DC Student’s Perspective
Skylar, an English native speaker third grader in one of DC’s existing dual language immersion programs reminded us that students too must have a voice in this conversation. In an increasingly linguistically diverse city, children want to be able to speak with their friends. Grown-ups ought to listen.
New Study finds bilinguals do better in school and life
According to UCLA’s new set of peer reviewed studies, individuals with immigrant backgrounds who only speak English and don’t retain the language spoken at home lose between $2,000 and $5,000 annually.
In contrast, those with immigrant backgrounds who know both English and the language spoken at home are more likely to earn more money than those who only speak English. They are also more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, enter higher status occupations and have more social networks.
“Being able to speak another language and being able to communicate with folks across cultural borders turns out to be very important in our modern world,” says Patricia Gándara, the report’s author.
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