Reply #3: turnabout

[msedano]

i hire workers, many of whom are monolinguals, or so spanish-dominant that they cannot survive an english-language interview. i advise these folks that if they want to advance in this economy / this company, they gotta learn english. yeah, they demur, i know that, but everyone around me speaks spanish so how... i tell them to watch t.v. news iin english then watch the spanish language channel. this way they get the words and aural practice. i keep a supply of bilingual children's books, too. when i work with a parent i lend them a title to take home and share with the kidlets. then i tell them books just like these are in the library and libraries are free.

my colleague at la bloga, gina marysol ruiz, does regular reviews of such titles, so i invite you to check out gina's column on wednesdays at http://labloga.blogspot.com

i like to read a novels in spanish that i've read and enjoyed in english. that's good for honing the ear, too.