EDUCATION: Task force recommends help for English learners

[Twoller]

You've really been doing your homework, Jean. ESL classes are definitely a waste of money and time and serve nobody who values US citizenship.

Nobody should reside in this country who does not speak English. If you want to come to this country, then you should be able to speak English before you get here, not after. And when you participate in public affairs or interactions of any kind, you should speak English.

That being said, more English speakers should speak a second language. We should consider basic education to include learning a second language and that second language should not be English. This is something to be encouraged in people for whom English is a first language.

[ilbegone]

I read this in the paper this morning.

It has to do with interest, and whatever the parents might value for education and other attitudes.

Some years ago when her children were young, Elena was a teacher's aid for a while. She told me that there wasn't an ESL at that time in any of the numerous Asian languages. So, the Asian kids learned Spanish on the playground from the Mexican kids, then learned English in class from the Latin American orientation of the ESL classes.

As a rule, the Asian kids went on to generally surpass the kids with Mexican national parents in English proficiency and classroom studies.