WEBVTT - Bilingual Is My Superpower 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:02.080 Hey, hey, hey, hey, get us. 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.200 Latino USA is celebrating thirty years today, ain't that amos, 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.880 And we would love to hear from you. Dear listener, 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.160 Do you want to share with us exactly what Latino 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.560 USA has meant to you? Do you have a birthday 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:19.160 wish for us? Leave us a voicemail at six four 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:22.880 six five seven to one one two two four. That's 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:27.280 six four six five seven to one one two two four, 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:30.400 and we might feature your message in an upcoming show 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:35.000 grass Yas. This is Latino USA, the radio journal of 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.000 News and Kurture's Latino USA, latin Us, Latino USA. 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:40.360 I'm Maria Inojosa. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:44.440 We bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered. 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:46.360 To you, overlooked by the rest of the media. 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.000 And while the country is struggling. 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:49.559 To deal with these we listen to the stories of 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:50.600 black and Latinos. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:52.760 Studios United Latino Front. 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:57.000 A cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement. 0:00:57.720 --> 0:00:59.920 I'm Maria Inojosa, nose Bayan. 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:06.240 I am in the studio with a very special guest 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:07.360 who I haven't seen in. 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:08.600 A long time. 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.319 Hello, Hi Maria. 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:14.640 I'm Mardine. It's so good to. 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:21.720 See you see. 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:28.759 Yosee, our very special guest is the son of our producer, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:32.080 Gini Montalba, saying that to T shirt baby, I think 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:33.960 I need to know what your T shirt says because 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.559 it's really cool. I'll read it for you. It says, 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.760 I'm bilingual. What's your superpower? 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:46.959 I speak to language ties Spanish and English. 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:49.840 It is kind of like a superpower, don't you think? 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:50.480 Yes? 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:51.840 And guess what. 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:59.280 I'm by lingual too, buddy. So it was back in 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.720 twenty eighteen, Genie, that we did a podcast that really 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.600 looked at bilingualism and your family. 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:09.000 Yes, you would have heard my son babbling at the time. 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:14.840 Martin was like seven months at that point, so cute. 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:17.840 And we talked about you and your brother, and we 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.400 talked about my kids, your kids, and we were talking 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:25.520 about language. Right, what is our first language when we 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.720 introduced another language? And so all right, here we are 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:33.800 five years later and I'm having full blown conversations with 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.520 your son in English and in Spanish. It's like adorable. 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:42.200 Which language do you like better? English or Spanish? 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:47.040 Spanish? Perro Quierro, I said, English is Spanish? 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.720 Losos? I think that's great, And guess what you can't. 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.760 Yes, and our decision. Last time you and I spoke, 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.120 Maria was one hundred percent Spanish at home, and so 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.960 Martin did, in fact learn Spanish first, like me and 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.040 your kids and so many others. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:15.440 Bores is maas bonito q yoaico. So the good news 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:17.560 is he got the Spanish since he was little, and 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:21.360 that really is so fabulous. But what else has happened 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:22.799 in these past several years? 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:25.760 We moved out of Queens to the Urbs and Martin 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:31.359 has a little sister, Samrande. 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:32.919 Oh my god, I love that. 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:37.440 So is she speaking Spanish too correct? Here she is 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:38.920 reading bo Luna? 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.160 Oh? 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.880 Yes, So we felt like this was a big parenting win. 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.040 They got the Spanish check But plot twist from Martin. 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:54.560 Something happened in March of twenty twenty, right, the pandemic, Yeah, exactly. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.200 Never in our wildest dreams we have imagined that Martin 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.760 would get stuck at home with us nothing but a 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.360 window to a street in Queens. Martin was in a 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.320 Spanish immersion program at that time, so along with zooms 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:10.280 and FaceTime with the Abuelos, for all he knew then 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.720 at two and a half, the world operated in Spanish 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.400 and well because of that, it meant Martin actually never 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:22.560 learned English. 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:25.640 From Futuro Media and p r X, It's Latino USA. 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:37.360 I'm Marie jo Josa today. Bilingual is my superpower. GINI 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:41.040 is going to pick up the story from here. 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:45.839 Is normal. 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.440 My husband at Anesta and I have always spoken Spanish 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.599 to each other. He immigrated from Peru in two thousand 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.040 and nine, and I'm the child of Dominican parents, so 0:04:56.120 --> 0:05:00.000 we just knew we would speak Spanish to our kids. 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:07.200 But nothing could have prepared us for what our decision 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:11.040 would mean amongst a pandemic and lockdown, and were not 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:14.479 the only ones. So many children that were forced to 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.480 stay home for the past few years were impacted by 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.400 the loss of in person instruction. Kids who were making 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.840 progress and programs for English language learners as it's called 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.960 in New York were now suddenly thrust into virtual learning, 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:30.120 back with their home language with little to no support. 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.600 In our case, moving to the urbs with a newborn 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.120 and a three year old brought its own challenges, but 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.440 in twenty twenty one, we decided it was time to 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:40.680 get much thing out of the house. He needed to 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.479 socialize with other children, and at this point he was 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.400 three and a half, so kindergarten was on the horizon. 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.800 I personally never intended for much thing to need bilingual 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:54.880 education or any English support. In fact, I was more 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:56.800 prepared for the day I would have to force him 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.360 to keep speaking Spanish. It was very important to me, 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.520 a child of immigrants with a bilingual upbringing, that he 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.159 learned English before kindergarten. I went through the public school 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.200 system in the South. I didn't take any tests, I 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.680 didn't have bilingual education, but I knew English by the 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.040 time I got to kindergarten because of where we lived. 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.240 So I just wanted him to be solid before he 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.480 got there. So we did what people have been doing 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:27.560 for decades. We put him in daycare in English. Two 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.520 weeks after starting full time, we got called to a meeting. 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.120 You guys, educators have the director began to share their 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.760 concern madding repeats what the staff says and we don't 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.200 see that in his age, he's acting out, he's hitting people, 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:47.800 and that he hums. Concern though that's my husband at 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.560 an Asto incredibly surprised that humming is an issue because 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:55.000 we're both musicians and that for Martine at least the 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:58.320 humming seemed to be a product of that. But the 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.200 humming in conjunction with the other behavior, the pushing, the hitting, 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:05.520 the repetition. The staff was suggesting that maybe he was 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:07.719 on the spectrum all the time. 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.360 We'll do a Wals picture. 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.480 Marting has always had issues with change. He takes longer 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.720 to adapt to things. In this case, we moved, he 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.160 had a new sister, and he's in a new daycare 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.840 where he doesn't speak the language. We had explicitly told 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.880 this daycare when we first approached the school that Martin 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.200 did not speak English. They assured us that they were 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.800 equipped to handle bi lingual children and look, we would 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.600 be naive to say that Matting is perfect. He can 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.040 be a handful, but we knew in our hearts Martin 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.120 wasn't on the spectrum because before the pandemic he had 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:47.040 been in a Spanish immersion school and did fine. At 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.200 the same time, we've never been opposed to having our 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.400 son evaluated. We were in constant communication with our pediatricians. 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.320 Mating's pediatrician and Queen's even told us he'd been receiving 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.160 calls like this almost weekly. Because of the return to 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:04.400 in person care. He said, imagine, it's like you dropped 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:06.840 your kid in a daycare in China. It's like that 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:12.000 drastic of a change. He's been home for an entire year. 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:14.320 He does not know how to socialize. He's not seen 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:18.440 another kid his age for an entire year. None of 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:22.200 the other kids were bilingual, and honestly, no two toddlers 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:24.800 are going to react the same way to things. So 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:27.880 the daycare solution was to put us on a behavioral plan, 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:30.640 which was a plan to put specific techniques in place 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:34.080 and monitor progress. Yet they didn't give us time to 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.640 show progress because we were traveling for the bulk of 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.880 the time frame. Even though they knew that, they said 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.240 they could no longer work with us after a certain date. 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.360 In essence, they wanted a three year old to show 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:49.720 progress in one week. We knew this wouldn't work. Thus 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:51.880 it just became clear they didn't want to help him 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.520 and they didn't want us there. We still had a 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:56.400 full year and a half before we entered the public 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.800 school system, which at that point I believed had systems 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:03.480 in place to help him. But what were we supposed 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:08.080 to do until then? When my thing was born, I 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.760 didn't know that this journey would be so hard, but 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.240 as I've found with many parenting decisions, it would require 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.520 a lot of introspection. Am I doing the right thing 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.040 for my child? Is this happening because he can't speak English? 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:25.720 Is my decision going to affect him negatively? Is there 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.120 actually something wrong with him and maybe two languages are 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:32.960 holding him back? And so I at least left the 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:37.160 meeting feeling defeated, stressed, and worried about what was next. 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.880 I couldn't believe this was twenty twenty one and we 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:45.720 were still in multicultural New York. This wasn't supposed to 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:54.800 happen here. New York is supposed to be different. So 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:57.839 I started to look for answers for me. That meant 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.480 looking through history. And it all started when I heard 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.960 an episode of The Bowery Boys podcast on the New 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:04.840 Yorkan migration. 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:09.040 Ominously, the New York State Chamber of Commerce took aim 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:14.640 at Puerto Rican children, commissioning intelligence tests, then determining that 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:19.160 Puerto Rican children were sub normal and would quote deteriorate 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:24.160 standards already so seriously impaired by mass immigration of the 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:29.959 lowest levels of populations of many nations unquote, What struck. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:31.480 Me was that these children were given tests in a 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.440 language they could barely speak, and because they didn't perform 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:39.240 well on the test, they were labeled subnormal. Here I was, 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.360 nearly a century later, being told there was something wrong 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.800 with our child simply because of a language barrier, and 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:47.880 he was on the verge of being kicked out because 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:52.000 of it. The study and its ripple effects, I learned thereafter, 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.800 became my security blanket, and so I continued deeper into 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.720 Spanish speaking New York and bilingual education history, hoping that 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.440 somewhere in that history was the answer to how to 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:04.880 properly teach your kiddle language. 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.920 My parents came from Puerto Rico, going into the nineteen thirties. 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:14.680 They married in nineteen thirty five, and I was born 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:15.800 the year after. 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.559 Virginia Sanchez Corod is Professor Emerita at the Department of 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:24.960 Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College. Virginia entered 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.120 the school system a couple of years after the study 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:27.760 was published. 0:11:28.600 --> 0:11:32.160 We all spoke Spanish. The school was the place where 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:34.960 you were suddenly introduced to English. 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:39.480 There was validation. Even almost one hundred years ago, people 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.280 were dropping their kids in school to learn English. So 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:45.600 we had done nothing wrong as parents back then and 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:50.120 today these communities easily thrived and functioned fully in Spanish. 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:53.679 If you know a bit about the history of New 0:11:53.760 --> 0:11:55.840 York City, you'll know that the city has been home 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.680 to waves of immigration from all over the globe, German, Irish, 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:04.800 Eastern European, you name it. They all passed through Ellis Island, 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.120 and in the late nineteen twenties, through the Great Depression, 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:12.679 the city also received Spanish speaking residents, namely from Puerto Rico. 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.959 So receiving people who speak different languages is nothing new 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:20.280 for the city, and yet at the same time, psychological 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:24.400 tests were accepted tools for improving the educational process. 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:31.360 IQ tests were geared too an American ideal, and for 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:34.200 kids that were coming from different parts of the world, 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:39.400 they did not recognize elements of American culture that might 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:40.360 appear on the test. 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.440 The tests were biased because you could score incorrectly on 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:46.880 a question for something you may have never seen in 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.800 your life, and you may also not even speak the language. 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:53.599 You have to look at the atmosphere and the ambiance 0:12:53.880 --> 0:13:00.720 in which these people are operating. You have to factor 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:05.920 that into whatever tests are being given to students and schools. 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:13.120 Intelligence tests have been used in very negative ways against 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:14.320 groups of people. 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.920 Doctor Aita Nevardes Latore is Associate professor and Chair of 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.280 the Curriculum and Teaching Division at Fortum's Graduate School of Education. 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.880 Her research focuses on multi lingual education to keep. 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:31.400 Them oppressed, to deny opportunities to grow and to develop, 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:37.000 and to really enact the promise of being individuals that 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:38.920 can contribute to this society. 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.520 The US enacted a law to limit immigration in those 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:46.400 early decades, but Puerto Ricans were US citizens, and so 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:48.760 this country was going to find another way to make 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.640 their case for limiting entry to this group of people, 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.120 like this study that caught my attention on the Bowery 0:13:55.120 --> 0:14:00.000 Boys podcast. Nineteen thirty five, a Special Committee on Immage 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.640 and Naturalization published its reaction and results to a study 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:06.760 done on Puerto Rican children from the previous year. It 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.680 gave IQ tests to over two hundred children at one 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:13.480 specific school in Spanish Harlem. The researchers intended to give 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.000 a non verbal test since they knew language would be 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.320 a factor, but for some one hundred children, they use 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.840 the verbal test because it was allegedly more accurate. 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:28.520 Any verbal tests or even nonverbal tests given to non 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.840 speakers of the language of a test becomes a language test, 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:36.280 not an intelligence test. If students do not understand what's 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:41.720 being asked for them to answer, then you're not testing intelligence. 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:47.120 What you're testing is language proficiency, because before they can 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:54.000 do the task, they have to understand the language. 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.720 The IQ tests were an appendix and a larger study 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.040 dealing with immigration control. The committee in the nineteen the 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.320 thirties was looking to prove that Puerto Rico was not 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.720 sending its best, they were bringing crime. It reminded me 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.360 a bit of the rhetoric we've been hearing today. I 0:15:09.400 --> 0:15:11.360 started to zoom out a bit and reflect on what 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:15.440 all this meant. These tests, like I said, were designed 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.080 to set the students up for failure. As a parent, 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.400 it's disappointing to hear that whatever agenda these people had, 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.000 they decided the best way to make their case was 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:29.280 through children, children who want to learn and grow, and 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:35.560 never did anything to these people except exist exist in Spanish. 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.960 Despite the obvious issues with the study itself, the final 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.800 blanket statement was that these Spanish speaking students were inferior. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.320 They were below their uspers. And they should not be 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:51.360 allowed entry to the United States. And like we heard earlier, 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:56.000 they don't want them to quote deteriorate standards already impaired 0:15:56.040 --> 0:16:01.120 by mass immigration. Here's Virginia again. 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:07.080 The adjustment issues became prominent in the school system because 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.040 the school system had to find a way to deal 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:11.680 with this influx of new students. 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:14.880 When Virginia entered the school system in the early forties, 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:16.960 there was no bilingual education. 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:21.720 Then we knew we had to assimilate. It was kind 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.160 of a hidden way of telling you that the language 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.320 and the culture that you were born into and that 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.560 the language as you spoke was inferior. You had to 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:32.680 get rid of it. That was the only way that 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:33.960 you were going to succeed. 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:37.760 The kids who couldn't assimilate, or didn't test well on 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.480 the AQ test, or simply didn't do well in the 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.400 classroom because of language. 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:46.800 Teachers began to recommend that these kids who had a 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:50.520 language issue would be put into remediation classes. 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.320 Virginia told me remediation classes were what we would consider 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:58.520 special education today. While special education classes were a needed 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:02.000 resource for many children, it also became a funnel point 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:07.399 for children deemed problematic or simply those who needed better 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.119 English instruction, and the teacher suggested it because it was 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:16.200 easier because it was the only thing they knew to do. 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:17.600 Doctor Latore, again. 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:23.000 They do not understand acquisition of a language rather than English. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:28.800 They take hold of the first thing or the explanation 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:34.439 that is closest to them, rather than continue to investigate. 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:39.119 And so we've arrived at this idea that instead of 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:43.000 considering language or why a child may be having difficulty, 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.600 we jump to the conclusion that a child needs special education, 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.680 rather than try to meet this child where they are 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:52.600 and dig to find out what is the issue at hand. 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.880 This sadly starts to sound familiar with what we were 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:04.639 going through with Martin. He wasn't like this before, you know, 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:06.920 and he didn't have him until he started coming here. 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.080 So I don't really know what to tell you. Our 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.119 original daycare called us on the Monday after our meeting 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:15.119 to pick up Marting because they couldn't take care of 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:20.000 him that day. I don't know what was going about. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.440 After it became clear that they were not a good 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.520 fit for us, we decided to pull Matting from the program. 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:29.679 Here we are the day after Arnesta and I went 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:33.720 in and gave the director a piece of our mind. 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.200 Instead of this being a devastating moment, we were confident. 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.720 We had spoken to his doctors and educational psychologists. The 0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:47.040 consensus was, in fact, that Martin was acting out because 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.840 he couldn't communicate with the other children, and this behavior 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:56.679 was how he communicated. It wasn't right, but he didn't 0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:01.120 know otherwise. We knew that Mutting's behavior wasn't a reflection 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:05.680 of his ability to learn or his intelligence. Intelligence isn't 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.679 based on the ability to speak English. Kind of like 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:12.399 Sophia Ergara said in Modern Family, you know how frustrating 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:14.840 it is to have to translate everything in my head 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.439 before I say it? Do you even know how smart 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:22.199 I am in Spanish? Deciding to pull Martin from his 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:26.480 daycare was still scary, but it was the only option 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.400 for us. We no longer felt comfortable taking our son there, 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:37.280 but here we were. We still needed childcare and Martin 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.840 still needed to learn English. Was there a light at 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:43.560 the end of the tunnel for us and the kids? 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:44.160 In my history? 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:44.560 Lesson? 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:55.080 Coming up on that? 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.080 You know us say, how does New York's history help 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:02.880 Genie navigate the school system? As Martin embraces English as 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.200 a new language, stay with us. 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:06.359 Not de vayas. 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:21.520 All that their listeners. 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:26.000 I'm Marta Martinez, Senior producer Latino USA, and one of 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:28.480 my favorite things about my job is that I get 0:20:28.520 --> 0:20:31.960 to report on people who you'll rarely hear anywhere else 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:34.960 on the radio, people like me who mix English and 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.919 Spanish when they speak, and yes, who have an accent. 0:20:39.480 --> 0:20:43.560 Happy thirtieth anniversary to Latino USA and mutees gratias for 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:44.760 celebrating with us. 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:53.760 Hey we're back. 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:58.160 And Before the Break, producer Gini Montalbo explained the unexpected 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:02.879 challenges her son Martin faced as a Spanish speaking child 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.919 entering school in New York City. To better navigate the system, 0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:10.360 Ginnie went on a trip through history and was surprised 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:11.399 by what she found. 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:13.359 She's going to pick up the story from here. 0:21:14.960 --> 0:21:17.280 I don't know about the rest of you bi lingual folks, 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.320 but for me, it's very weird to speak Spanish or 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:24.399 English to specific people Like I can't speak English to 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:27.480 my husband and I can't speak Spanish to my brother, 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:31.080 and so the same thing now happens with my kids. 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.000 It's weird for me to speak in anything but Spanish 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.400 to them and English. 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:42.720 No perun school is in English La casa. 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:45.639 So it was no surprise to me the day that 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:47.399 I sat down to try to help mar Dean with 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:51.239 his homework that he had some strong feelings no An 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:52.240 in glas. 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:56.360 Cripanol Aki. 0:21:57.200 --> 0:22:01.520 He's become mega ultraspecific about when and where we speak 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:05.040 either language, almost like the one parent, one language technique 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.600 to teach your child a language. Marding now associates Spanish 0:22:08.600 --> 0:22:12.080 with home and English with school. He's even at the 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:15.760 extreme that he won't let us watch movies in English. 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:18.920 I grew up on English language content. You couldn't change 0:22:18.920 --> 0:22:21.679 the language on your streaming device. I have had to 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:26.280 rewatch every single movie and Disney movie in Spanish. All 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:34.960 I want to do is seeing Tomorrow from Annie Mamma Ryanaera, 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:39.280 but I've had to relearn it all in Spanish. This 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:42.080 process has been hard for me as well, because at 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:43.960 some point in my life the English took over and 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:48.600 became more dominant. I actively chose Spanish on a daily basis. 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:53.600 Anyone who's flipped languages knows this can be exhausting, but 0:22:53.680 --> 0:22:55.840 I do it because I want to keep my own fluency. 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:58.879 And because I want my kids to be solid. Like 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.200 I said, I'm preparing myself for that day they say 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:04.400 to me, I don't want to speak Spanish because I'm 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:08.080 sure that day will come, and if it does, it's okay. 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:11.639 But until then, this will all be good for me 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.800 and us. My thing's vocabulary in Spanish is often better 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:19.560 than mine. That day we were at the kitchen table. 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.439 He told me English was only for school, so I 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:24.600 asked him how he was going to learn to read 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:31.680 in Lascuela. No achi solanol matio. 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:39.000 No ifidam igla gorditaco soloon in Nascuela. 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:43.160 Mom and dad and sister. We're not allowed to speak 0:23:43.200 --> 0:23:46.119 English at home, and I guess that's how we'll operate 0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:49.680 until we decide otherwise. I had a lot of mom 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:51.920 guilt surrounding dropping my thing into the deep end of 0:23:51.960 --> 0:23:55.119 the pool. It made everything that was going on in 0:23:55.160 --> 0:23:58.280 the daycare worse because on some level it felt like 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:01.200 we had chosen that for him, and that's why he 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:05.240 was having a hard time. My only consolation was that 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.000 a century of people I was learning about had done 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:12.320 exactly that, and they were all functioning adults. It made 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:17.679 me feel less alone in this journey. But how did 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:20.720 we get there? What happened after that infamous study in 0:24:20.760 --> 0:24:25.280 the thirties, I thought English was taught separately, like some 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:29.840 of the transitional bilingual ed classes today. That model was 0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:31.840 something I learned was used a lot in the fifties 0:24:31.880 --> 0:24:35.280 and the sixties. The thinking was if you taught Spanish 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:38.160