Patricia, Grew up in Durango, Mexico, Dual Language Specialist and Advocate
“I think my experiences at school entering the United States were probably the most difficult because I did not speak English ... We were put in Special Education, and
we would spend a day in a room reading and listening to audio in English and then reading passages and answering questions ... I felt it was degrading, and in some ways humiliating to be asked to do the same thing over and over again ...This is the reason why I (now) advocate for not just language learning, but that students need to be taught cognitively, not about language, but cognitively things that are interesting to them (and) that they are passionate about, that we foster students’ passions and talents and their own interest in things, because language is more powerful when used in meaningful ways.”
we would spend a day in a room reading and listening to audio in English and then reading passages and answering questions ... I felt it was degrading, and in some ways humiliating to be asked to do the same thing over and over again ...This is the reason why I (now) advocate for not just language learning, but that students need to be taught cognitively, not about language, but cognitively things that are interesting to them (and) that they are passionate about, that we foster students’ passions and talents and their own interest in things, because language is more powerful when used in meaningful ways.”