Ah-Nold says "Turn off Spanish TV"

[BarTopDancer]

Story here

"You've got to turn off the Spanish television set" and avoid Spanish-language television, books and newspapers, the Republican governor said Wednesday night at the annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

"You're just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster," Schwarzenegger said.

"I know this sounds odd and this is the politically incorrect thing to say, and I'm going to get myself in trouble," he said, noting that he rarely spoke German and was forced to learn English when he emigrated from Austria.

[blueerica]

To be fair, he was asked:

Schwarzenegger was responding to a question about how Hispanic students can improve academically.

I haven't generated a cohesive opinion on it yet. Certainly academic improvement culturally, for many cultures, is a multi-faceted thing. It seems naive, and yet there's a part of me that can see what he's really trying to say - which is "don't insulate yourself."

So, no real opinion yet.

[BarTopDancer]

Thanks.

I think he is right. Kids are learning English in school then going home to family who can't speak/won't learn English and watch Spanish TV. Their skills are not being used outside of the classroom. And people wonder why these kids are failing.

[Strangler Lewis]

When he says that the kids of insulated Asian families need to turn off their samurai dramas, I'll believe this is something other than pandering.

[Tref]

Done!

[katiesue]

I had to learn German the hard way - total immersion as an exchange student. I watched a lot of TV that was overdubed. I could get books, mostly classics so I read a lot of those but I didn't get newspapers in English much.

Ein Colt für alle Fälle anyone?

I was just forced to use German for everything. Most people did understand some english but they usually wouldn't use it. It was sink or swim. The first three months sucked but it got much easier after that.

[Strangler Lewis]

Originally Posted by katiesue

Ein Colt für alle Fälle anyone?

Have Gun, Will Travel?

[Jughead P. Jones]

I'm not sure what kind of an opinion I have on the subject. Being from a country with two official languages (English and French here in Canada), I guess I just don't see the big deal regarding why people should be forced to speak English and only English. I understand that English is the official language of the USA, and know that it is important for people to make an attempt to learn it so that they can make life easier for them...but I don't think that they should necessarily turn their backs on their own language either.

Personally, I'm always in awe of people who can speak three or more languages!

But, that's just me.

[Ghoulish Delight]

The next week's worth of coverage summarized:

There's some validity to his statement. It was said in a very stupid way.

[blueerica]

Well, there is no "official" language of the United States - it's just unofficially and primarily English. However, since classes are generally taught in English, some kids are falling behind because they're not getting important language skills early on in life, making many subjects difficult to comprehend - or so my elementary school teacher aunt tells me.

On the flipside, I think English speaking kids need to start watching Spanish-TV. With something like half the world's population speaking Spanish, it's a handy one to pick up.