn, experience, and struggle with language. Malcolm X lacked writing skills and claimed that when he tried to “write in simple English, [he] not only wasn’t articulate, [he] wasn't even functional” (143). Malcolm X learned and

This article speaks of different cultures and how different cultures have different languages. It talks about how many different languages affect the students. Students may speak Spanish at home and then once they are at school their teacher is speaking English. It takes time for these students to adapt to the change. It is harder for them because they have to learn both material and the language at the same time. “This language barrier has presented unique educational challenges to Hispanic students that African American students generally did not face” (Donnelly 2015). This article supports education for everyone and talks about how it is difficult of people of Spanish decent because they have to learn two languages. The article thinks

In recent discussions of the literacy narratives “Always Living in Spanish” by Marjorie Agosin and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, several competing ideas have emerged that include the influence of language and how it affects a person's life. A controversial issue has been that language does impact a person’s life positively and negatively. On the one hand, some argue that the way you present your language to society can show how weak your grammar is. From this perspective, if someone does not speak English perfectly it can convey that that person is not educated. On the other hand, however, others argue that there is more than one proper way to communicate with each other. In the words of Amy Tan, one of the view’s main proponents, “But to me,

. For centuries, America has continued to grow into a culturally diverse nation. Everyday immigrants come into the country with the goal to become successful, and for many this success comes through education. In many cases, children and adults have to learn the English language or improve on their English speaking skills in the first years of being in the country. The process of being successful in a language is a process that happens in more areas than school. People are able to pick up languages from television, shopping, listening to the language and practicing speaking and reading the language. According to Cummins’ dimensions of language proficiency, this process can take over 5 years of penetrating second language exposure.

Why should people nowadays see languages as a big prize? A person speaks more languages have more opportunities are skewed to him because he benefits the profit comparing to a person who speaks only one standard language. It is time for globalization and its effects on children for speaking other languages as a must. In two articles “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez and “Whose Voice Is It Anyway?” by Victor Villanueva, the two authors both expressed their opinions on native language and how the assimilation impacts a child. However, Rodriguez believed that the assimilation was beneficial for him as he had grown up in the English-speaking world and he disliked bilingual education which created many controversy.

Language is a key part of any family, community, culture and the human race. Without language the world today would be much different. From cavemen, to the Egyptian use of hieroglyphics, to Old English, to more than 6,500 languages spoken around the world today, the advances that humans have made in language is remarkable and inspiring. The ability to speak, read, write and understand more than one language is also remarkable and expands the liberties in life, especially for young people. High school students should be required to take at least two years of a foreign language class in order to graduate, as many recent studies support the benefits of doing so. Students who have learned a foreign language in high school have proven to have a

* In the educational field, the teaching learning cycle is a model used in contemporary teaching in both school and adult educational settings. Rothery (1996 in Derewianka & Jones 2012, pg 43) who originally developed the model used this to aim at disadvantaged children for teaching literacy and writing in the KLA (Key learning areas) who were from socially disadvantaged areas. Over time the model has been phased across other areas of the English language such as listening, speaking, reading as well as writing. The key involvement of the teacher also known as ‘expert other’ in the teaching learning cycle is guiding the learner to understand key concepts in academic literacy through use of scaffolding strategies to transform students