Gringos Push English-Only. Tamaulipas Goes Bilingual

englishs2While U.S. legislators in several states are trying to pass English-only policies, the Mexican state of Tamaulipas is going bilingual, mandating that all children learn English, as well as Spanish. The reason?

Tamaulipas state authorities told The Guardian the pilot program “will break down language barriers and create opportunities.” Because, you know, that’s what knowing another language is supposed to do.

This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case at New Jersey’s Vineland High School, which recently handed out a “Classroom Protocol Contract” stating: “This is an English speaking school and classroom — any other language other than English will not be tolerated.”

(Why, I wonder, are the rest of us supposed to tolerate monolingualism?)

One thought on “Gringos Push English-Only. Tamaulipas Goes Bilingual

  1. The story about the school is truely horrendous. I mean, sure, there’s the usual “WTF” element that accompanies all stories of people getting weird and xenophobic over people speaking other languages to their own. But when it extends to schools, that’s a new low. I mean, on a basic level, what kind of school a) encourages the idea that one language is “better” than the others, and b) discourages kids from learning multiple languages?

    The idea of forcing people to speak English in class has a long, very bad, history, and it’s a shame to hear it’s still happening.

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