I am sitting in the North Charleston Coliseum in South Carolina ensconced in a piece of pure Americana. A CNN debate between the Republican presidential candidates is unfolding beneath a sea of cardboard red, white and blue stars and stripes.
“I favor English as the official language of government, and I think that creates a continuity,” Newt Gingrich says, punching away at his opponent before a roaring crowd of Southern Republicans.
There was continuity weeks later at the CNN debate in Jacksonville, Florida, where nearly a quarter of the population is Hispanic. “I also believe that in our schools, we should teach kids in English,” Mitt Romney says to thunderous applause.
What American—Latino or not—wouldn’t applaud for teaching kids to speak English in U.S. schools? I slouch into my seat and wait for the good part, when the sparks of partisanship flare up over the details of what “English Only” means. But, when THEY go mano-a-mano in the language wars, these guys have got nothing on the 40-inch, 35-pound adversary I fight each day.
“Mama, would you please speak English! We live in America,” 6-year-old Luna yells at the breakfast table. You see, while the broad national debate is about English Only, in my 1,000 square feet of America, it’s Spanish that’s causing all the stir.
Luna only spoke Spanish for her first few years, our feeble attempt to make her bilingual in a home with two parents who are fully bilingual. Like generations of Americans with roots in other countries, we thought it would be an asset for her to learn a second language. Then preschool introduced English, but who would push back against the cuteness of bilingual baby talk. By Kindergarten she had drawn the line in the sand. She wanted to speak only the language of her people—the other 5-year-olds in Room K210.
ENGLISH, SPANISH, SPANGLISH SPOKEN HERE
At first we pretended not to hear her and she’d switch back to Spanish. But every time we talked to other people in English, she would lose patience with us. Then we started to respond in Spanish to her questions in English, which led to dumb exchanges like this one: “Hey Mama, you dudes want to hang out at the park today?” (Just to give you a visual, she always puts her hands on her hips when she says “dudes.”) “Si mi amor,” this dude would respond. FOR AWHILE WE BECAME A SPANISH ECHO CHAMBER. IF SHE SAID “water” WE WOULD REPEAT “agua?” The next stage sent us South. Say Hola to Spanglish! “Yo quiero peanut butter sandwich en my lunchera, Mami.”
We laid down the law:
“Luna, hablame en español.”
“NO way. What’s with all the Spanish?”
“Es divino hablar ingles y español.”
“Great, so you speak both.”
“I do already. I want you to speak both.”
“Haha. See you’re speaking English.”
“Luna, por favor. Si hablas español vas a poder hablar con mas gente.”
“This is America. Gente should be speaking English.”
That settled it. I would become Mama Newt Gingrich. Our house was going Spanish Only. We would not be the parents paying somebody to teach our kid Spanish in high school. We would not be doing some Outward Bound summer trip to Costa Rica. BASTA! Not raising Hannah Montana after giving birth to Dora the Explorer.
My Latina friends advised: “Just keep talking Spanish to her. Don’t make it a fight.” But two secretly admitted to shipping theirs off to grandparents in the Dominican Republic. My own brother revealed that he threatened my niece with a Panamanian boarding school. We turned our attention to our beloved Rosanna, Luna’s babysitter who speaks very little English. Not a word of English with Luna, we declare. Within a week Luna claims to be giving Rosanna “English lessons.” My mother comes to visit and I seize her as an ally. THAT DAY I FIND MY MOTHER singing LUNA Barbie songs in English on her pink plastic Karaoke machine. I blame my partner who is from Colombia and has an accent. “It’s your native tongue,” I say. “Make her talk it!” Luna begins mocking her accent. My partner put her hands on her own hips. So much for that.
We need government intervention. This whole English Only debate has sidestepped the problem bedeviling parents in our nation of immigrants—how do we get our freaking kids to SPEAK the family’s native tongue? I waltz into her public school and ask about Spanish class. They offer French in afterschool! Ok, French. Whatever. “But no one signed up.” Ugh. This isn’t just about bilingualism; American culture reveres its roots! We are the gorgeous mosaic! A beautiful quilt! Ellis Island, United Nations. The endless St. Patrick’s Day parade. We got more taquerias than Tijuana; can’t we teach some foreign language to our kids? At the next debate the word English gets repeated 11 times in a state where a 20% of the population speaks Spanish at home. Clearly, I’m on my own with this one.
SO MUCH MORE THAN A LANGUAGE
I pick up a t-shirt at an airport that says “Se Habla Español” and toss it among her clothes. She barely notices. My cousins visit from Peru; their kids speak perfect English. We make a playdate with an anglo kid who is fast becoming fluent. We go to family parties and everyone is joking around in Spanish, but her. I feel my family history slipping away. This is about so much more than language.
The first signs I get that this is turning around come when we travel to visit family in Puerto Rico and Colombia, where my partner was born. Suddenly, Spanish is in the air. Luna shyly chats up her cousins. She orders papas fritas (French fries). She runs on the beach yelling “conchas.Conchas (shells).” When we get back, I sneak in at night while Rosanna is getting her ready for bed. She is chattering in español. Rosanna grins as I write her weekly check.
But it doesn’t really come together until I get the call. This time I’m on the road covering the Republican primary. “Hola, Mama,” her tiny voice says into my cell phone. “Cuando vienes? Yo te extraño?”
“I’ll be home soon. I miss you too,” I say in English, deciding not to press my luck.
“Te quiero mas que las estrellas y la luna, Mama.”
“You love me more than the stars and moon?! Me too, amor.”
“Can you bring me something from your trip, Mama?”
AY YAY YAY!!!
A contributor to Mamiverse, Rose Arce is a senior producer with CNN. She is currently working for CNN’s “Starting Point” during the Republican presidential primaries. For the full version of this article, go to CNN.com.
Ms. Arce could not have hit the nail on the head any harder than she did with this article. I live in Miami, and I struggle with bilingualism with my own 2 sons. They throw their own spanglish out there, even though I do correct them from time to time. It makes me feel good when I hear my children respond back in spanish with their babysitter ( her english is very limited). I’m glad this article was written. It helps expand our horizon that we are all struggling in the same way with our languages and strive to make sure our children still identify with their parents or grandparents culture.
This isn’t about teaching a child two languages, but about meeting the emotional needs of the parent who feels her “family history slipping away.” Don’t put your issues on your child, and don’t hold her back by limiting her exposure to English.
It’s so sad that you would have such ignorant thoughts. Maintaining an English-free home does not “limit her exposure to English” it expands her exposure to Spanish. Children are capable of learning more than one language at a time. My daughter speaks French, Spanish and English, and it has not caused any confusion for her at all nor do I feel that she has been limited in anyway.
Rose, keep up the good work with your daughter. You have to stick to your guns, and only speak Spanish at home.
I think it’s crazy to strive for an English free home when you live in an English speaking country. The author’s daughter will have to compete against students who are fluent in English, so she needs all the exposure she can get. People all over the world are paying big money to learn how to speak English yet some immigrants who have the good fortune to live and work here are punishing their children for speaking it? It’s insane.
I see very few Latinos who are truly bilingual. Many bilingual Latinos speak English with an accent or use incorrect grammar and syntax. The only way to eradicate that is to study English and practice as often as possible. The author is setting up her daughter to feel guilty for not wanting to speak Spanish and that will affect how she approaches English. Let her study Spanish in school. Her primary language needs to be English.
Look at the Asians. They speak English perfectly after one generation. That’s what all Latinos should strive for, but I don’t see it happening.
It’s really sad that you say you see few Latinos who are truly bilingual, that just means you’re not looking in the right places!
I dont think any parent is punishing their child by teaching them a second language, rather opening up a world of opportunities!
I tell my children, in Europe, people speak several languages. I speak to them in Spanish. They learn to read and write Spanish in class at school. I teach them about MY country. Their country is USA. I don’t believe in hyphenated-american. I believe in USA we all ARE Americans. They will need a second language, especially Spanish, later in life. Yes.
But, I agree with @redlady above.
In Mexico, their language is Spanish. In Germany, German. France, French. And, if you live there, you MUST speak THEIR language. Why do people feel the USA must adopt our languages? We are very fortunate to live here. This IS OUR country now. We must learn about it, NOT try to change it to accomodate OUR country we left behind. I have lived here longer than where I was born. Yet, I feel that I still identify with the country I was born, BUT my children were born here, I work here. I don’t plan on leaving.
Yes, why do people think that the USA has to adopt their language? I don’t get it. If the government accommodated everybody’s ancestral tongue we would become Babel.
I am proud of being American, but I am not going to deny that being Hispanic has played a huge part in the person I am. That being said, I will root for the US over any other team! If you don’t believe in “hyphenated” Americans that is OK, you don’t have to be one, just don’t badmouth people who are happy leading a bicultural,bilingual life. If anything, my life is super rich in language, culture, music and food because of my hyphenated identity.
I love and appreciate what my parents did for me and my brother – when we arrived in the US, we had an English-only home so that we could master the language together. A few years later, we switched to being a Spanish-only home so that we wouldn’t forget our native tongue (by that time, we were all immersed in English outside of the home). This worked out really well for us, in a way that honors both our native and adopted countries’ language and culture.
I agree with the author’s approach and don’t think that it will hold back her child at all.
I have visited several homes that had a Spanish only rule at home,yet the children spoke English perfectly because they were exposed to it everywhere else. These same children will thank their parents later for making them completely bi-lingual. I can tell you from experience that just being proficient in Spanish is a HUGE plus in the labor market.
I got lucky growing up in a Cuban household in which we would only speak Spanish. My mom would pretend that she couldn’t understand English. I often hear people who are clueless express their concern about not learning English by the time a child gets to school. This is ridiculous, given that children are bombarded by English everywhere. By the time I got to Kindergarten, I spoke English perfectly, thanks to Mr. Rogers, The Magic Garden, and all the other kids programs on PBS.
I was just as lucky with my daughter, 19, who speaks Spanish very well til this day. However, my 13 year old son is a different story. While he understands some Spanish, he can barely speak it and has outright refused to learn it since he started school. Whenever he does blurt out a phrase here and there, he sounds like a “gringo” hehe! I do wish he would’ve learned it, though. I feel like something of our family history and culture has been lost forever starting with his generation.
Exacto! in my house we speak Spanish and English, and I pretend to my son I can understand English … He does both languages perfectly, he is only 4 and I am introducing French. I want my son to go to College in Latin America too, so he has to be able to write perfectly. He refuses at times to do Spanish, but when he is sick, sad, or something, he speaks only Spanish, and taht means a lot to me and his American father. To each it’s own.
BTW, where I am from we learn English from kinder, and a third or 4th language by highschool. Americans are silly about the English only thing…. Keep it that way, it’s beneficial to everyone else! :-)