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Archive for the ‘Language Acquisition’ Category
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
I’ve been spending the day going through my overflowing inbox (what a treat!), and I came upon a Tribune article that someone forwarded me about Chicago’s shifting linguistic landscape. Some highlights:
Chicago still has more Polish speakers than any other American city. Its enduring linguistic stew ranks it among the top four cities with speakers of Arabic (4th), German (2nd), Greek (2nd), Gujarati (2nd), Hindi (3rd), Hungarian (4th), Italian (3rd), Korean (4th), Russian (3rd), Serbo-Croatian (2nd), Spanish (4th) and Urdu (2nd).
The article notes that in the 1920s, 27% of Chicagoans were foreign-born. As a result of the US government’s immigration quotas, that number fell to under10% by 1970. Things have changed quite dramatically in recent decades:
The new census report, comparing data from 1980 through 2007, found that the number of U.S. residents 5 years and older who spoke a language other than English at home more than doubled in the past three decades to 55 million, or 20 percent of the population. The number grew at a pace four times faster than the overall population growth.
Looking at Spanish, it’s no surprise that the numbers are growing, but just how much? I could make you read the article, or I could just tell you… Since 1980, Spanish speakers have grown by 211%! That’s a pretty compelling reason to enroll yourself (or your kids) in Spanish classes!
Posted in Culture, Language Acquisition, Spanish | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
When I was teaching high school Spanish in the early 90s, I invariably heard the question “When am I ever going to need this?” It was a familiar question that I often heard my own classmates utter when I was in high school in the mid-80s. At the time, living in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, I wasn’t all that sure myself when Spanish would be useful to me, but I had a sense that it was important anyway.
It’s hard to imagine that our kids, when they get to 9th grade, will be asking that same question. They may not like Spanish – or whatever second language they’re studying – but I highly doubt that, as they walk down the streets of our ever-more multicultural city, they’ll wonder why a second language would come in handy. But even more than that, I hope that they’ll have been exposed to a second (if not third!) language long before they reach 9th grade.
Posted in Language Acquisition, Multilingual Chicago, Spanish | No Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Week #1 of our Winter 2010 session, and oh my! Those who were around for our first session that started the last week in October of last year would hardly recognize the place. The difference? People! Thanks largely to a wildly successful Groupon experience (631 people bought our deal), we’ve got multiple sessions of Spanish, Italian and French, as well as a beginner-level Mandarin class. Our cafe is filled before class with folks relaxing and enjoying some tea, coffee or wine (and they’re actually starting to talk to each other, too).
Interestingly, today’s New York Times reported that schools through the US are rushing to offer Mandarin Chinese classes – and in many cases, the Chinese government is helping pay for them. Among middle and high schools, 4% – up from 1% in 1997 – are teaching Mandarin, and it’s predicted to be the third most popular AP language test, following Spanish and French.
Unfortunately, many schools are cutting their foreign language programs altogether, often citing No Child Left Behind as a factor in that decision. In this ever-more-global world we live in, that’s a decision we can’t afford to make.
Posted in Language Acquisition, Multilingual Chicago | No Comments »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
This weekend was our first Bilingual Boot Camp: an intense Saturday/Sunday introduction to Spanish for those who want a quick-hit learning experience. We had four people in class, all of whom came to the session with different needs and goals. In addition to covering the basics of Spanish grammar and throwing more vocabulary at the participants than most brains can absorb, they addressed culture as well. Given our Logan Square/Avondale location, exposure to Latino culture is not something that has to be limited to inside the classroom. The students walked around our strip of Milwaukee Avenue (2900 North), bought fresh, delicious pastries at the Mexican bakery, ate lunch at the Ecuadorian restaurant – and, of course, practiced their Spanish at the same time. A great learning experience overall.
So in advance of the weekend, I posted the information on some Linkedin groups that I belong to, and I was surprised this morning to read the following comment on one of them, a healthcare group:
Jill–What do Spanish lessons have to do with health care? This posting is not related to health care nor networking nor business events.
You can imagine my surprise at the ignorance of this question. I was motivated to respond as follows:
Spanish has everything to do with healthcare. According to the 2005 National Health Disparities Report, Latinos have poorer quality care and worse access to care compared with non-Latino whites for 88 percent of measured outcomes, and Latinos are 18% less likely to report difficulties or delays getting care. The language barrier plays an enormous role in this.
In a city like Chicago, with 26% of the population being of Latino background and precious few doctors/providers equipped with the linguistic and cultural knowledge necessary for quality care, Spanish training is one of many crucial steps. Bilingual Boot Camp provides general introductory Spanish, and while we offer healthcare-specific Spanish training too, even the basics can make the difference when it comes to creating trust with patients, their families and the community.
The Latino population is expected to triple by 2050, so healthcare organizations – like others – that recognize this and start preparing will be best poised to succeed.
What does Spanish have to do with healthcare? It has everything to do with healthcare these days, and in many ways beyond the points I addressed. And I’d argue that today, like it or not, Spanish has just about everything to do with everything.
Posted in Cultural Competence, Language Acquisition, Latino Culture, Multilingual Chicago, Spanish | No Comments »
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