I am frequently struck by the powerful stories I hear through unexpected sources, such as those broadcast through public media, like National Public Radio. I heard one when driving home the other night and I immediately wanted to share it with the TWIN schools and TWIN friends.
The feature piece relates to the journalist's own relationship with Spanish which was the first language for some of her relatives. A native of California, who also has relative from Iran, reporter Shereen Marisol Meraji wanted to explore language use and development for Puerto Rican young people who spend a significant, if not their whole lives in the United States. Many of the TWIN students could be fall into this category, for while they may have cultural, historical, and familial ties to Mexico, China, Ecuador and other nations, they are growing up in the United States. What will this mean for their use of Spanish, Mandarin, or other languages?
Take a few minutes to listen to the story and let me know what you think: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/01/22/262791008/english-only-for-mainland-puerto-ricans-the-answer-is-often-yes
-Mary Bridget Burns
The feature piece relates to the journalist's own relationship with Spanish which was the first language for some of her relatives. A native of California, who also has relative from Iran, reporter Shereen Marisol Meraji wanted to explore language use and development for Puerto Rican young people who spend a significant, if not their whole lives in the United States. Many of the TWIN students could be fall into this category, for while they may have cultural, historical, and familial ties to Mexico, China, Ecuador and other nations, they are growing up in the United States. What will this mean for their use of Spanish, Mandarin, or other languages?
Take a few minutes to listen to the story and let me know what you think: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/01/22/262791008/english-only-for-mainland-puerto-ricans-the-answer-is-often-yes
-Mary Bridget Burns