Bilingualism in America

Bilingualism in America

Bilingualism is the use of two or more languages in places of work and educational facilities, according each language equal legitimacy. Bilingual education is a program designed to allow students to learn academic concepts in their native language while they learn a second language. The definition of English immersion is, teaching in English by teachers who know the students’ native language but only use it when the students do not understand their lessons. I agree with bilingual education because I see it as Americans live on earth, Hispanics live on earth, Arabs live on earth; we all live on the earth but we are separated by miles of land and water, so why could it hurt learning different languages of the people you share the earth with? Also, I think that a person who is bilingual can have better job opportunities.

I think bilingual education has worked in the school system to a point. There are many obstacles to go through when teaching bilingual education; for example finding a qualified teacher. However, I realize that there are many people against bilingual education. Some people view bilingual education as unfair to children who already speak English. People think that English speaking children should be able to speak different languages.

There have been issues of bilingualism in politics. It is required that in areas where 5% of the voting population do not speak English to have bilingual ballots. Of course people are going to see this as an issue. Hispanics didn’t care too much for the bilingual ballots because many of them were not allowed to vote because they were non-citizens.