Bilingual in America

There is a familiar conversation that children of interracial marriages have the advantage of experiencing two or more cultures, and with that sometimes a second language. Often, those children are not only bilingual but also enjoy cognitive advantages from growing up within more than one culture, becoming more open minded individuals and better communicators. But is this always true? Listen in to gather unexpected insight...

It almost goes without saying that learning your partner’s language is a deposit in creating a lasting relationship. While inter-linguistic fluency is certainly not necessary for bilingual relationships to flourish, the act of learning a language for love is an investment – one that demonstrates a commitment and a desire to meet each other halfway.

But, as you will hear, language is just a piece of the puzzle. It’s about customs, tradition, and getting to know people and culture. Based on recent research, it seems like language may not be as big a barrier as cultural differences. Let’s listen...

It almost goes without saying that learning your partner’s language is a deposit in creating a lasting relationship. While inter-linguistic fluency is certainly not necessary for bilingual relationships to flourish, the act of learning a language for love is an investment – one that demonstrates a commitment and a desire to meet each other halfway. 

But, as you will hear, language is just a piece of the puzzle. It’s about customs, tradition, and getting to know people and culture. Based on recent research, it seems like language may not be as big a barrier as cultural differences. Let’s listen...

Children are like sponges and can absorb foreign languages so quickly. We've all heard these types of statements, and society is flooded with messages telling you who is and who isn’t good at language learning.  If you ask any random person who – in their opinion - excels at language learning, they would probably say children do. 

This position is seldom challenged. So it must be true that children are the perfect language learners, and all that adults can hope for is to achieve some fraction of their success. Right? Wrong!!! There is a fatal flaw in this logic! Listen and celebrate your access to learning a new language!

Aside from the unique set of circumstances in which Gen Z is approaching adulthood, what do we know about this new generation? 

We know it’s different from previous generations in some important ways but similar in many ways to the Millennial generation that came before it. Members of Gen Z are more racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation, and they are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet. They are also digital natives who have little or no memory of the world as it existed before smartphones. 

Still, when it comes to their views on key social and policy issues, they look very much like Millennials. GenZ: Making their mark... and making it count!

In this segment of Bilingual in America, we explore the challenges, rewards, and impacts of navigating community remote learning. What has been the impact on our children's learning? What has been the impact on our teachers and educators? How has remote learning shifted the role of parental support? We are aware of the challenges. What have been the rewards? How do we find the proverbial silver lining?

We have spoken about bilingualism with speakers of Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese. Last week we discussed identity as it relates to the Afro-LatinX community. Today we explore a debate that swings back and forth like a pendulum every few years. AAVE(African American Vernacular English) is also known as Black English or Ebonics. Is it a language and, if yes, do its speakers - typically African Americans - need ESL (English as a Second Language) support in school?

There’s no doubt that the intersection between Black and LatinX identity runs deep, and yet the Afro-LatinX experience remains mostly unacknowledged in mainstream media. So let’s look at it… What makes being AfroLatinX beautiful? Challenging? Unique? How do microaggressions impact one's sense of identity? How is bilingualism embraced? Today, we’ll begin to explore this conversation.

There’s no doubt that the intersection between Black and LatinX identity runs deep, and yet the AfroLatinX experience remains mostly unacknowledged in mainstream media. So let’s look at it… What makes being AfroLatinX beautiful? Challenging? Unique? How do microaggressions impact one's sense of identity? How is bilingualism embraced? Today, we’ll begin to explore this conversation.

There’s no doubt that the intersection between Black and LatinX identity runs deep, and yet the AfroLatinX experience remains mostly unacknowledged in mainstream media. So let’s look at it… What makes being AfroLatinX beautiful? Challenging? Unique? How do microaggressions impact our sense of identity? How is bilingualism embraced? Today, we’ll begin to explore this conversation.