October 23, 1997

Dear Ms. Mahr.

I was never placed in bilingual classes and that's good because maybe if they had placed me in bilingual classes I would have never really learned to read, write, and speak English like I know now.

I think bilingual classes are good for people that really cannot speak English at all, because it helps them. But in a way I don't think bilingual classes are so good, sometimes students spend their whole lives. in bilingual classes and they never get to learn English very well and that affects them later on in life. In my opinion schools should have bilingual classes, but just to help students in the beginning, and then move on to English classes even if they can't really speak English very well.

In my opinion Students learn more in English classes, because if they can't really speak English they try to in order to understand what the teacher is saying, like everybody else in the class. But if they are placed in a bilingual class until they can learn, In my opinion they'll never learn, they just keep on speaking the language they've always spoken, since everyone else in that class speaks it. Students won't make that much of an effort if they are in a bilingual class as if they were in an English class, where they have to learn to speak English in order to understand, so they try harder.

Sincerely yours,

Adriana Ishida