Education

Until last class, I did not know how complicated implementing a bilingual education was in this country. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, I had the opportunity to go to a bilingual school where all my classes were taught in English and only one class was taught in Spanish. Because both of my parents are American, learning and becoming proficient in English became easy for me. I know that at first, for my dad it was hard. Although he was born in the states, he was born to a Cuban mother and a Spanish father. Neither of them spoke English when they immigrated to the States and had my dad. As a result, he had to repeat a grade in order to catch up.
I believe that bilingual programs are important but more resources should be allocated to these programs so that they may actually work. I do believe that immigrants coming to the States should learn English but I also believe that Americans should be more receptive to their language and culture. Whether it is making schools teach a class in Spanish from elementary all the way through high school or teaching a course on Latino culture. The reality is that the Latino population in the US is growing and something will have to be done by schools to help integrate students and not leave any behind.