Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

[From the Latin American Herald Tribune]

Documentary Explores Importance of Bilingualism in U.S.

By Ivan Mejia

LOS ANGELES – The documentary “Speaking in Tongues” explores the importance for U.S. students in the 21st century of learning to speak other languages in public school immersion programs.

“‘Speaking in Tongues’ is a documentary about children who attend classes in schools that teach in two languages,” filmmaker Ken Schneider tells Efe.

“The movie is all about the value of being bilingual in the United States, a country that doesn’t promote people learning to speak and write well in other languages in the public educational system,” he said.

The 60-minute film, produced by PatchWorks Films, was produced in 2006 and 2007 in San Francisco public schools that have special immersion programs in two languages.

The documentary premiered in 2009 and received the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

It has been screened in schools and movie theaters in California, and next Sept. 30 it will be seen nationwide on PBS television.

“Even though 31 states have passed laws ruling that students learn only English, the San Francisco school board in 2006 approved a resolution allowing the public school system to offer bilingual education, to which some people are opposed,” Schneider said.

The characters whose progress in learning the movie producers followed for two years are…

Jason Patiño, a Mexican-American student taking the immersion course in Spanish at Buena Vista Alternative Elementary School.

Durrell Laury, an African-American boy whose mother entered him in Mandarin Chinese immersion classes at the Starr King School, because that way he will have good employment opportunities in the future.

Kelly Wong, who is learning Chinese in the Alice Fong Yu Alternative School to be able to converse with her grandma in China.

Read more here.