Yo Quiero Links!

Photo by lapideo

¡Hola a todos! Here’s this week’s roundup of links you might find interesting. There weren’t a whole lot this first seven days of March, although NBC’s Nightly News week-long series on Hispanics in the U.S., definitely count as more than just one! Enjoy…

1. We the People — Hispanic families balance tradition, languages. This is just one of several reports NBC aired this past week on the largest and fastest-growing minority in the country: Hispanics. The network reported on education, health care, the economy and heritage issues among others. If you missed them, it’s definitely worth checking them out!

2. Dealing with the Latino Education Crisis — Although Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the nation, they drop out of high school at alarming rates and have made virtually no progress in the level of college completion in the last 30 years. Bleak news regarding the state of education for Hispanics. There must be something we can do!

3. The LBBC and the Peruvian Hearts’ Library Project — The story of Ana Dodson, an amazing young woman who established a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of children living in poverty in Peru through nutrition, education and health care. You need to read Ana Dodson’s story and what Peruvian Hearts is all about and what our friends at Latin Baby Book Club are doing to help out the organization.

4. ‘Bill of Rights’ announced for California’s English Language Learner — Today, 25 percent or 1.6 million California students are English learners and that number is growing every day. Unfortunately, the number of English learners dropping out of school is growing every day too. CABE (California Association of Bilingual Education) officials say promoting a “Bill of Rights” will draw much-needed attention to the magnitude of the challenges facing today’s English learners. One way that might solve some of the problems mentioned in the second recommended link. An interesting read, even though it only applies to California. Maybe other states could follow suit.

5. Should slang be taught to learners of foreign languages? — Most foreign language courses focus on teaching you grammatically correct and fairly formal language. Some do cover some aspects of more informal and colloquial language, however few venture into the wonderful world of slang and very informal language. I am all for learning slang, and that doesn’t necessarily mean “bad words” or insultos. I truly believe that part of the reason why it was so hard for me to fit in when I arrived in this country as a teenager–even though I had attended a bilingual school (English & Spanish) back in Peru–was the fact that I was never taught any slang whatsoever.

What do you think?

If you like what we’re talking about sign up for free SpanglishBaby updates via email or via RSS. You’ll like it.