I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches kids
a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I don't
have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he comes home
from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week in English
and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the SAT or
LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

Stoutman (in ) said:

| Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son
| Spanish words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going
| to be on the SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

Nope - but it may be needed to obtain a guest worker pass...

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

At least here in Canada we have an OFFICIAL second language. Actually,
the town I live in here in redneck Alberta has our stop (and many street)
signs in French and English, and all our schools are bi-lingual. There's
old farts around here who don't speak any English (only French) and in the
video store the other day (renting for my wife, not me. Promise!), there
was a young couple just having a normal conversation in French. Still takes
me by surprise after being here for 2 years.

Clint

"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

Children at that age can easily absorb two languages. It's good brain
fodder, too. It'll be okay. Tom
Stoutman wrote:
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches kids
a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I don't
have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he comes home
from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week in English
and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the SAT or
LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.
Not really. Having a second language can only benefit him later in life. I
have been studying Spanish for years (I have 40+ Spanish speaking employees
and I travel to Mexico frequently) and really regret not paying more
attention in Spanish class.

Remember, one say the Junior Beer man may run a large company that employs
Spanish speaking employees. After all, what can it hurt?

Dave

Stoutman wrote:
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches kids
a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I don't
have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he comes home
from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week in English
and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the SAT or
LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.


You are right.

"Stoutman" wrote:

I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He
likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know,
teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but
now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of
the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on
the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I totally see the value in being bilingual! I wish I spoke 10 languages,
that would be awesome.

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would rather 'they'
teach ONE new English word!!

I assume you speak and write some sort of English at home, eh? He'll
learn from you his primary language. Maybe like Yoda will he even talk!
Tom
Stoutman wrote:
I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I totally see the value in being bilingual! I wish I spoke 10 languages,
that would be awesome.

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would rather 'they'
teach ONE new English word!!

Maybe like Yoda will he even talk!
Tom!!

Too funny! This is why you should never drink a beverage while reading
this NG. How bad is Yuengling for my keyboar-gksdl dssd?

"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.


As far as I can tell Spanish is the official language of the USA these days.
I have trouble finding the damned directions for things in English!
Cheers,
cc

In article , Stoutman .@. wrote:
I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I totally see the value in being bilingual! I wish I spoke 10 languages,
that would be awesome.

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would rather 'they'
teach ONE new English word!!




Actually there have been many many studies that show that teaching a
second language is most effectively done when started at the
pre-school age, without detriment or delay in learning the primary
language. Personal observations of bilingual people in my own family
(unfortunately I'm not one of them) certainly bear that out.
--
No dumb questions, just dumb answers.
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland -

"James \"Cubby\" Culbertson" wrote in
:


"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes
to watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know,
teaches kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it,
but now I don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches
it. Now he comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the
days of the week in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on
the SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.


As far as I can tell Spanish is the official language of the USA these
days. I have trouble finding the damned directions for things in
English! Cheers,
cc




That is why all of the court documents are written in Spanish as well as
the Bills that pass through Congress. All newspapers and magazines are
in Spanish as are all of the programs on evey single cable channel.

"Stoutman" .@. wrote in
:

I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes
to watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know,
teaches kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it,
but now I don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches
it. Now he comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the
days of the week in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on
the SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.



When one knows more than one language, it opens more doors than if you
only know english. If he does learn spanish fluently, then other
langages will be easier to learn as well.

NOW is the time to teach him a second or third language. It will never
be easier for him.

Would you object if he was learning Dutch, German, or Pidgin?

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the SAT or
LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.



My wife taught my 3 yr old to speak flawless french all the while that
I and the rest of the tribe spoke english. At 4 yrs old she was my
'tutor' when I broke down and finally took french classes.

My 4 yr old grandson also watches 'Dora the Explora' and we do
spanish together and he corrects me.

Don't be afraid of a language taught to a preschooler. They can only
benefit from the exposure. I wish I knew that 45 yrs ago.

Pete

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would rather 'they'
teach ONE new English word!!

He is learning more english than you are aware of. As you say there is
nothing but good about being bilingual.

All this reminds me of a friend who teaches kindergarten. 20 all day
long in her class. The usual mix is at least 10 who speak only one
language and it is not english or spanish. One year there were 14 who
spoke only one language and it was not english or spanish. After 6
weeks with lots of recess time they all spoke english as well as any
kindergartener. And se impressed the parents to keep up the other
languages.

Bob AZ

Stoutman wrote:
I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I totally see the value in being bilingual! I wish I spoke 10
languages, that would be awesome.

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English
first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would
rather 'they' teach ONE new English word!!

He'll learn English without anyone teaching him words. Not so with
Spanish.

Que el aprenda bien.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Stoutman wrote:
Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the SAT or
LSAT or MCAT ???


No, but it may be the language used at the grocery store. I know it is at mine.
I only wish I'd paid more attention to Spanish when I took it in school. No
motivation to learn it then... now I realize my mistake.

You need to chill. They're doing your child a service. And don't worry that he
can only absorb one language. Using that thinking,
you'd need to pull him out of mathematics later because it might interfere with
his learning to read. Your kid's brain is like a sponge.... pack as much stuff
in there as he can absorb.

And languages... they are easiest to learn at a very early age. Being bilingual
is a very good thing in today's world.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

Mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com

"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.


Ultimately it will be an asset as when he has his Mexican gardener do
something different the gardener will not be able to fall back on the old
stand by, I no speakey English, to get out of doing as instructed.
Also at this age he will retain more of what he learns than later on.

On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 03:25:07 GMT, Stoutman wrote:
I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I totally see the value in being bilingual! I wish I spoke 10 languages,
that would be awesome.

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would rather 'they'
teach ONE new English word!!

I do agree with youthat teaching him spanish is probably not a good idea.
They should be teaching him chinese, that way he'll be able to get a job
when he grows up.

Pete

--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
And languages... they are easiest to learn at a very early age. Being bilingual
is a very good thing in today's world.

Outside the US, it's very common to see young kids switch back and forth
from language to language. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher, and she has
students who translate for Polish, Czech, Russian, Pakistani, Indian,
and Asian immigrant parents.

Only native Americans seem to have a problem with multiple languages.

"Peter Lynch" wrote in message
...


I do agree with youthat teaching him spanish is probably not a good idea.
They should be teaching him chinese, that way he'll be able to get a job
when he grows up.

Pete


No kidding.. LOL Unfortunately you would have to be a genius to learn to
speak Chinese to "any" Chinese person. My neighbor is Chinese and cannot
understand what other Chinese neighbors are saying. Apparently there are
many many versions of Chinese.

Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 12:36am (EDT+4): .@. (Stoutman)
snip Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son
Spanish words when he can barely speak English?? snip

It has been proven that it is much easier to learn a second
language early. Knowing a second language makes learning additional
languages much easier. Knowing a second language, or more, could come
in handy to the kid. Never hurts to learn new things.

I learned German (passable enough to understand, and tell, dirty
jokes) in my mid-late 20s. I was in Germany at the time and it came in
handy numerous times. What helped me most was my female friend at the
time hung out in her mother's little bar, frequented mostly by people
who only spoke German. It was either learn or be left out - still took
some work on my part tho. Would have been even handier if I'd known
French, for when I was in France, and later Vietnam. Would be handy
today to know more Spanish today than just taco and burrito.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

Morris Dovey (in ) said:

| Stoutman (in ) said:
|
|| Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son
|| Spanish words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going
|| to be on the SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???
|
| Nope - but it may be needed to obtain a guest worker pass...

Sorry - that was a smartass response.

I've had some some experience indicating that people who learn to
think in multiple languages gain some degree of advantage in solving
problems - perhaps something to do with being able to bring different
different cultural perspectives or though processes to bear. Whether
it's ever tested or not, I would thing that maximizing the ability to
communicate would be a plus for anyone.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 1:51am (EDT+4) (Clint) doth
sayeth:
snip there was a young couple just having a normal conversation in
French. Still takes me by surprise after being here for 2 years.

No reason to be surprised, I've heard the same, in French, Dutch,
Swedish, and I'm not sure what all, in my local post office. And I live
just outside a small town in North Carolina.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 8:52am
(Mortimer*Schnerd,*RN) doth sayeth:
snip Being bilingual is a very good thing in today's world.

I've heard that if you know four languages, English, Spanish,
French, and Chinese, you can make yourself understood anywhere in the
world. Don't know how accurate that is, but it does make me wish I knew
all four.

Just remembered, the first time I was in Germany, one of the French
NCOs (NATO assignment) was dating a German girl, and their common
language was English.



JOAT
It's not hard, if you get your mind right.
- Granny Weatherwax

On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 00:36:05 GMT, "Stoutman" .@. wrote:

I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches kids
a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I don't
have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he comes home
from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week in English
and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the SAT or
LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

My grand kids are learning spanish, too.. and I think it's great..

I don't know where you live, but here in Calif., people with 2 or 3 languages
have far better employment and social opportunities, and the younger you learn
something, the easier it is..

Mac

https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis
https://home.comcast.net/~mac.davis/wood_stuff.htm

Stoutman wrote:
I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

I totally see the value in being bilingual! I wish I spoke 10 languages,
that would be awesome.

You are missing my point. He is FOUR. Shouldn't he learn English first?

Instead of teaching him two new Spanish words per day, I would rather 'they'
teach ONE new English word!!

You ask, "Shouldn't he learn English first?"

Do you think that learning a little Spanish interferes with learning
English?
I don't think so, but certainly don't see any reason why you shouldn't
look into it.

I am pretty sure that it has been well-established that the older a
person is when they begin to learn a second language the less
well they learn it. Functional MRIs show a neurological basis
for this.

Learning languages sequentially is a poor way to learn them.
I've been learnign English for half a century and am still learning
now.

There is a learning disability that is associated with changing
one's primary language at a certain age. But that depends on
abandoning one and picking up another, not on being bilingual,
so that is not somethign to worry about here. My ex was
diagnosed with that when she switched back to English from
Vietnamese, but it didn't last.

I suspect he is learning English faster than he is Spanish. Does
he speak English as well as or better than other four year olds?

Heck, this is an opportunity for you to learn Spanish. I bet
he'd get a blast from teaching you. That's the way a lot of
immigrants learned English, they sent their kids to school
and had their kids teach them when they got home.

There are countries, like Switzerland, that have multiple official
languages. AFAIK, their people are not any less articulate than
Americans.

What is really good here, is knowing that you care and are
involved in his education. Good for you/

--

FF

See also sci.lang and misc.kids.

There your questions will be on-topic and read by people with
experience with the relevent issues.

OTOH, you probably don't want to ask them about wood finishes.

--

FF

Stoutman wrote:

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish words
when he can barely speak English??

Because at that age he'll learn Spanish without even realising it.
Leave it to 10 for starting another language and most kids will never
manage it.

If you think Spanish is a bad choice, then that's one thing. But IMHO,
_all_ kids should be exposed to a second language around this age -
it's what four year olds are programmed for.

Peter Lynch wrote:
I do agree with youthat teaching him spanish is probably not a good idea.
They should be teaching him chinese, that way he'll be able to get a job
when he grows up.

Pete

You don't know how true that is Pete, my sons school teaches french and
German, with russian and manderin being optional extras....
At work we have had a massive influx of chinese students, to get the
money in the uni has dropped the english requirement, one translates for
the rest, the biggest issue is their attitude to safety or other
instructions, anyone below the level of Dr. need not bother as they will
be ignored.
Give it 5 years and they'll dry up as an income source, they'll be
teaching the subjects back at home!

Badger, on the South coast of England.

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Stoutman" wrote:

I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He
likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know,
teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but
now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of
the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on
the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

then give the kid a choice of what language they want to learn.

Comprende?

Gary

"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
...
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

To my way of thinking it's nothing to get upset about. Knowing two
languages does nobody any harm, children learn multiple languages far more
easily than adults, and adults who know two languages generally have a lot
less trouble with learning another than do those who only know one, so if he
starts out with English and Spanish, later if he wants to learn Japanese or
Russian or Aramaic or whatever he'll have a leg up.

In many localities the Catholic schools, which nobody has ever accused of
being bastions of political correctness, start a second language in second
or third grade--in Louisiana and Canada it's French, don't know what they do
elsewhere.

Further, it's an odd thing about languages--different languages express
things differently--something that one can say in a few words in one may
take several paragraphs in another--knowing two gives you an alternative way
of looking at things which can sometimes help with problem solving.

Further, in many parts of the US today, "yo hablo espanol" is a useful thing
to have on a resume for just about any job that involves interacting with
the public.

Rather than fighting it I'd say to encourage him at every opportunity.

"Leon" wrote in message
om...

"Peter Lynch" wrote in message
...


I do agree with youthat teaching him spanish is probably not a good idea.
They should be teaching him chinese, that way he'll be able to get a job
when he grows up.

Pete


No kidding.. LOL Unfortunately you would have to be a genius to learn to
speak Chinese to "any" Chinese person. My neighbor is Chinese and cannot
understand what other Chinese neighbors are saying. Apparently there are
many many versions of Chinese.

Written Chinese is fairly standardized, spoken Chinese has region-specific
"dialects" that are as different from each other as Spanish is from French.
Mandarin, which was the language of the ruling class until the Communists
came in (and may still be for all I know), has the most speakers--my
impression is that an "educated" person learned Mandarin in addition to any
regional dialect but I'm a long way from an expert on China.

"GeeDubb" wrote in message
m...

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Stoutman" wrote:

I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He
likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know,
teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but
now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of
the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on
the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

I feel sorry for you.

You obviously don't understand the value of being bilingual.

Lew

then give the kid a choice of what language they want to learn.

Comprende?

Nice notion in an ideal world where all kids are sufficiently educated to
have some notion what language will be useful to them and schools have
unlimited budgets for language instruction.

In article , says...


"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message
.. .
I have a 4-year old son who goes to day care 3-days a week. He likes to
watch Dora the Explorer which for those of you that don't know, teaches
kids a few Spanish words. I use to object to him watching it, but now I
don't have the energy to keep changing it when he watches it. Now he
comes home from pre-school and they are teaching him the days of the week
in English and in Spanish. What the f---???

Why do 'they' feel it is important to teach my 4-year old son Spanish
words when he can barely speak English?? Is Spanish going to be on the
SAT or LSAT or MCAT ???

This is getting really ridiculous.

To my way of thinking it's nothing to get upset about. Knowing two
languages does nobody any harm, children learn multiple languages far more
easily than adults, and adults who know two languages generally have a lot
less trouble with learning another than do those who only know one, so if he
starts out with English and Spanish, later if he wants to learn Japanese or
Russian or Aramaic or whatever he'll have a leg up.

In many localities the Catholic schools, which nobody has ever accused of
being bastions of political correctness, start a second language in second
or third grade--in Louisiana and Canada it's French, don't know what they do
elsewhere.

Further, it's an odd thing about languages--different languages express
things differently--something that one can say in a few words in one may
take several paragraphs in another--knowing two gives you an alternative way
of looking at things which can sometimes help with problem solving.

Further, in many parts of the US today, "yo hablo espanol" is a useful thing
to have on a resume for just about any job that involves interacting with
the public.

Rather than fighting it I'd say to encourage him at every opportunity.

I read the OP's post and quickly scanned through the FU's. Here are my
quick and disjointed thoughts, as meaningless as they may be.

The OP finds it "unbelievable" for the very reasons, no doubt, that my
initial reaction is.

It's Spanish.

He and his child were not given a choice. In the states we've been
hearing a lot about bilingualism for many years. And I can't stand it.
Why? Because bilingualism is semi-officially English/Spanish. It's
ubiquitous: ATMs, on-line banking, phone help lines, ad nauseum give us the
choice of English or Spanish. NotGerman, Swedish, Russian, etc. Why only
Spanish?

We're a nation of immigrants. And many of us, if we were lucky enough to
have parents who had the pride and forethought to teach us, learned another
language (or more). But we were taught to keep it at home, not "demand"
that "the state" and businesses conform to us. Because we're a nation of
immigrants, we need a single common language to be used: English. No
choices. It's either English only, or all. Why discriminate?

Before you go lambasting me, know that I am thoroughly convinced that
bilingualism/multilingualism is a very good thing for individuals. I tell
my immigrant friends that they should speak only their native
language(s)--Spanish included!--to their kids at home. Offering Spanish in
schools is good too: if there's a choice. I know that other than French,
some elementary schools offered either German or Russian also. Many high
schools no doubt did offer more than English, French, Spanish and the
classics. But it seems that we've spiraled down to just English and
Spanish. Why? (Even Latin, which I studied for 5 years, and classical
Greek are less prominent in HSs than just a decade ago.)

I was borne and raised in the states, but did not speak English until I
went to kindergarten. From the time my boys were borne, I've only
communicated in Hungarian with them and their English language skills have
obviously benefited from it. And when we have to pick either Spanish or
French when they enter third grade, I'll push for French.

Lord knows, they're exposed to enough Spanish-no matter how informally-and
they'll be "quad-lingual."

To keep on topic, here are your Hungarian words for the day:
Fa - wood
Tolgyfa - oak
Nyirfa - birch
Juharfa - maple
Cseresznyefa -- cherry

I've wasted enough of your time...
--
regards,
greg (non-hyphenated american)
http://users.adelphia.net/~kimnach

He and his child were not given a choice. In the states we've been
hearing a lot about bilingualism for many years. And I can't stand it.
Why? Because bilingualism is semi-officially English/Spanish. It's
ubiquitous: ATMs, on-line banking, phone help lines, ad nauseum give us
the
choice of English or Spanish. NotGerman, Swedish, Russian, etc. Why only
Spanish?

I am also intrigued by this. Why Spanish? I am also disgusted by the
English/Spanish choice at the ATM and grocery store U-Scan.

The Dora the Explorer show really ****es me off. When I was a kid (I'm 35)
we were never exposed to a foreign language at that age. Maybe very
infrequently on Sesame Street. The Explorer show he watches teaches Spanish
every other phrase. Why is there such a big push to force feed Spanish to
American children?? So they can communicate with Jose down the street who
can't speak English?? Why shouldn't Jose learn English instead of our kids
Spanish? Now he is getting force fed Spanish in preschool! Why not
Yiddish? Oy Vey!

My biggest fear is that he might get words mixed up and start speaking
Spanglish!

T'was ever thus... as it will reflect the surrounding cultures. Getting
involved in your children's education and institutions may be your best
bet to "remedy" this affront. Tom
Stoutman wrote:
He and his child were not given a choice. In the states we've been
hearing a lot about bilingualism for many years. And I can't stand it.
Why? Because bilingualism is semi-officially English/Spanish. It's
ubiquitous: ATMs, on-line banking, phone help lines, ad nauseum give us
the
choice of English or Spanish. NotGerman, Swedish, Russian, etc. Why only
Spanish?

I am also intrigued by this. Why Spanish? I am also disgusted by the
English/Spanish choice at the ATM and grocery store U-Scan.

The Dora the Explorer show really ****es me off. When I was a kid (I'm 35)
we were never exposed to a foreign language at that age. Maybe very
infrequently on Sesame Street. The Explorer show he watches teaches Spanish
every other phrase. Why is there such a big push to force feed Spanish to
American children?? So they can communicate with Jose down the street who
can't speak English?? Why shouldn't Jose learn English instead of our kids
Spanish? Now he is getting force fed Spanish in preschool! Why not
Yiddish? Oy Vey!

My biggest fear is that he might get words mixed up and start speaking
Spanglish!

B A R R Y wrote:
Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
And languages... they are easiest to learn at a very early age. Being bilingual
is a very good thing in today's world.

Outside the US, it's very common to see young kids switch back and forth
from language to language. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher, and she has
students who translate for Polish, Czech, Russian, Pakistani, Indian,
and Asian immigrant parents.

Only native Americans seem to have a problem with multiple languages.

That is because we have ZERO need to learn other languages. How about
all the immigrants from Europe -- they adapted. Our strength is our
COMMON language.

And when you go almost anywhere outside the USA, what is the common
language?

ENGLISH!

I'm off my soapbox -- gonna try to go find some newsgroup that
discusses woodworking!

"native American"?

B A R R Y" wrote in message
...
Mortimer Schnerd, RN wrote:
And languages... they are easiest to learn at a very early age. Being
bilingual is a very good thing in today's world.

Outside the US, it's very common to see young kids switch back and forth
from language to language. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher, and she has
students who translate for Polish, Czech, Russian, Pakistani, Indian, and
Asian immigrant parents.

Only native Americans seem to have a problem with multiple languages.