Dear Friends:

I haven’t sent you an article by Cultural Coach Linda Wallace in some time.  The one below seems to have great relevance these days because of the uproar over immigration.  It always has been an emotional topic, anyway, whether people who choose to live in our country should learn and use English.  Linda Wallace says yes.

For discussion purposes, explore what the members of your group think.  Should everyone in this country have to speak English? Conversely, as Ms. Wallace suggests, should native-born U.S. citizens who speak English have to learn other languages?  Why or why not?  Would you be in favor of a law making English the official language of the U.S.?  Why or why not?  What about Mr. Boix pointing out to Ms. Wallace that the term “American” describes more than a citizen of the U.S.?  Does it bother you when people use the word “American” exclusively to describe U.S. citizens?  Are there certain languages (other than English) students in U.S. schools should be taught automatically, such as Spanish, because of the number of Spanish speakers who live in this country?

Those are your questions, and I hope the article below will spark some discussion of them.  Have a great June and a wonderful beginning to your summer!

Dena

May 18, 2006, 5:59PM

CULTURAL COACH

Cultural competency requires that we all learn English

By LINDA S. WALLACE

Dear Cultural Coach:

It appears that a father-in-law's recent position that real Americans do not speak Spanish does not have much support. In this matter, it is he who is in the minority. The majority of readers who responded to his views wrote that our country needs a multilingual workforce to grow our economy.

A few conservatives wrote to say that even they found his view a bit distasteful. In a democracy, opinions are the tools of visionaries and revolutionaries. We should air our views without shame. Dishonor comes only when we fail to listen to others. Too often, we pin the labels of racism on people whose crime is to mourn the loss of an old way of life.

As you and I rise each morning, we put on our cultural and political shades that determine how we will view new immigrants. Do our shades magnify their benefits and skills, or focus on their cultural differences and skill deficits?

Instead of tearing down our opponents, we ought to sit down together, try on each other's cultural shades, and explore the beliefs and fears that cause us to zero in on our differences when looking at immigration. Arguments lead to divisiveness while dialogues clear a path so we can stand side-by-side.

As an advocate for cultural competency, I believe that every citizen should learn to speak English. This nation needs a common language for conducting business and setting social and political agendas. But if we go a step further and restrict ourselves to English, we then limit our ability to prosper. Walking the historic streets of Philadelphia, I hear tourists speaking French, German, Spanish and Italian all of the time. The more the locals learn those languages, the more pleasant the stay will be for our guests and our new citizens.

In high school, I took two years of Latin and two years of Spanish. In college, I took a semester of advanced Spanish, where reading Spanish books and novels were required. However, after venturing into English-only workplaces, I eventually lost most of those language skills and now am using tapes and books in an effort to recapture them.

How can we teach foreign languages to U.S. students and then ask that they not use that knowledge in public places? Each of us must develop cultural competencies, which means we need to acquire the skill sets to work well with culturally different people here and around the world. U.S. citizenship now requires this of all of us, and neither the blue bloods nor the newcomers get an exemption.

Adrian G. Ortiz underscored the need for immigrants to be cultural literate in his e-mail. "I am Mexican," he wrote. "I am going to begin to work as bilingual teacher in Houston in August. I hope to help little children learn Spanish and to love their cultural heritage. Yes, I will worry about their future, because of that, I will teach English to them."

By the way, Jose Boix of Texas City e-mailed me to gently remind me that I, and other citizens, consistently misuse the term American. "The USA is only a part of (the continent of) America, and as such Spanish speakers make a significant number of the folks in America. In fact, if you ask most folks who speak Spanish from America, they all consider themselves Americanos."

Muchas gracias, Jose.

www.theculturalcoach.com

LINDA S. WALLACE P.O. Box 58364-8364 Philadelphia, PA 19102