Spanish spelling bee may violate state law

azcentral.com ^ | Apr. 16, 2004 | Yvonne Wingett

[seastay]

A state education administrator is warning Roosevelt Elementary School District that Spanish-language word games might violate the state's English-only classroom requirements.

The verbal warning from state Associate Superintendent Margaret Garcia-Dugan has Roosevelt staff reviewing policies.

[seastay]

If this had been a Christian spelling be instead, you can be sure the school would have been protested, and fined right away without any verbal warnings regarding state requirements.

[proxy_user]

This may really put a crimp in the Latin class....

"Omnia Gallia in tres partas divisa esta....

....buenas noches, Caesar!

[DeFault User]

A spelling contest in Spanish? They have to be kidding. Spanish spelling is almost entirely phonetic. Once you know the sounds of the consonants, vowels and a few diphthongs you can spell any word pronounced correctly even if you have no idea what it means.

[Clara Lou]

A spelling contest in Spanish? They have to be kidding....
Oh, please. Did you notice that this is an elementary school? Do you know that phonics doesn't work for everyone? Are you aware that even Spanish-speaking folk don't spell perfectly in their language? And what about accent marks??? Some affect meaning only, not pronunciation. You oversimplify.

[MEG33]

My dear,this is not Mexico,the spelling bee is in Arizona.

[Clara Lou]

My dear,this is not Mexico,the spelling bee is in Arizona.
My dear, I was aware of that since I do read. My response to your post is: And so? What does your comment have to do with mine to post #3? Some things are true no matter where you are.

[socal_parrot]

"A-Z-T-L-A-N, Aztlan"


"Bueno, good job. Next word, spell MEChA"

[FITZ]

This woman who had recently moved to the USA from Mexico with her family came into work bragging about her son won a spelling bee --- and he had only been in the school for 3 months --- beat out the other kids. I started telling her that was pretty impressive, that he must be very good in learning English so fast ---- of course that wasn't the case, she then admitted that he was in all Spanish classes and had won a Spanish spelling bee. The kid wasn't bothering to learn English at all --- the family didn't want to see that happen --- it might "ruin" his Spanish.

[Arkinsaw]

Its possible that Margaret Garcia-Dugan is attempting to violate the spirit of the law by applying it very strictly in opposition to common sense. It could be the dangling of lawsuit bait in hopes of getting the law overturned. But thats probably not true, I don't know.

[FITZ]

Are you aware that even Spanish-speaking folk don't spell perfectly in their language?

The sad thing is these kids need to start learning English --- Spanish games are just a waste of their time, more could be done about the high hispanic dropout rate ---- 50% in Texas --- if they would get them assimilated ASAP and learning a language that benefits them more in this country.

[MEG33]

I'm so dense ,I thought they'd be learning to spell in English.

[Clara Lou]

The sad thing is these kids need to start learning English --
I absolutely agree with you. However, I'm going to say that while they are learning English, they need to maintain their abilities in Spanish. Knowing more than one language is a blessing to anyone, regardless of the languages involved. It's a boon in the business market, and it's just plain good for the brain.

[Clara Lou]

OOPS. I meant to say in my last post that two languages are a boon in "job" market, not the "business" market.
And, just to clarify my position, since someone here tends to misinterpret, I am of the opinion that everyone who comes to the USA should learn English. [And I don't like the idea of ballots being printed in any other language than English.]

[DumpsterDiver]

...they need to maintain their abilities in Spanish.

Shouldn't that be done in the home? They can always take Spanish later on when they're in middle/high school.

[Clara Lou]

Home is fine with me, but they can also take courses in their original language in high school. I'm in Texas. A lot of Hispanic kids take high school Spanish, not to learn to speak it, but to learn to read and write the language effectively.

[Henrietta]

"Some affect meaning only, not pronunciation."

This is incorrect. The accents always affect the pronunciation in Spanish.

If you disagree, please give an example.

[Clara Lou]

This is incorrect. The accents always affect the pronunciation in Spanish.
Examples? You've got 'em:

"se" = Spanish reflexive pronoun
"sé" = "I know" or the familiar command "be"
Both of the above are pronounced "say."

Another example? [There are many more, but this will be my last example.]

"esta" = this [adjective]
"ésta" = this [pronoun]
These two are pronounced identically.

P. S. I teach high school Spanish.

[Henrietta]

No, I'm afraid I don't agree. The accented vowels you gave as examples are pronounced with a more "clipped" short sound. The difference is unmistakeable to a fluent speaker of the language.

PS: I'm a fluent Spanish speaker.

[DumpsterDiver]

...but they can also take courses in their original language in high school.

This is where I disagree with you. I believe public schools here should be in English only.

I'm in Texas. A lot of Hispanic kids take high school Spanish, not to learn to speak it, but to learn to read and write the language effectively.

I'm in California. When I was in high school a lot of Mexican-American kids thought that Spanish would be an easy "A" for them. They had forgotten that they would have to learn read and write it.

[FITZ]

With a 50% hispanic dropout rate, I don't see any need to maintain their native language. The USA did not get to be the number one country in the world because everyone hung on to their ancestors' languages but gave them up for a common language so that all Americans could communicate with each other. Countries like India have learned the importance of a common language instead of hundreds of separate dialects --- and they speak English there which lets them be the computer programmers of the world instead of the lettuce pickers or welfare queens of the world.