Week in Links for #BilingualKids — June 15

It’s obvious that summer is right around the corner because it was a bit of a slow week in terms of news in the world of bilingualism. What we did find, though, is definitely worth reading:

Educators once opposed raising bilingual children. Experts now say it’s beneficial from the Washington Post — The majority of the info in this article is not totally new, but I like that it’s all together in one place and written in a way that is super easy to understand. Two things I learned: “Bilinguals are better at putting themselves in other people’s shoes” and how for bilinguals “each language brings to mind the values of the culture experienced while learning it.”

Cultural lifeline from The Boston Globe —  Interesting read that explores the real life difficulties of raising bilingual children. I think many of you will identify. I love the diversity in the article and that I discovered the author’s blog, called The Hyphenated Life, which I plan to follow from now on. Plus, our friend Carolina Gómez-Kramer of 1-2-3 Spanish Together was interviewed for the article.

California Valedictorian Gives Speech in Spanish, Sparking Debate from Fox News Latino — Wow! This was a pretty bold move on the part of both the student and the school’s principal. People are furious over this because, you know, this is America and we speak English, damn it! Definitely worth reading and if you follow the links, you can actually read Saul Tello Jr.’s speech. His Spanish-speaking parents should be extremely proud!

Moona in the City – Episode 2 — From one of our favorite bilingual family bands, Moona Luna, comes the second episode featuring the adventures of Moona as she and Sandra V discover the cultural and culinary diversity in New York City.

Finally, as you might already know, Ana has been blogging over at Babble Voices since May where she writes weekly for her blog Besos. And I’ve been working as a staff writer over at MamásLatinas since February where I use my bilingual skills on a daily basis, as I write in both English and Spanish about parenting and other topics in the news. We figured we’d link our articles here in case you’re interesting in reading them:

Besos: Foreign Languages Should Be Taught in all Elementary Schools, and England Agrees — Ana opinion’s piece based on England’s decision to put forth a plan to make foreign languages compulsory for children 7 years old and up. As she says, when will the Unites States give bilingualism the value it deserves?

MamásLatinas: Aunque haya sido por votos, aplaudo que Obama detenga deportaciones de jóvenes indocumentados — Unless you live under a rock, you must know that today was a huge day in the world of immigration. President Obama announced a new policy that stands to change the lives of hundreds of thousands undocumented youth. While he may very well have done it for the votes, I have to applaud his decision for I know several young people who will benefit from this policy.

Have any links I forgot to include? Please feel free to share. The more the merrier! ¡Gracias y buen fin de semana!