Today’s class discussion regarding whether or not children should be taught in English or in their native language in school, sparked an interest in me as this relates to my own family. While I myself am not an immigrant, my parents both immigrated to the United States and had their first child (my older sister) shortly after. When raising her, they held on to certain aspects of the Russian culture and wanted her to grow up with the ability to speak Russian in order to communicate with her relatives on the other side of the globe. They spoke with her solely in Russian and until the age of 4, that was the only language she spoke. Upon entering preschool, this method of teaching my sister to embrace her Russian heritage seemed to backfire, as she came home from school crying that she couldn’t understand any of the other kids or the teachers. From that point forward, my sister slowly began to learn the English language with the help of her teachers and my parents. By the time I was born, she was speaking predominantly in English at home, while my parents still spoke to her in Russian to try to maintain her understanding of the language. Due to this diverse language exchange that dominated my home, I grew up having the ability to speak both languages but my Russian began to deteriorate as soon as I entered the school system. By the time my brother was born, my sister and I were speaking in predominantly English around the house and even my parents had begun transitioning from speaking only in Russian with us to a mix of Russian and English. This left my brother with very little knowledge of the Russian language as a young child, and after beginning school, only a few Russian words remained in his vocabulary.
I believe assimilation is important for the life of any immigrant in the United States, especially children, but I also believe greater efforts should be made to incorporate diversity into schools. In the case of my family, my sister would have benefited from the ability to practice the Russian language in school, through an after-school program or a period of time dedicated to the study of various languages. Many schools do place an emphasis on learning another language at a young age, but often this language is Spanish or some other language that is widely accepted as “the language of the future.” If my sister had not been forced to completely abandon the Russian language for the English language in school, my siblings and I would likely still speak Russian at home and have a much easier time communicating with the rest of my family still in Russia. This is relevant for all children who face the difficulty of a language barrier when entering the school system in the United States. Steps should be taken to help these students assimilate by teaching in the English language, but this can be done with some acceptance of varying languages.
Hi Katherine,
I really liked your blog post about the language barrier among children. I think it is an issue of major importance and you have made some excellent points. As a child of two immigrants, I know how important it is to maintain the language of the original homeland. However, I think that it would be doing a child a major disservice if he/she did not try to assimilate into the American culture. These children are raised to be Americans and it is only right that they speak English and try to become proficient in the English language. It would make their lives much easier going forward. With that being said, I do agree with you that children should maintain some sort of contact to their own heritage. Diversity should be encouraged in schools, and students should be able to practice their own native tongue as a secondary language. I spoke Italian as a child, and lost it growing up. I wish that there was a way that I could’ve learned it in elementary school in order to maintain the language that I once spoke. America was built on immigrants and it is only right that we maintain the cultures from which we came from.