A celebration of language

FLO MARTIN

Bonne Annee! Chestita Nova Godina! Gluckwunsch zum NeuJahr! Are we

confused yet? Are we suffering from paralytic monolingualism?

If so, take heart. You’re not the only one. Those of us past the

age of 25 really struggle with any language other than English.

The younger generation -- high schoolers and younger -- are

enjoying more world language classes than ever.

They are studying Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian,

Korean, Japanese in addition to the standard Spanish, French and

German that we older folks had access to during our teens.

To celebrate this important change, thanks to an initiative

sponsored by Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Thad Cochran of

Mississippi, language education programs throughout our country are

celebrating 2005 as the Year of Languages (YOL). Author Maya Angelou

is part of the national Honorary Committee.

At the state level, Jack O’Connell, the state superintendent of

public instruction, and Chauncey Veatch, former U.S. Teacher of the

Year, head up the blue ribbon committee for YOL.

The celebration will encourage learners of all ages to look at

language study as an important component for personal growth and

career enhancement.

Research points to the benefits of an early start and an extended

program of language study. Kids learn languages best from birth to

age 6. This writer is living proof.

Because of her immigrant status from age 5 to 19, she became

fluent in four languages by age 10. She understands the phrases at

the top of this column as Happy New Year!

One focus of the YOL initiative is to promote language instruction

in elementary schools. With eight to 10 years of language

instruction, the student will be able to achieve the best level of

proficiency. We Americans need desperately to become more fluent in

world languages. Ach, Du Lieber! Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would

agree, don’t you think?

YOL events will take place on CSPAN, as well as at the Smithsonian

Institution and the Kennedy Center. Libraries everywhere will be

sharing multicultural stories and organizing a “Read Around the

World.” Schools, from elementary to college level, will take part.

How can you and your kids participate? If you speak a language

other than English, how about heading for your local library or

bookstore and offering to read a multicultural story in a children’s

circle?

How about going to your local school and organizing a

multicultural outreach event? How about a “music from around the

world” day at school? How about national paper flags (you can get

them on the Internet) decorating your house or your school?

My students had an assignment at the beginning of September to do

just that -- create a flag that reflected their origins. (Some

parents were clueless and ended up calling Grandma or Grandpa

long-distance to find out where the family originated.)

The ceiling of my classroom had literally hundreds of flags

hanging down. Every September, the new students would add more. Over

the years, alumni would bring their kids to my room at Open House and

say, “See ... (little Johnnie or Susie) there’s Mommy’s (Daddy’s)

flag when I went to school here.”

How about having your student participate in a YOL-sponsored essay

or poster contest, prizes to be announced. The theme for the essay:

“How does learning another language benefit my community and my

country?”

For the poster: “Good things happen when you learn another

language.” Posters must be submitted to me (or another member of the

Foreign Language Assn. of Orange County) by the first week of

February.

Interested? I really hope so! For further information, check out

https://www.yearoflanguages.org for the guidelines of the essay and

poster contests. If you can’t find what you need there, just write to

me at [email protected] or [email protected].

Bis bald, dann. A bientot, alors. Do skoro. (See ya later,

alligator.)

* FLO MARTIN is a Costa Mesa resident and faculty member at Cal

State Fullerton.