The title of this story should be "2 languages WILL mean a better future". There are many more career opportunities open for bilingual people, and that is only one benefit. DP
Group aims to tutor Latino kids in Spanish
By Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer
STAMFORD -- Since Rosa Espinoza moved to Stamford from Peru 16 years ago, she and her children seem to live in different worlds.
At home, she speaks her native tongue, Spanish. But in the ears of her two children -- one born in the United States, the other only 2 when the family moved -- Spanish is a foreign language.
Her children, like so many sons and daughters of immigrants, grew up with American television and English-speaking friends in English-speaking schools. Often they don't speak Spanish at all.
"We speak Spanish to them, but they respond in English," said Espinoza, 45. "Their first language is English."
Many would say that happens with most immigrant families, but a Stamford community group, the Hispanic Leadership Academy, is concerned that Espinoza's children are losing something that could help them down the road -- the ability to write "bilingual" on their resumes. The group, which organizes classes and activities for Latino children, wants to begin tutoring them in Spanish.
"It's very important that the students learn both idioms," said Gani Barrera, president of the Hispanic Leadership Academy. "The person who speaks three or four idioms, they have good professions."
The academy's teaching project hasn't started because Barrera and his partner, Lucas Romero, are seeking funding and bilingual volunteers.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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