migration, language, ELLs

As soon as we finished watching  Speaking in Tongues , an inspiring documentary film which follows the journey of four children as they become bilingual while immersed in dual language programs, my husband turned to me and declared: “We have to do the same for Vanessa.”

The award-winning film, produced and directed by the husband-and-wife team of Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider, showcases the stories of four kids—and their families—from completely different backgrounds as they struggle and triumph at becoming bilingual and bi-cultural for all kinds of different reasons. It’s all about language immersion education—and you know how we feel about that—told through the extraordinary stories of these four children. The film is engaging and eye-opening. If there ever were any doubts regarding the benefits of bilingualism, Speaking in Tongues, should do away with them.

“Bilingual education is so contentious, it’s often seen as kind of a coated discussion of other things, like our changing demographics and our immigration policy,” said Jarmel who founded Patchwork Films with her husband back in 1994 with the idea to delve into current social issues via character-driven stories. “But if you re-frame it into thinking that being bilingual in any other language is an asset, then what do we look like? Kids who grow up bilingual understand from the get-go that there’s more than one perspective in the world and what would America look like if our citizens understood that our way is just one way?”

The film opens up with several examples taken from YouTube regarding the absurd English-only agenda that many continue to push for and which has sadly become part of the legislation in more than 30 states in this country. Community activist and long-time, ardent supporter of multilingual education, Dr. Ling-chi Wang, talks about how there is no other country that even with such linguistic diversity continues to be monolingual.

“We’re so stuck on this idea that English is our language and that we only need to learn English because the rest of the world is learning English,” explained Jarmel who is not bilingual, but so firmly believes in the power of bilingualism that her two children have been attending dual language public schools in San Francisco since they were in Kindergarten. “Of course we need to learn English. It’s not a matter of kids learning English or not. I think the biggest misconception, which is also the thing that is most counter-intuitive, is that kids will learn English better if they’re learning in two languages.”

It’s a well-known fact that children who speak a minority language when they enter school in the U.S. for the first time—be it Spanish, Chinese or Italian—will become proficient in English quicker and more successfully, if they continue to be taught in their mother tongue. In other words, the idea of trying to “erase” their first language by immersing them in an English-only curriculum in an effort to help them learn this country’s majority language is not only counter-productive, but it’s also a way of undermining the prestige and importance of speaking a minority language.

“One of the things I love about the immersion schools is that the kids who are native speakers of the language that’s being taught they, instead of been seen as them having some kind of deficit, they actually have an asset,” Jarmel expressed.

Photo credit: Najib Joe Hakim

One of the greatest aspects of the film is that the four children it follows come from completely different backgrounds (there’s a Caucasian eighth-grader, an Asian-American sixth-grader, a Latino fifth-grader and an African-American kindergartner) and are learning a second language (Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish) for a variety of reasons including: heritage, future career opportunities, communication with family elders.

There are several poignant moments in the film, but I won’t ruin it by telling you about them, so you’ll just have to see for yourselves. I will; however, share with you that my heart broke when I heard some of the Asian-American family members, of the one girl portrayed in the film, talking about not been able to have a relationship with their grandmother because they can’t speak Chinese and she doesn’t speak English. As I’ve mentioned in the past, nothing would hurt me more than my children not been able to communicate with their non-English speaking relatives in Peru and Puerto Rico. To me, raising them bilingual is more than just giving them a professional edge, it’s about familia and heritage.

“It’s a very powerful model,” said Jarmel. “Our desire is that there will be more of a national conversation about the value of bilingualism, which is both about creating opportunities for kids to learn a second language and for valuing the languages that kids bring into the schools because we need all of that.”

Speaking in Tongues is scheduled to air on PBS stations around the country in August, in the meantime, Jarmel is also looking to get in touch with local organizations/groups of people which advocate multilingual education to arrange community screenings. As all of you are SpanglishBaby readers because you believe in the importance of bilingualism, I strongly suggest you  get in touch with her  to make this happen in your communities and get the conversation on this extremely important issue rolling.

Although you have to wait until the Fall to view the film on PBS, you can purchase the DVD here or your can enter to win your very own copy, which Jarmel is graciously giving away to one lucky SpanglishBaby reader, by reading below.

1. Cantonese Immersion school in San Francisco

A Chinese teacher talks to her students in Chinese all the time. She says she never let her students find out that she can speak English. She says if her students know the fact that she can speak English, they will not put an effort to talk to her in Chinese. Yes, I agree with that. I was also ELL student while I was in High school. I remember one teacher who could speak Korean. So every time I was in her class, I automatically talk to her in Korean; I was not trying to use English because it was hard for me. I think it is important when students learn a new language it will help more if they are in an environment with only that new language. The school was not teaching Chinese, They would have same curriculum/ standard that California State indicates, but it was taught in Chinese not in English. If the students were taught Chinese (how to write, how to read, and memorize characters), she says it is just a language art.

2. Durrell is 6 years old Kindergarten kid. His mom talks about one episode that Durrell was helping a Chinese woman at a department store. His mom was very proud of her son, and Durrell was satisfied with himself helping people with language barriers. Julian is Middle school student and he has attended immersion school since he was young. He was excited when he made a trip to China to test his Chinese. He’s planning his future occupation as aerospace engineering with his bilingual ability. In the film, it says, “By the year 2025 1/3 of our public school kids won’t speak English when they start Kindergarten US ethnicity is getting more various. We need more kids who can speak bilingual.

3. Kelly is 6th grader. She attends Cantonese immersion school. Her family is having dinner at Dimsum place, they all talk about how they lose their Chinese language speaking. Kelly is the one who can communicate with grandmother since grandmother only speaks Chinese while others speak English only. I understand what kelly’s grandaunt saying; we live in the United States, English is enough to live in here. However, I think it is sad that family members cannot communicate. To be fluent in English, forgetting the mother’s language is not necessary. Young kids can be bilingual, and it even expands brain capacity.