February 25, 2020
The Trump administration (click here) on Monday finalized a rule that would limit access to Social Security disability benefits for non-English speakers.
“It is important that we have an up-to-date disability program,” Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul said.
“The workforce and work opportunities have changed, and outdated regulations need to be revised to reflect today’s world,” he added....
The USA has a proud heritage of multiculturalism. That means language plays a huge role in preserving that heritage. In the past there were deaths during illnesses such as the spread of HIV and the USA needed to change it's health information to communities to include at the very least Spanish. We are now faced with a new threat with it's first death from Covid-19. Now is not the time to rethink the USA policy on open and free speech which demands the intact status of multiculturalism and information in diversity of languages.
The First Amendment guarantees open and free speech, this policy is ludicrous and bigoted.
Unlike many other countries, (click here) the United States does not have an official national language policy. Educational language policy in the country is largely the result of widely held beliefs and values about immigrants and patriotism. Language policies, implicit or explicit, are used to influence and control social behavior, and the U.S. is no different. Nothing prohibits states from having one or official languages, and a majority of U.S. states have designed English their official language policies. New Mexico and the Common Wealth of Puerto Rico have designated both English and Spanish as co-official languages. The state of Hawaii also has two official languages, English and Hawaiian (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi).
Traditionally, the discourse on language policy in the U.S.has been framed as an either-or choice between English and other languages. In schools, the result was an imposition of English language and Anglo culture on minorities, which goes back to the deculturation of American Indians through the system of English-only boarding schools. During World War 1 and the early 1920s, imposition of English-only policies went along with persecution of German speakers.
For a brief period during the sixties and seventies languages other than English were accommodated in schools. However, since the nineties, the English-only movement has reversed most of those gains, and currently 28 states have English-only policies.
Whenever I see the number of states as 28, I automatically think there is an amendment to the USA Constitution in the works somewhere.
Educational access through English not only ignores the linguistic resources in many immigrant or indigenous communities, but also negatively affects educational equity, achievement, and a sense of identity. Foreign language teaching has generally been restricted to languages useful for defense and intelligence purposes, with foreign language programs delinked from heritage language resources in communities.
In the last decade, we have seen a growth in community schools teaching heritage languages, and in formal dual-language programs. Hopefully this trend will continue and opportunities for developing multilingual competence from an early age will be expanded.
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February 29, 2020
Gov. Jay Inslee (click here) released a statement today on the death of a Washington state individual from the coronavirus (COVID-19).
"It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to their family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus.
"In partnership with the Washington State Department of Health, the Washington State Department of Emergency Management and local and community health partners, we are strengthening our preparedness and response efforts. I am committed to keeping Washingtonians healthy, safe and informed."
February 29, 2020
Officials in Washington state (click here) say a person has died of COVID-19, the first such death in the United States.
Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities after confirming three patients were infected by unknown means.
The patients — an older Northern California woman with chronic health conditions, a high school student in Everett, Washington and an employee at a Portland, Oregon-area school — hadn't recently traveled overseas or had any known close contact with a traveler or an infected person, authorities said....
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March 1, 2018
In the event of an awkward silence, (click here) it’s generally a good idea to have a stockpile of random trivia handy.
So next time you’re at a party and need a topic of conversation that makes you sound smart, whip out these fun facts about bilingual and multilingual U.S. presidents.
Here are 11 commanders-in-chief who could speak another language (and two honorable mentions).
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Martin Van Buren
Herbert Hoover
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Jimmy Carter
William Jefferson Clinton
George W. Bush
Baradk H. Obama
