I read the discussion about bilingual education (Letters, Dec. 13). There seems to be basic confusion between “teaching in a language” and “learning a language.” Teaching in a language means what language is used to teach mathematics, science, social studies, etc. Learning a language to me means being able to read, write and speak a language. I strongly feel that there should be only one language for teaching various subjects in school. However, students can be given the opportunity to learn another language, such as Spanish, French or German.

I do not believe that bilingual education, if it means teaching in two languages, will make speaking in English easier for immigrant students. They will never learn English. They will always speak their native language. If schools had classes to teach how to speak in a different language, that would be better for those who want to learn another language.

— Saloni Kumar, 9
4th grade, Toyon School
San Jose



Comments are closed.