Obed Manuel Latina Lista 5. Latinos care about the environment About 70 percent of Latinos say they believe global warming is a threat and is caused by human activity. By comparison, just 44 percent of whites and 56…
NewsMundo, zNew Headline
Guadalajara hosts first international English spelling bee contest
By Magdalena Loredo LatinaLista Teaching a second language is not an easy or overnight task. It requires a lot of knowledge to have the appropriate methods and tools. Over 97 percent of students in Mexico are graduating from all…
NewsMundo, zNew Headline
98 percent of Peru’s “Full Day Schools” to offer English classes
By Hillary Ojeda Peru This Week The government is increasing access to English classes and weekly hours of instruction. This year the Peruvian government announced plans to implement more hours of instruction and advanced technological equipment in public school…
Books, Children, zNew Headline
Creators behind Latino children’s summer reading program create special “DIY” reading camp to boost literacy and writing
LatinaLista — Last year, Dr. Viviana Hurtado and Monica “Mommy Maestra” Olivera of Latinas for Latino Lit (L4LL) broke ground by launching the first-ever online Latino children’s summer reading program. Concerned about the poor literacy rates among Latino children…
BlogBeat, zNew Headline
Stanford study reveals Spanish-speakers learning to read don’t “just sound it out”
Futurity If faced with an unknown word, young readers in the United States are often advised to “just sound it out.” When using this strategy to help decode written words, learners rely not only on knowledge of letters and…
BlogBeat, zNew Headline
Mixing it up: Inserting Spanish language into English text needs a watchful eye
By Alma Flor Ada CBC Diversity My Personal Connection A few years ago I was asked to contribute a story to an anthology. The story, which contained some words in Spanish, had been edited and proofread. And then,…
BlogBeat, zNew Headline
South America offers array of language immersion programs befitting a continent of the future
Language Magazine The common language to more than 20 countries (in the Americas, Spain, and Asia), spoken by more than 400 million people, second only to Mandarin in its number of native speakers — with an additional 60 million…
Language, zNew Headline
New analysis shows Español on the rise among non-Latinos
LatinaLista — It doesn’t take a U.S. Census survey to know that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the country after English. A casual walk in most any major city in the country will feature hearing Spanish being…
Language, zNew Headline
New interactive U.S. Census map highlights the nation’s diverse languages
LatinaLista — Living up to the nation’s (unofficial) tagline — “A country of immigrants,” a new report by the U.S. Census highlights the truth of that statement and the increase of language diversity in the country. Language Use in…
Culture, zNew Headline
U.S. Postal Service inaugurates new Music Icons Forever Stamp series honoring ‘First Lady of Tejano music’
LatinaLista — With only her 12-string guitar accompanying her, Lydia Mendoza “Lark of the Border” recorded over 1,000 songs in a 70-year career where she reigned as the ‘first lady of Tejano music.’ Though she died in 2007 at…
Language
Distinguished English Linguist: Writing English — And Jumping to Some New Conclusions
By Laurel Airica Laurel Airica “Play with words … is one of the most beloved practices of human beings the world over and through0ut recorded time.” Walter Redfern, Puns, Basil Blackwell Press, 1988 Anyone who ventures to…
Culture, Language
Distinguished English Linguist: Living in a world where lies are designed to sound truthful degrades language and life
By Laurel Airica Laurel Airica “… Political language – and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance…
By Valorie Vasquez Borderzine EL PASO – Blue-eyed, brunette, and light-complexioned Michael Alden has called El Paso his home for nearly all his life. Alden, 24, was born and raised in El Paso, graduated from Franklin High in 2007…
By Dustin Mendus Más Wired Mobile app Voxy, which helps people learn English, now incorporates a user’s music into its language lessons. Voxy has launched a new service allowing customers to learn English by listening to music. We previously…
Local News, Southwest
Bill to make English the official U.S. language is back for another try
By Brandon Ross Cronkite News Service WASHINGTON – Rep. John Conyers didn’t speak a word of English at Thursday’s hearing on a bill to make English the official language of the nation, but he still made his opinion of…
General, Global Views
Fortuño’s Plan for English Proficiency in Puerto Rico
By Isaiah Marcano Council on Hemispheric Affairs With an electoral season approaching, the islands comprising Puerto Rico have once more become the center of debate and conflict. Recently, the current Governor of Puerto Rico and statehood advocate Luis Fortuño…
Palabra Final, Politics
More than ever it makes sense for political campaigns to be bilingual
LatinaLista — An article syndicated today in newspapers across the country asked a question that was bound to be asked sooner or later in this election season — Should political campaigns reach Hispanics in English or Spanish? Hand-in-hand with that…
Education, General, Immigration, Language, Palabra Final
The demand for English classes by immigrants must be met now to comply with future immigration reform criteria
LatinaLista — One guarantee of any comprehensive immigration reform bill is that it will require all immigrants to learn English and attain a level of proficiency. When that happens, lawsuits challenging the validity of English tests, like the Fresno…
General, Human Rights, Immigration, Language, Palabra Final
Twenty Dallas police officers added language enforcement to their duties
LatinaLista — When news filtered out last week from Dallas, Texas that a rookie police officer had ticketed a woman for not being able to speak English, most people rolled their eyes and thought this was just a case…
Education, General, Immigration, Palabra Final, Youth
Student immigrants learning English share essays about life in America
LatinaLista — “If students are to make knowledge their own, they must struggle with the details, wrestle with the facts, and rework raw information and dimly understood concepts into language they can communicate to someone else. In short, if…
Causes, Immigration, Palabra Final
Proposed “Americanization movement” targeting immigrants flawed
LatinaLista — In 2006, President Bush established the Task Force on New Americans. The Task Force’s objectives are “to help immigrants learn English, embrace the common core of American civic culture, and fully become American.” Alfonso Aguilar, USCIS Chief…
Business, Education, Language
Free online site serves as digital classroom for learning English
LatinaLista — Regardless of the final outcome of what an immigration reform bill looks like, there are two things that are certain — 12 million people will not be deported and 12 million people will have to master speaking…
Business, Economy, Language
Boston makes learning English a city-wide project
LatinaLista — One fallacy of the illegal immigration debate is that undocumented immigrants don’t want to learn English. Across the country there are stories of how undocumented immigrants are so desperate to learn English that they will work all…
Culture, Guest Voz, Language, Social Justice
Guest Voz: Azteca America’s Chairman Explains Why New English Programming Shouldn’t be Translated into Support for English-Only Debate
By Luis J. Echarte LatinaLista The Azteca America television network has a presence in 60 markets across the United States and currently ranks fourth among Spanish-language networks broadcasting in the country. Recently, Azteca America has been in the headlines…
Culture, Language, Palabra Final, Politics
English Doesn’t Always Have to be the Official Language to Get to the Head of the Class
LatinaLista — The more it looks like the Senate is making headway in crafting an immigration reform bill, the more small towns across America want to put their own individual stamp of authority on immigration reform — by trying…